I Returned as a High School Girl

Chapter 244: Drag Down (3)

Kang Ra-Eun had mentioned that she would make it so that Congresswoman Hong would win against Kim Han-Gyo. Even if Han-Gyo had been involved in many controversies, he was still very influential. Not only did he hold great sway in his party, he was the most discussed politician by the public, both in a good and bad way.

Hong Oh-Yeon was skeptical about winning against such a person. However, nothing in the world was eternal. Ra-Eun maintained a firm attitude.

“You can trust me. If things end up not going the way you had wanted, then I will take responsibility in any means necessary.”

Hearing the confidence in Ra-Eun’s voice, Oh-Yeon’s pessimistic attitude changed into a more optimistic one.

- Thank you. I must have had a moment of weakness. Your words have helped me pull myself back together.

Oh-Yeon softly laughed and expressed words of gratitude to Ra-Eun once again.

- I’ve come to a resolution thanks to you, Ra-Eun. I may be lacking, but I’ll do my best.

“I’m sure it’ll turn out well.”

If things went according to the future that Ra-Eun knew, then Han-Gyo would come out on top, no matter who the opposing party pitted against him. However, that was only the case in a timeline where Kang Ra-Eun didn’t exist. It would be different this time around.

Ra-Eun called Ma Yeong-Jun immediately after ending her call with Oh-Yeon.

“It’s me, mister. Can you call Reporter Ahn to deliver what I’m about to say?”

- What should I tell her?

“Tell her to get ready, since the time that I had mentioned will arrive soon.”

***

Today was the last filming date for Spokesperson. The public had turned their backs on Yang Han-Sik due to Na Ji-Yang’s revelations, bestowing to Han-Sik the humiliation of being deprived of his right to be a congressperson and forever being banished from the world of politics.

Ji-Yang headed to Han-Sik’s house to witness for the last time Han-Sik’s life, which had been ruined by his own greed and ambitions. Han-Sik left his home as if he was being chased out. His glare sharpened the moment that he encountered Ji-Yang. On the other hand, Ji-Yang stared expressionlessly at his wrecked appearance.

“Remember when you said to me that you would be the one to come out on top in the end? Do you still feel the same way?” Ji-Yang asked.

“You’ve gone up in life for a bitch who acts like a parrot for others.”

“It’s all thanks to you.”

Ji-Yang had come this far only to take revenge against Han-Sik. She had finally fulfilled her revenge, but Ra-Eun could not express satisfaction because it was Ji-Yang’s revenge, not hers, that had been fulfilled.

“Cut!” Director Seo Yong-Mun exclaimed.

Ra-Eun slightly bowed and apologized, “I’m sorry. I was thinking about something else...”

She needed to look more refreshed after finally having fulfilled her revenge, so she had thought that Director Seo had cut the take because she had not. However, Director Seo had not paused the shoot because he had not been satisfied with Ra-Eun’s expression.

“Actually, I liked that expression better.”

“I’m sorry?”

“How should I say it? The expression screamed that you’ve fulfilled your revenge, but its effect still lingers inside you. In any case, I liked that expression of yours much better, and so did the other staff members.”

The camera director and the others all nodded in agreement. Ra-Eun did not expect the expression that she had made unconsciously to be praised this much.

“I was thinking that we should go with that take, if you don’t mind. What do you say?” Director Seo asked.

Ra-Eun did not need to think for long at all.

“Please, Director.”

The final scene had ended, along with the shoots for Spokesperson.

***

The shoots had ended a little later than scheduled due to a few unexpected incidents such as Hwang Je-Woong’s motorcycle accident, but it had not been major enough to greatly affect the schedule. They would just barely make it on time if they worked while sacrificing some sleep. Hence, Director Seo decided to drink without regrets just for today, for his future self that would be working to death. Thanks to that, the afterparty was extremely lively.

“Okay, attention, please! Our protagonist, Ra-Eun, is about to make a toast!” Director Seo exclaimed to grab everyone’s attention.

Ra-Eun was holding a non-alcoholic drink since she was the only one who couldn’t drink, but she was not disappointed.

She exclaimed to liven up the mood while lifting her glass, “To ten million audience views for Spokesperson!”

“To ten million views!”

Ra-Eun needed this film to become a hit so that it would give her revenge plan a large boost. She returned to her seat after making the toast, and drank from her glass as she replayed the bittersweet moments of the shoots.

‘This one felt more exhausting than the others.’

Ra-Eun had imposed her own situation on her performances so many times that she had occasionally forgotten what was real and fake. However, it had also been a good thing because she had been able to perform as realistically as possible thanks to it.

Ra-Eun wanted to tell Director Seo something before he got any more drunk.

“Director.”

