The Kids' Resolve.
The Kids' Resolve.
After swimming class ended, I hauled a sulking Ji-hoon to the snack bar and bought him a mountain of food.
"".....""
In the quiet that followed, I remembered what had just happened and let out a short snort of laughter—and nearly got a snack thrown at my head by Ji-hoon.
"Hey, that's not the whole picture these days. If you're really that hung up on it, you can always get augmentation surgery."
"I'm just young... My dad's was big."
"Yeah? My dad's packing a monster."
"....."
I looked at Park Ji-hoon, cupped my hand to my mouth, and whispered.
"Honestly, it's basically Park Gi-tier."
At that, Ji-hoon, who'd been eating, choked on his food, hacking and coughing, and stared at me.
"You're shitting me... For real?"
"I was shocked too, I swear. I thought he'd stuck a tumbler in there or something..."
"Whoa... he doesn't look it."
I nodded, sipping my strawberry milk.
"Why are you chugging so much strawberry milk lately?"
"To make my chest grow."
At my blunt reply, Ji-hoon sprayed the cola he was drinking.
I shifted aside to dodge the cola flying my way.
"...What do you even need it to grow for?"
"It's the pinnacle of beauty."
"....."
Lunch period ended, and I naturally headed for the art room.
While I was painting away under the guidance of Go Min-su, the art teacher, my cell phone rang.
Teacher Go Min-su checked his phone, then spoke without taking his eyes off the screen.
"Whoa... Si-yoon, you've even shot a drama?"
"Yes."
It seemed the teaser had dropped, so I showed some interest too, and Teacher Go Min-su held out her phone for me to see.
The lore for the nine-tailed fox, as written in the script I'd received, was that she could enchant any man and transform into any appearance.
In particular, the smaller her form, the less energy she expended, so the version of me that appeared was the one she used to conserve energy.
On the phone screen, the teaser showed me looking at the phone with my tail swishing gently.
They must have invested heavily in the CG, because the fluffy tail moved naturally.
Overjoyed to see the male lead, I clung to him, bouncing up and down on my feet, pestering him to feed me.
The male lead, exhausted from work, ignored me and sat down.
I looked up at him, nodded, and spoke.
—"I'll show you... how to seduce a twenty-first-century man..."
With a dead-serious expression, I walked to the wall, glanced once at the camera, grabbed the wall, and gave a little twitch of my butt just as a "boing" sound effect played.
The male lead, flustered by the sight.
Just like that, I launched into a twerking routine with all nine tails waving, and the male lead came sprinting over, picked me up, sat me down, and gave me food.
—"As expected... the courtship dance of the twenty-first century... he folded in one go..."
—"It is not!!!"
Teacher Go Min-su watched the teaser and gave her honest opinion.
"You came out really pretty~"
I acknowledged that remark myself. I mean, when I think about the hours poured into makeup alone, it makes my blood run cold.
'That's basically child abuse.'
After we finished discussing the drama, I started drawing on my own, without Teacher Go Min-su's instruction.
My painting, done with paint, pleased me more than I'd expected.
Teacher Go Min-su, who'd been watching the painting from behind, began her critique.
"Hmm... The light composition and reflection angles are still a bit awkward, but your use of color is perfect."
Teacher Go Min-su, evaluating the painting into which I'd poured my passion to draw exactly what I envisioned.
If anyone else had said that, I'd have poured water-based paint down their throat.
But he had been right beside me teaching me, and I'd seen his own work, so I had nothing to say.
My own painting, the one she'd painted inside her painting while I was painting—even that seemed better drawn than mine.
Could someone really paint that well in the same amount of time?
"Whoa..."
"It's good, right?"
I looked wordlessly at Teacher Go Min-su's painting and nodded.
That day as usual, Dad came to pick me up, and I got into his car and headed home.
Checking Neotube, I saw a clip trending as a meme: me in my nine-tailed fox makeup, with white hair and pink makeup, goofing around and dancing with Dad.
Dad, who'd been watching too, spoke up.
"See? Worth shooting, right?"
"Yep yep~"
I looked at Dad, who was scrunching up his face, and brought something up.
"Dad, I wanna sit in the passenger seat too..."
"The law says you can't until you're twelve~"
"Hm... when you bring the law into it, I've got nothing to say..."
The biggest reason I felt the world had gotten better was that laws like these had been revised so much, and each person's human rights had expanded.
'And yet the Vietnam War feels like yesterday...'
Just looking around, South Korea had changed in countless ways, starting with a Seoul cityscape that couldn't even be compared to those days.
