Final Exams.
Final Exams.
When I got back to the classroom, the student teacher was running homeroom in place of our regular teacher. The moment she spotted me and the teacher, she stepped outside.
It was break time, but I was in a quiet space of my own. I switched my phone to silent and booted up a game.
A while later, one of the teachers who'd been in the meeting room with me earlier came in as the exam proctor.
Thanks to the teacher so blatantly walking on eggshells around me, the other brats seemed to pick up on the weird atmosphere too.
I paid it no mind, blitzed through the test paper I'd been handed, then put my head down.
'How many tests do they give in one day, shit...'
After I sent Da-yeon, Park Ji-hoon, and Kim Tae-oh off,
I was at the convenience store in front of the school, eating a hot bar with Jong-hyeon and Han Seok-hyeon right there with us.
"Have some too."
"I'm fine, thank you."
Han Seok-hyeon, who was absolutely terrified of Jong-hyeon.
I showed my phone to Han Seok-hyeon, who looked like he couldn't tell if he was eating through his mouth or his nose.
"Do something about your brother~ He sent me 170 texts. A guy who gets obsessive like that is seriously off-putting, you know."
Jong-hyeon's expression crumpled slightly when he heard me.
Seeing that, Han Seok-hyeon's face turned grave, and he spoke up quickly.
"It's just... it seems like my brother's plotting something this time..."
"I skimmed the texts, and they were absolutely stuffed with threats?"
Jong-hyeon flinched as if enraged while listening to me, but he stayed still, maybe deciding to observe the situation for now.
If this had been the old Kim Tae-oh, back when he didn't know I existed, he would've charged straight at Han Ma-hyeon the second he heard this.
I looked at Han Seok-hyeon, who didn't have a single uninjured spot on his body.
"Did this guy file any reports with you?"
Jong-hyeon pulled a tablet out from inside his jacket and handed it to me.
"Yes, right here."
Han Seok-hyeon had reported to Jong-hyeon in more detail than I expected.
It was probably because he wanted to stay alive, but it looked like he'd gone through way more hardship than I'd thought.
"Hmm... First, try to block whatever your brother's plotting if you can. If not... well, just gather intel. If we asked Jong-hyeon to handle it, it'd be over in no time, but... it's better if you resolve it yourself, right?"
"Got... it."
Jeil High School, inside the meeting room.
The teachers who'd had their corruption exposed by Kim Si-yoon that morning...
They were all seated with grave expressions.
"Every single one... a perfect score."
"...Good heavens..."
The test papers laid out on the desk, every one of them had Kim Si-yoon written on it.
"Korean Language question 14, the example multiple-choice items... we even misspelled them when we wrote them..."
"Is that... even possible...?"
At the vice principal's words, every teacher present shut their mouths.
"".....""
"What's more, she was holding a conversation while... we didn't even use the same problems—we scrambled the order and mixed in substitute questions..."
"....."
The teachers there began to get goosebumps as they recalled the image of Kim Si-yoon they'd witnessed with their own eyes that morning.
Lately, Dad had been so absorbed in music that he often went to the JSM headquarters to work.
With Dad not home anyway, and out of sheer boredom, I called Jong-hyeon over to the house.
The bell rang barely a few minutes later.
I casually opened the door for him, and Jong-hyeon greeted me as he came inside.
"Have some fruit."
"Excuse me...? Understood..."
I sat at the dining table and started peeling fruit.
Alpha and Beta, who greeted even strangers warmly, had apparently charmed Jong-hyeon as well.
"What breed are they? They're incredibly large..."
"They're Maine Coons. Alpha and Beta are way bigger than your average Maine Coon, though."
Honestly, Alpha and Beta were cats in name only—they were far larger than my upper body.
I spoke to Jong-hyeon, who'd been staring at the cats for a good while.
"Tell me some stories from the old days."
"It won't be entertaining."
"Hmm, I'll be the judge of that~"
"Ha ha ha, very well."
I listened to his stories while eating fruit, and I even got to hear about Jong-hyeon's daughter and grandchild.
And he told me in greater detail about how, after finishing his revenge, he'd been about to commit suicide when he came to me.
"So, are you satisfied just being by my side?"
"Of course. I will protect even your children, young miss, to the very end for as long as my strength allows."
"Hmm, there's basically zero chance I'll be having kids, you know...?"
"The future is never certain."
'No... there is seriously no way that's happening...'
Before I knew it, Dad had finished work and come home.
"Si-yoon! Did your exams go well?"
Dad said that without even looking at my face. He spotted the extra pair of shoes, which was different from usual, and said to me.
"Who's here?"
Jong-hyeon spotted Dad and gave him a gentlemanly greeting.
"Good evening."
"Good evening~ Wow, Si-yoon must really like you, inviting you over to the house and all."
