Seoyun High School (Reality)

It was early March, still too soon to call spring, with winter's biting wind not yet gone—and at the same time, the season when the cherry blossoms that stood for spring were slowly beginning to open.

March 2nd, once the holiday had passed, was the day every student dreaded: the start of school, the start of the term. From the youngest elementary children to the oldest college students, no one could escape it.

And here, even the students of Seoyun High—rumored all over Seoul to have the cleanest facilities and the best lunches—couldn't slip the noose of opening day. They drifted toward campus carrying a new semester's flutter, or its boredom, or its fear.

Some walked with friends, some alone. The road to school was packed with kids in uniform, and among them was something that seized every eye at once.

Screech!

A single black sedan, stopped dead in front of the school gate. A fairly famous brand, and not a cheap one.

"Holy shit, is that the new Benz?"

"Damn. Somebody's family is loaded."

Anyone who knew cars recognized the model and got curious. Anyone who didn't cared less about the car than about the person who stepped out of it.

"Hey, hey, is she crazy? A freshman?"

"Some idol trainee? Next to her, the girls in our class are orcs."

"You lunatic. If they hear that, they'll bury you."

The one who got out was a girl in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a Seoyun High uniform.

Black hair in a smooth perm, falling just past her shoulders; ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brown eyes; and a blank, beautiful face so cold it felt as if she herself were the source of this biting wind. A beauty you didn't see around here—enough that she could have passed for a trainee under some famous entertainment company.

"Did our school even have a girl like that?"

"Look at the ribbon. I think she's a first-year."

A face like that was more than enough to pull the whole crowd in.

"Haa..."

At the deep sigh from the girl with an idol-trainee's looks, every student who'd been talking about her went quiet. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠She had a hand pressed to her forehead, plainly annoyed.

She shook her head a few times and walked in through the gate, and the eyes around her simply followed, spellbound.

Clunk!

The driver's door opened, and the driver himself appeared: a rough face, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠muscular bulk to match, and a suit that didn't suit him in the slightest.

"What the hell, is that her dad? They don't look anything alike."

"Look at those arms. They're about to bust through the suit."

"Weren't you gonna get her number? Go try."

"I don't feel like dying today. You do it."

The man—a bear in a suit, more or less—carried a school bag in one hand and headed for the girl.

"Miss, you left your bag."

Miss. Not a word a father would ever use for his daughter. There was no reason for a dad to speak to his daughter that formally, and with that single line the watching students understood: these two were not father and daughter. The girl was very clearly the one in charge.

She glared at the man in the suit, sighed, and answered.

"...Thank you."

Kindness had come back as irritation. The man in the suit flustered, at a complete loss, and the girl slung the bag over her shoulder and walked through the gate, leaving him behind.

A hysterical rich-girl miss and the driver-bodyguard suffering under her. That was the picture the students saw.

I'm screwed.

Completely screwed. This is all Driver Kwon's fault!

Fine. Dropping me off in front of the gate—I can live with that. I never told him otherwise. Bringing me to the school is a driver's job, so of course that part is on me.

Everything after that was his fault. Miss? In front of everybody?

If he hadn't said that one word, the people around us would have taken us for father and daughter. I'd actually heard them talking that way. One sentence from him, and the whole thing went up in smoke.

I'd wanted to avoid drawing attention as much as I possibly could, and on day one I'd pulled aggro on the entire school.

Maybe that was why the stares still hadn't stopped, even after I'd made it inside the main building. Worse, these uselessly sensitive ears were reporting, one by one, conversations I had no desire to hear.

Not a chance. Move along.

My face just rests like this?

I was carsick, okay? Talking like you know anything.

I'm not stuffing anything, you flat-chested bitch.

I swallowed the urge to snap back at every single one of them and headed for the main building to check my assigned class.

God, I thought I was going to die.

Whoever's brilliant idea it was to post the class list in exactly one spot on the first floor, that floor was packed solid with incoming students. People say teenagers these days run tall, and apparently that's true—blocked by the bodies in front of me, my short legs made it impossible to see which class I was in.

In the end I asked a student standing ahead of me and managed to get a photo of the board. He'd been staring off as if something had possessed him, looking a little unwell. Maybe he hadn't slept.

Anyway, with that kind student's help I found my class and headed for the gym, where the entrance ceremony was being held.

"Oh."

The facilities were better than I'd imagined. I was a little impressed. The gym I'd followed the directory into was bigger than I'd expected—and it wasn't only the gym. From the moment I'd stepped onto campus, Seoyun High had felt genuinely well built. Well enough that I understood why it ranked among the schools students most wanted to attend.

I'd heard a conglomerate chairman who'd graduated from here kept donating huge sums. The money clearly wasn't being wasted.

The gym was already buzzing with first-years, and placards for Classes 1 through 8 hung in a row, as if telling everyone to find their place. I'd already confirmed my class from the notice in the main building. First year, Class 1-7... hmm. Pretty far. Class 1 was closest to the gym entrance; Class 8 was farthest.

