Class President Election
Oh Yoon-hee wrapped me in a tight hug and peppered my cheeks with kisses before she briefly disappeared, only to return with her manager in tow. In her hands was an expensive imported chocolate set.
"Whoa! Thank you so much! I'll eat them well!"
I didn't even pretend to refuse. In this era of Korea, the general rule was that you had to decline gifts from adults at least once as a matter of courtesy. But if it were money, maybe. Chocolate? Did I really need to go that far? Sure, it was 2002 and I should probably follow the old-school Korean customs... but I had no intention of cramming myself into that rigid frame.
If I was going to receive help and feel grateful, then I should repay that kindness properly. Not out of some guilty sense of debt, but by accepting goodwill with goodwill. If you're going to be weighed down by obligation, you shouldn't accept anything in the first place. I think Korean society pushes people to treat themselves far too harshly. That said, this isn't some justification for living shamelessly like an MZ-generation "my way" type. Really.
Anyway. So I accepted it openly, allowing the giver to feel the joy of giving. I received her kindness with gratitude.
And this...
It's also my trophy.
From the very first moment she saw me, Oh Yoon-hee had seemed to dislike me. Yet now that same actress was showing this level of favor by gifting me premium chocolate. It was the reward for the victory I'd seized with my acting skills.
"Let's start moving on to the next scene!"
"Looks like they're ready. Let's hurry and get prepared, sweetie."
"Okay!"
The rest of the filming went smoothly. Director Lee Jung-moon was so excited he kept shouting "Cut!" with gusto. Oh Yoon-hee took every chance to stroke my hair or straighten my clothes, treating me like her real daughter—so much that my actual mom, watching from the side, looked downright jealous.
Lee Hyun-woo also spent his breaks playfully teasing me. The whole "parachute hire" thing? I was treated like a special forces soldier who had rappelled down from a helicopter. Senior actors' territoriality? Never even heard the word. My overwhelming friendliness, the social navigation skills from my second life, and impeccable manners—plus acting ability that surprised even me—made all the on-set concerns melt away like snow.
"Thank you for your hard work!"
When my final scene ended and I bowed deeply from the waist, the staff burst into applause. Not just Oh Yoon-hee and Lee Hyun-woo, who had acted directly opposite me, but the other actors on set as well, even though our scenes hadn't overlapped.
"Good job, Seo-ah! Get home safe!"
"Bye, Bom! See you at the next shoot!"
Filming would continue on set, but since I was a child, I had to leave before 10 p.m.
A little disappointing...
To be honest, it had been fun. I'd discovered sides of myself I hadn't known existed. Acting as Bom, monitoring the takes, and hanging out with the actors and staff during breaks while waiting for scenes—it was all incredibly enjoyable, pleasant, and comfortable.
It had started as something I was pushed into, but... it looked like I'd be continuing after all.
"My daughter! You did so, so incredibly well. Mommy was watching from behind and could barely breathe. How can you be that good?"
Mom's eyes sparkled. In this life, I'd learned that a child's eyes shine when pursuing their own dreams and goals, but a parent's eyes shine brightest when looking at their child.
"You worked hard too, waiting around all day. From the atmosphere, it seems like I could probably go alone next time. What do you think?"
I'd mostly wanted to let her experience a filming set she'd never seen before... but now that we'd done it together, it was clear she was the one suffering. For me, it was work that was actually fun, and I'd gotten to play with the actors. But Mom had just spent the whole day watching me and killing time.
"What? What are you talking about? It was so much fun. You absolutely cannot go alone. Maybe once you have a manager, but until then, you'll go with Mom or Dad."
"Got it. If I don't want to make you suffer, I guess I need to find an agency quickly."
Mom told me not to worry about that, squeezed my hand tightly, and headed to the parking lot. I climbed into the passenger seat, carefully cradling the premium chocolate box Oh Yoon-hee had given me. Mom, behind the wheel, was still too excited to calm down and kept chattering away.
"Do you know what the director said to me earlier? He said Seo-ah is an actress sent from heaven."
"The director does seem to have a good eye."
"Hahaha! Look at you."
I gazed out the window, using Mom's praise as background music. Exhaustion washed over me, but it was a pleasant kind of tiredness. Feeling a bit hungry, I opened my trophy box. I'd never seen chocolates shaped like this before. I had no idea what they tasted like... but they clearly looked expensive, so they had to be that good.
I unwrapped two, popped one into Mom's mouth and one into my own.
Sweet.
Was this the taste of success? The thrilling sense of accomplishment that came from being fully recognized for my abilities and dominating the stage. On top of that, a hefty appearance fee and even this trophy.
Maybe it was a good decision after all.