"Ah ha ha, I'm honored."
"Dad, come eat too."
"Okay!"
Dad sat down and naturally started a conversation with Jong-hyeon.
"Oh, right. How were the exams?"
"Same as always. Why are you so curious about it."
"Whyyy~ Your dad's allowed to be curious!"
"Same as always. Nothing was different."
"Really? As expected, our daughter's getting perfect scores too~ So smart~"
I hadn't even said I'd gotten everything right, but Dad answered his own question.
Of course, he wasn't wrong.
I'd been eating fruit beside them, but when the conversation between Dad and Jong-hyeon started getting deep, I excused myself.
The next day when I went to school, the homeroom teacher called me out and told me that since I'd be given a perfect score either way, I could either take the exams or just leave school for the day.
Naturally, as a student...
I grabbed my bag, left school on the spot, and headed to a PC bang without Dad knowing.
I was playing duos with Jong-hyeon when, before I knew it, the time when exams would be ending was approaching.
Jong-hyeon had been busy for five hours scribbling down user IDs in a notebook.
I got a call from Da-yeon and waited for her at the school entrance.
A moment later, I spotted Da-yeon, got out of the car, and we walked home together.
On the last day of exams, I'd been hoping Han Ma-hyeon would hurry up and execute whatever he was plotting, but nothing particularly changed.
The only thing was, the injuries on Han Seok-hyeon's face multiplied daily, and in proportion, the content being reported to me by Jong-hyeon increased as well.
With the final exams over, the brats gleefully left school.
Even if they normally pretended to be well-behaved, brats were still brats.
Today, there were an unusual number of black vehicles in front of the school—these were the cars waiting for me and Da-yeon.
Da-yeon and I got into the vehicle dressed in our school uniforms, and we headed for Lee Gi-seok's house.
Starting today, the next three days or so were going to be a bit busy.
Tomorrow, we had to attend a party to foster friendships among the scions of chaebol families, and on Sunday, Da-yeon and I had arranged to go see our grandfather.
However, the affair had grown bigger than the initial plan, and we would end up going with a large entourage, bringing Lee Jin-seok and Lee Gi-seok along.
Lee Gi-seok seemed to be quite curious about my grandfather.
After messing around with Da-yeon, we arrived at our destination: Hanseong's headquarters.
Da-yeon had also thought we were heading to the family residence, so she was considerably flustered when we arrived at the headquarters instead.
"The Chairman is waiting for you."
We moved according to the guidance, and people naturally started piling up behind us.
It had been a while since I'd been to the Hanseong headquarters.
If there was one thing different from last time, it was the significant number of reporters.
However, they only photographed us from a distance and didn't particularly approach.
The crowd dispersed only once we arrived in front of the golden elevator.
They'd probably been brought along because there were so many reporters.
The top floor of Hanseong's headquarters.
When we arrived at Lee Gi-seok's room, we were met by Lee Gi-seok, who was dressed in immaculate clothing.
"Grandpa!!!"
Da-yeon ran and threw herself into Lee Gi-seok's arms, and Lee Gi-seok welcomed us.
"There you are! Have you been well?!"
The fact that he was holding a cane looked like he was pretending to be ill for some purpose.
Da-yeon seemed curious, too, as she looked at the cane and asked.
"Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
"Ha ha ha, no, I'm not. This is just laying groundwork to pass on the successor's position."
"Ah, so that's why there were reporters downstairs~"
So, the chairman of Hanseong, despite his ailing body, was heading to the family residence with Da-yeon and me in his retinue...
From a third party's perspective, this was me making a sudden appearance out of nowhere, so it seemed he intended to build up my recognition within Hanseong as well.
The moment we reached the first floor and the elevator doors opened, seeing him hobble was pretty dumbfounding.
So this is 21st-century management...
Da-yeon and I positioned ourselves behind Lee Gi-seok, and behind us, the people raised by Lee Gi-seok and Lee Jin-seok took their places in order of rank.
It was just like a retirement ceremony...
Lee Gi-seok was probably going to lie in a hospital for a while and officially start full-on pretending to be sick.
In order to hand over Hanseong with certainty.
"I have decided to go to North Korea this time."
Shwaaaap— pang!
"All of a sudden? Why? Da-yeon, it's your turn."
"Okay!"
Lee Gi-seok, who'd been correcting Da-yeon's golf form, spoke.
"The North Korean side expressed that they'd like us to build a factory, so I'm going to pay them a visit and make a deal at the same time."
"Isn't it dangerous?"
North Korea.
Back when I was a baby, a generational shift had occurred in the Kim family, and a lot of things had changed as moderates, unlike before, came to lead North Korea.
But it was still one of the three most secretive countries in the world.
In particular, the public's assessment of the current leader, Chairman Kim Jeong-hak, was 'sinister.'