“What is it, Ra-Eun?”

He seemed to be fairly drunk from how red his face was already, despite it having not even been thirty minutes since the afterparty had begun.

“I’ll leave the editing to you,” Ra-Eun said.

“Well, isn’t that obvious?”

Director Seo had expected her to ask him for some amazing favor, but that had not been the case at all. Director Seo told her not to worry while pounding on his chest with his fist. Whether this film became a hit or a flop now all came down to Director Seo. No matter how much of her soul Ra-Eun put into her performances, it would be meaningless if the cinematography was terrible.

‘It needs to reach at least ten million in audience attendance.’

It needed to, no matter what.

***

Before the film was released, Ra-Eun made a list of all the injustices that Kim Han-Gyo had committed to send to Reporter Ahn Su-Jin. It was far too dangerous to email it to her, so she ordered Ma Yeong-Jun to deliver it by hand.

Yeong-Jun said in a deep tone as he received the USB drive, “Can we really ruin Kim Han-Gyo with this?”

He still did not know what exactly was in the drive. He could not even imagine what his action would bring to Korea as a whole.

Ra-Eun nodded and asked in return, “Why? Are you getting cold feet after coming this far?”

It was an extremely dangerous task; no one knew what would happen if they got themselves involved in the coming storm.

However, Yeong-Jun confidently answered, “Of course not.”

He had long since decided to erase the concept of fear the moment that he had decided to be on the same boat as Ra-Eun. Hearing that, Ra-Eun smiled.

“Thanks for being my hands and feet for all this time.”

Yeong-Jun doubted his ears for a moment.

“What did you just say?” he asked.

“I said, thanks.”

“My God...”

It was an extreme rarity to hear that word from her. He couldn’t believe that Kang Ra-Eun, who treated her subordinates like slaves, would ever say thanks.

“I guess the sun’s gonna be rising in the west tomorrow.”

“I hope so. It’ll be quite a sight to behold,” Ra-Eun remarked while laughing and gestured at Yeong-Jun to go.

Yeong-Jun left her office, but he couldn’t bring himself to step away from the front of her door. He did not know why, but he had a feeling for some reason that the number of times that he’d be meeting and talking to Ra-Eun like this was limited.

***

Ra-Eun and her co-stars attended the premiere of the film Spokesperson. She was with Min Se-Min, Ji Han-Seok, Hwang Je-Woong and Director Seo Yong-Mun. As the only woman out of the five, she climbed the stairs up to the stage while slightly lifting up the hem of her red dress. She was given a massive amount of interest from the reporters as soon as she went up on stage.

“Why don’t we start off with introductions? Let’s start with you, Ra-Eun,” the host expressed.

Ra-Eun raised the mic up to her mouth. “Hello. I am the actress Kang Ra-Eun, and I play Na Ji-Yang.”

.

A simple and concise introduction was enough to gather everyone’s attention. Ra-Eun had gotten accustomed to being up on stage in premieres. She carefully sat down in a relaxed manner. The chairs were fairly tall, so it was more accurate to say that she was slightly resting her butt on it rather than sitting down.

‘Thank God the skirt is long.’

Ra-Eun did not have to worry about the inside of her skirt showing. After the others finished with their introductions one by one, the host asked Ra-Eun a question once again.

“Ra-Eun, you’re associated with being strong-willed, so we assume your character in this film to also have that same trait. Are we right to make that assumption?”

The host had asked about the character Na Ji-Yang’s traits. Ra-Eun nodded to affirm the host’s question.

“Yes, but you’re only half-correct. She has a calm and logical side to her, but she has an unexpectedly deep sensitive side to her as well.”

“In other words, she’s not only strong-willed.”

“Yes. There’s no such thing as a flawless character.”

The same applied to Ra-Eun. Even if she possessed knowledge of the future, there were times occasionally when she hadn’t been able to respond to abnormalities in an ideal way. To minimize such occurrences, she had been polishing her revenge plan ever since becoming a high school girl. And finally, she could see a glimpse of the end of the long tunnel.

“What do you think is the charm of this film, in your own words?”

Ra-Eun decided to bring out an answer that she had thought of long ago.

“I think it’s the fact that it handled a circumstance that can most definitely happen in real life, in an entertaining manner.”

She emphasized the point that it could most definitely happen in real life. The moment that the audience members watched this film, they would think that the film was fiction, or that the story was far too over the top. However, such thoughts would vanish soon after the film was released.

The enormous wave that would sweep the world of Korean politics would become a massive incident that would surpass the plot of the film. Ra-Eun wondered how the public would react when that time came, and one more person...

‘Kim Han-Gyo. I wonder how you’ll react?’

Ra-Eun felt like she could already visualize his flustered face.