The time I'd spent agonizing when Yoon Ji-ah first briefed me on her life plan now felt like a waste.
When we got home, unlocked the door, and stepped inside, Yoon Ji-ah, who had been watching the news in the living room, turned her head. In a house where an eight-year-old lived, children's programs or cartoon animations should have been the norm, but in our family, the news was standard.
"We're back!"
Hearing the door lock and my greeting, Dad came running out and immediately gave me an airplane ride.
"Our actress is home? You worked hard, sweetheart. I talked to Mom on the phone—she said you completely turned the filming set upside down?"
"Aw, it wasn't that big a deal."
Dad set me down and kept planting kisses on my cheeks. Even though he'd clearly shaved that morning, it was still prickly. When I pushed him away with all my strength, he made a hurt face, but I was an actress now. My face was a precious asset. I couldn't let prickly whiskers scratch it up.
After Mom finished greeting Ji-ah and went into the master bedroom, Dad followed her like a pair of lovebirds.
"Made it back alive, huh?"
Yoon Ji-ah, sitting crookedly on the sofa, looked me over. Despite her words, she was carefully checking to make sure I wasn't hurt anywhere.
"Of course. Who do you think I am? Yoon Seo-ah."
"I thought you'd go in thinking acting was easy, get beaten to a pulp, and come back crying. But seeing what you're holding, I guess that's not the case."
Ji-ah's gaze fixed on the premium chocolate set in my hand.
"It's a trophy. An offering that Oh Yoon-hee presented to me."
"Oh..."
Ji-ah looked intrigued as she adjusted her glasses and opened the chocolate box.
"This is hard to get even at department stores. It's quite a nice gift."
"Really? I had no idea what it was."
I didn't even know what kind of chocolate it was, so how did she know it was hard to get at department stores? Seriously, was she the only one who got system windows...?
"Aigoo, don't even get me started. The moment Seo-ah started acting, everyone's jaws dropped. The director was going crazy calling her a genius, the writer was saying they needed to increase Seo-ah's screen time right away, and the actors' eyes were shooting hearts everywhere..."
Mom, having changed clothes and come out of the bedroom, was pouring out tales of my heroic deeds. Dad kept chiming in with "Really? Wow! That's amazing!" Even though they'd already talked on the phone... and she'd already bragged about me plenty... Had she forgotten the conversation? What exactly was a "foolishly doting parent" anyway?
Amid the commotion, Ji-ah poked me in the side.
"So? Was it worth doing?"
Her voice was a low whisper. The tone wasn't simple curiosity. It was a question about whether continuing to act was feasible and whether it had investment value.
"It was more fun than I expected. Not that hard either. And seeing how much everyone praised me, it seems I actually have some talent."
"Then that's settled. It's time to start executing the plan."
"...Plan?"
"Yeah. After I watch how far the ball you launched flies, I'll move right away."
Ji-ah's eyes flashed. The financial monster was preparing something. It was probably an event that would completely upend my life.
In an instant, tension flowed between me and Ji-ah. Our family's economic advisor. The usurper who had pushed aside the nominal head Yoon Jung-ho to claim the real position of family patriarch. A monster born of capitalism who believed money was everything, like the character Kang Tae-hyun from Sarang-i Pineun Jeongwon. The mastermind who, just a year ago, had tried to turn me into a copy of herself so she could control me.
When those words—"time to start executing the plan"—came from such a Yoon Ji-ah, it was only natural to tremble in fear.
"What... exactly is it?"
I swallowed hard and asked her.
"Not telling."
"You little..."
Whoops. I was the celebrity Yoon Seo-ah now. I wasn't supposed to know how to curse.
"...Ahem. What a lively little sister you are."
No matter how much I pestered her, Yoon Ji-ah never leaked a single detail about her plan. At this rate... she probably wouldn't spill even under torture. So I cleanly gave up, washed up, and went to sleep.
And the next day.
Finally, the long-awaited moment arrived.
The four characters written on the blackboard hit me so hard I could practically hear a dramatic boom sound effect in my ears.
CLASS PRESIDENT ELECTION
Finally!
I leaned back in my chair and smiled.
An elementary school class president election. It was on a completely different level from ordinary elections. In this period, class president campaigns were filled with extravagant promises. Based on my past-life experience, it started with the basics like bread and milk. Then came the distribution of chocolate powder to mix into the milk. Families with more money would go up to hamburgers. In the end, the children of the highest class would promise pizza and chicken.
The class president election was essentially a proxy war where children showed off their parents' wealth. Bribery, threats, and corruption ran rampant during this time, turning it into a chaotic mess not much different from real politics.
This was exactly why schools were called "small societies" or "miniature versions of society."