Watching Neotube videos about the differences between North Korea and our country, the dire situation in North Korea was apparent, and I felt grateful to have been born in South Korea.
And the fact that I was born with a diamond spoon...
Now, I no longer resented the god who had taken away my two precious orbs.
I, Kang Han-seong, in my previous life, had nothing but my subordinates, my swagger and pride, and two bouncy balls.
Honestly, I'm happier now, having everything except those four things.
Ah, though I guess I've still got the swagger and pride.
While I was lost in reminiscence for a moment, Dad spoke.
"Shall we eat out? It's been a while."
"Do you have plans?"
"Well, Ji-eun says she misses you?"
"Yeah, sure, I've got nothing going on. Let's go."
"Yep, I shall escort you."
Before we knew it, summer was approaching, and I found myself face-to-face with Dad on the bed.
"...No."
"Whoa... I think I'm gonna get PTSD. Didn't we go through this last year?"
"....."
"Look... I'm nine years old now, right? Which means it's about time I got to play a different game."
"...No, I still think it's a no."
"I'm gonna run away from home."
"And you'd just end up at Da-yeon's place, wouldn't you?"
"....."
"And strictly speaking... isn't that place also my house?"
"....."
Maybe it was all the arguments we'd been having lately, but Dad's no-logic argument style had leveled up even further.
"Maybe I'll just go be their daughter instead. I think they want me."
"I doubt it. Jin-seok told me you're exhausting."
For a moment, I genuinely felt that it wouldn't be strange at all for Lee Jin-seok to find me exhausting, and I couldn't find the words to respond.
"...His wife likes me, you know."
"Oh-ho... Are you sure about that?"
"I'm gonna go sleep in a different room."
"Well, it was about time for that anyway. But you do realize that means no more computer, right?"
"...Are you insane? How did it come to that?"
"I looked into other families, and some won't even give their kids a phone at your age because they say it's bad for their education...?"
I had no choice. I knelt before Dad.
"Surely you needn't go that far, Royal Father... merely... over a game..."
"Ahem... Were you not the one who declared she would run away from this king?"
I knelt as gracefully as I could and hit him with the facts.
"Your Majesty. You deliver lines so naturally when you're helping your daughter with her acting. Why could you not do so until now?"
"....."
"So when are you going to let me play a different game?"
"...Hm... When you're a little bigger?"
I got back to my feet and crossed my arms.
"I'm gonna turn into a delinquent."
"You mean you won't use the computer?"
At the conversation looping right back to square one, I looked at Dad and smiled.
"Dad."
"Yeah?"
"Don't you think it's about time we started swearing at each other?"
Dad, perhaps imagining me—who occasionally cursed while gaming—directing that language at him, flinched hard and laughed awkwardly.
"...Sorry... But still. No means no."
At Da-yeon's house, where mornings started earlier than ours.
Since I'd just woken up, I stood at the entrance in my pajamas and pressed the bell.
—"Who is it?"
"It's me."
—"Oh my! Is that Si-yoon? Come on in~"
Her youthful, twenty-something appearance was gone, but Kim Seon-hwa still greeted me with a striking mature beauty.
Ga-yeon came running first and latched onto me.
"Hi."
"Si-yoon! Si-yoon!!!"
Ga-yeon was rubbing his face against my body, and from behind, Jeong-yeon was watching with envious eyes.
Da-yeon came bounding out, having heard I'd arrived, whatever she'd been doing.
"Si-yoon~"
"Hi, hi."
Kim Seon-hwa bent down to meet my eye level.
"Have you eaten yet?"
"Dad would never send me anywhere without feeding me."
"That's... true?"
In the living room, my eyes met Lee Jin-seok's, and I immediately twisted my face into a scowl.
"....."
Sensing something was wrong, Lee Jin-seok hastily avoided my gaze.
Kim Seon-hwa, who'd caught my expression, laughed awkwardly.
"Want a cookie?"
"Well, might as well."
Along with Da-yeon, I drew pictures for Ga-yeon and played with him.
Jeong-yeon had been watching us.
"Si-yoon."
"Yeah?"
"Want me to play the violin for you?"
For Jeong-yeon, who'd been looking a little bored, I decided it was time to play with him properly for once, and I sat down at the piano.
Jeong-yeon's eyes sparkled as he came and stood next to me, playing his violin, and I started playing the piano freestyle.
At first, I slowly followed the beat Jeong-yeon was creating, matching his notes and moving my fingers according to the chords that followed.
In an instant, a melody formed, and as the music spread, Jeong-yeon's face flushed and he made a mistake.
So that Jeong-yeon wouldn't feel awkward, I took the lead again, and his eyes sparkled.