To the point where you could never tell what he was normally thinking.
"Well, what could they possibly do to me? I've already handed over my seat to Jin-seok anyway."
"True... but still, be careful. They haven't been trustworthy sorts since way back."
"Ha ha ha, are you worrying about me? That's not bad at all."
A 'Spang!' sound rang out as I watched Da-yeon's clean swing.
"Oh... Da-yeon, you've improved so much!"
"Really?!"
"Yeah, geez... you're sending it really far, huh? At this rate, you might beat Grandpa?"
"Hey now, no matter how old this grandpa has gotten, do you think I'd let myself be beaten by Da-yeon?!"
Inside the golf course, the 'Pa—ng!' sounds echoed out.
After Da-yeon and I enjoyed some golf for a while, we left Lee Gi-seok, whose stamina quickly drained, and entered the F1 track we hadn't been able to see last time.
On one side inside the track, there was a go-kart resembling an F1 car for minors.
"Oooohhh...."
It looked like they'd paid a lot of attention to safety, but just in case, Da-yeon and I loaded up on protective gear and got in.
Even though the max speed was only 100 km/h, the sense of speed was pretty satisfying.
Da-yeon, who started flooring it to max speed the moment she received her first lesson on how to operate it...
She was bolder than I'd expected.
Da-yeon and I enjoyed racing for a long while before stopping in the parking area to rest for a bit.
Da-yeon took off her helmet, laughing from the fun she'd had.
Her hair drenched in sweat, that side of Da-yeon was more charming than I'd ever imagined.
"Si-yoon~"
"Yeah?"
"That was so much fun, right?!"
"Yeah, more thrilling than I expected."
There'd been absolutely no mention of rain today, but drops started falling from the sky one by one.
'Seriously, those weather-watching bastards, are they forecasting the weather or live-streaming it...'
When Jong-hyeon, who was beside me, neatly opened an umbrella, Kim Tae-jun, who'd been tailing Da-yeon, belatedly opened his own umbrella.
Lately, Kim Tae-jun, who'd been looking worn out from looking after Ga-yeon, had changed his assignment to Team 5, which protected Da-yeon, saying he needed to heal.
Due to the rain that had begun pouring down, we came inside the building.
Lee Gi-seok was sitting down and receiving a Go lesson, and when he saw me, he asked if I wanted to give it a try.
"No, thanks."
"Oh my... you need to know how to play Go in order to navigate the world..."
"What are you on about, it's completely irrelevant. Look at what era this is, nobody does stuff like that. It's old-fashioned."
"Hahahahahaha... you're too harsh..."
I glanced at the chessboard right next to it.
I reminisced about how I used to play a ton of chess back in England, then started playing a game of Gomoku with Da-yeon.
"I lost again..."
"Hoo hoo hoo... You're still a hundred years too early to beat me!"
"So then, it's impossible in this lifetime, huh~?"
"Hoo hoo hoo..."
I goofed around with Da-yeon for a good while, passed the time doing this and that, and then went to sleep when night fell.
Kim Seon-hwa came by in the morning, and after we roamed around here and there together, we encountered JSM's stylists in the evening.
I was thoroughly styled from head to toe for today's party, and exhaustion washed over me even before it began.
As Da-yeon looked at herself in the mirror, she brightened up more and more; it really did seem to suit her.
The reason I don't often wear makeup is...
It is absolutely not because I can't do makeup myself.
I'm capable of 100% recreating any style I like, after all.
It's just that, even without makeup, people who see me visibly stiffen up.
Like they're looking at some incredibly high-ranking noble from the medieval era...
People act as if they're receiving a princess they're seeing for the very first time in their lives.
Even now, Da-yeon was endlessly admiring my face.
My outfit was a black skirt with a heavily patterned blouse, paired with clean accessories.
Normally, I would've done hair extensions too, but I didn't feel the need to go that far, so I refused.
After clacking across the marble floor, I sat cross-legged on the sofa and was looking at my phone when Da-yeon came over and sat down.
"They say Joo Do-hyeon is here...?"
"Oh... really?"
Just then, Kim Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon arrived to pick us up, dressed in sharp suits.
Kim Tae-oh looked like he could chew up and spit out your average idol.
On the other hand, once you put Park Ji-hoon in a suit, he had the kind of look where, wherever he went, someone would be calling him 'boss.'
"How do I look?"
Park Ji-hoon suddenly looked at me and started striking a pose.
"What are you on about, you look like someone else's leftovers."
""Pfft...""
Park Ji-hoon glared at Kim Tae-oh and Da-yeon, who'd both snorted.
Da-yeon jutted out her chin, making a face that said, 'What? You got a problem?'
Da-yeon looked even cuter than I'd imagined.
We goofed around with each other for a while before getting into the cars with our respective partners and heading to the party venue.