"What time are we out today? PC bang after?"

"Bro, I'm feeling it today. I'll carry. Let's go."

"They said this school has a ton of pretty girls. They're all mid, though?"

"Our class is a wash, for starters. What about the others?"

I had to get through, and why were there so many people? The guys in front couldn't even see me. They were just loafing around in a knot, blocking the way. So what if you're tall? What are kids eating these days to get this big?

Sure, I'm on the short side, but that isn't the point. The point is that they were standing between me and where I needed to go. I put a quiet little anger into my index finger and poked, twice, at the back of the boy turned away from me, blocking the path.

"I don't know either, let's just check—"

"Excuse me. Could you let me through?"

"Whoa..."

What? Why is he like that?

He stared blankly, as if he'd seen a ghost. Whatever. Just move. My legs hurt.

"I said, could you move?"

"Ah, yeah... sorry..."

This one hadn't slept either. Kids these days. That's what you get, staying up all night gaming. Sleep on a schedule, like me.

Somehow I made it to the Class 1-7 seats, dropped into my assigned chair, and finally caught my breath.

"Huu..."

I'm exhausted. I never noticed it while I was gaming, but this body is definitely garbage stamina. I have no idea how I managed eight-hour streams every day for two months on it.

"Hey, I think she's in our class."

"Damn, she's so pretty... Should I talk to her?"

"Don't. You can tell just by looking she's got a nasty temper."

"Tch... you think?"

...I can hear all of that, you know?

These uselessly sensitive ears. I end up hearing every kind of nonsense. I don't have much to say about my vibe or my expression—that's my father's genetics. Dad's blank face gives off a cold impression whether he means to or not, and it passed straight down to my brother and me. Even back when I was a guy, the three things I always heard were that I looked rude, ill-mannered, and scary.

Now that I'm a girl, I at least seem to have inherited Mom's looks properly, so it's a little better than it was back then. Even so, to other people I apparently still look just as rude.

Figuring I'd ignore it and rest my eyes, I set my bag on my knees, leaned back against the chair, and closed them.

How much time passed? Just as the murmuring started to die down, a gravelly man's voice came through the speakers between the students' chatter.

A middle-aged man in a tracksuit—the sort who might as well have introduced himself with hi, I'm the P.E. teacher—stood above the hall with a microphone in his hand. At that one line, the students who'd been chattering as if the place belonged to them went dead quiet.

The ceremony had finally started.

It ended more simply than I'd expected.

The national rite, the declaration of admission, the principal's address—all of it was over in less than five minutes. Add the faculty introductions and the new students' representative pledge, and the whole entrance ceremony wrapped up in twenty-five minutes.

Normally we would have gone back to our classrooms to meet our homeroom teachers, but—

Our homeroom teacher must have been a pretty free spirit. He gave us nothing but his name and phone number, told us to go home, and left.

Students praising that cool exit—now that's a real teacher—drifted off one by one, and I had no reason to stay, so I got up.

"Khrr..."

Or I tried to. If not for the boy snoring in the seat behind me.

Who is this?

I didn't know him anyway. I thought about just walking past. But seeing him left here alone, I figured he was friendless, like me, and decided to wake him.

"Hey."

"Khrrr..."

Ugh. Annoying.

"Hey."

I grabbed his shoulder with one hand and shook him around.

"Nn... huh?"

Only then did he open his eyes. Well, aren't we quick to wake.

"Ceremony's over. They said go home."

"Ah... yeah. Thanks..."

The boy who'd been asleep had pretty shaggy hair, and if not for the heavy dark circles, a face that could have been popular. Take care of yourself. What a waste of a face. Back when I was a guy I wasn't that good-looking, so it put me in a bad mood for no good reason.

"I'm going, then."

Nothing more to say. We'd only just met today, and I had no reason to look after him past this. Waking him was enough.

"Ah, yeah... bye..."

I left the kid who couldn't even answer properly, sleep still on him, walked out of the gym, and headed for the front gate.

Driver Kwon had definitely told me to call.

"Whoa, what is that guy?"

"Holy shit, look at the size of him. If somebody like that hits you at full power, you're dead, right? Dead?"

"You, at least. One low kick and your leg's snapping."

The gate was pretty noisy. Some kind of spectacle? Hmm. This many people is a problem.

Sorry to Driver Kwon, but I'll have to ask him to come somewhere else.

A few rings, and then the call connected.

"Driver Kwon, the ceremony's over. Where are you right now?"

Whatever had happened that morning, I was done drawing any more attention. With that many people around, someone as conspicuous as Driver Kwon coming to pick me up? That would just be another blast of school-wide aggro.

Huh?

...He's already at the front gate?

"What is he, a bear? A bear..."

"Is he some gangster? Bet he's here to collect."

"Hey, watch your mouth, you crazy bastard!"

No way. It couldn't be...

"...Driver Kwon. You're not outside the car, are you?"

Dri. Ver. Kwon.

Please let me be wrong about this.