"Whoa..."
Jeong-yeon was learning the violin as a hobby, but his skill had long surpassed the hobby level.
When we finished the piece, Lee Jin-seok, who had been watching instead of working, clapped like a seal along with Kim Seon-hwa.
And Jeong-yeon looked at me in admiration.
"Si-yoon, you're the best!"
"I know."
"Let's do it again!"
Jeong-yeon, always so mature, let his unguarded side show.
And as I laid down a melody for him, Jeong-yeon began to lose himself in the violin.
During a conversation we'd once had, Jeong-yeon had said that to let Da-yeon and Ga-yeon do what they wanted, he himself had to study hard.
I thought the Hanseong family had done an incredible job raising its children.
No one had placed any burden on him, but Jeong-yeon felt the responsibility entirely on his own, studying by himself, and in his spare moments, playing music.
If not a little kid with ambitions like that, who else could ever take responsibility for the colossal dinosaur corporation that was 'Hanseong'?
So, at least in front of Jeong-yeon, I never flaunted how smart I was.
I could be a pacemaker, a rival, but I made sure he never felt a sense of defeat.
Da-yeon came and sat down next to me and pressed a key on the piano.
Ding~
"Si-yoon."
"Yeah?"
"I have something to tell you!"
"What?"
"No! We have to go to my room. It's a secret."
Seeing that Da-yeon already had something she was trying to hide from her parents, I smirked and followed her.
As soon as we reached Da-yeon's room, Da-yeon showed me a photograph as if it were a precious treasure.
There, Kim Tae-oh.
He was one of the candidates for the HSW early-education project I'd seen before with Lee Jin-seok.
"....."
"He's super cool, right? In person, he's really awesome."
'My God... How many times have you even met him...'
Da-yeon gazed at the photo and bounced her feet on the bed.
'This is exactly why... I said not to recruit that bastard...'
Pretending to know nothing, I carefully questioned Da-yeon.
"Why? What do you like about him so much?"
"Dad introduced me to him once, and he's really good at sports!"
"Ji-hoon's good at sports too, you know."
"He's ugly."
An answer from Da-yeon so definitive and firm.
'I'm sorry, Jae-hyeong. My mistake.'
Still, Da-yeon did concede that Ji-hoon was athletic.
"Why, do you not like him, Si-yoon?"
"Do I look like the type to like anyone?"
At my words, Da-yeon stared at the ceiling for a moment, deep in thought, then nodded her head vigorously.
"Hm... That's a relief!"
"Why?"
"Because Si-yoon is so pretty. If you liked him, I think he'd like you back!"
Heh-heh... The odds of me ever liking a guy were basically zero until the day I died, but...
Still, I absolutely could not hand Da-yeon over to that pretty-boy bastard.
Even if it meant seduction, I'd have to pull him away from Da-yeon. While I was thinking that,
Da-yeon, as if imagining Tae-oh, smiled up at the ceiling and spoke.
"Dad said Tae-oh is going to go to the same school as me from now on!"
I fixed Da-yeon, who was practically floating with excitement, with a dead-serious look.
"A girl shouldn't keep showing a guy that she likes him."
Da-yeon spun around to look at me.
"Why?"
"Unless a guy likes you first, he'll take a girl who's always clinging to him for granted."
"Really?! But how do you know that?"
I may have lived forty-five years as a man, but I'd never taken a woman who liked me for granted.
But to convince Da-yeon, I quickly racked my brain.
"Hm... Da-yeon, you like your daddy, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"And since Daddy likes Da-yeon, the more you like him, the more he does nice things for you, right?"
"Yeah!"
"And you don't really like Daddy's friends, but they still like you, don't they?"
"No way! I like your daddy!"
"...Not my daddy! My daddy likes Da-yeon, so that's different."
"Um... Daddy doesn't have any friends, though?!"
I had run into a serious obstacle.
So the reason Lee Jin-seok was holed up at home was because he had no friends...
"But Daddy's subordinates like me."
I wanted to grab this clever little lady and just plant a kiss right on her.
"That's exactly it! A princess receives love even without trying!"
"Gasp! Is that how it works!?"
As ever, Da-yeon's reactions were fantastic.
And I began to see a slender thread of hope that I could persuade her.
"That's how it works. So then, don't you think the prince Da-yeon has in mind will see you as a princess, too?"
"Really!?"
"Of course~ If you stay pretty like a princess, love and presents will come to you even if you stay still~"
"!!! Then, so, are you a princess, Si-yoon?"
To Da-yeon, suddenly asking a strange question, I replied.
"Why am I a princess..."