I Returned as a High School Girl

People decided to no longer care about the ‘masked woman’ because it had become the truth that she had been nothing but the fabrication of Han-Gyo’s mind. However, there were still a few people who knew the truth.

‘But they wouldn’t go out of their way to reveal that.’

Ra-Eun threw away the mask that she had worn for several years in the trash. She would no longer need it. Han-Gyo, the target of her revenge, wouldn’t be able to go out into the public ever again. No, leaving his reputation aside, his health was the greater issue; he would likely be bedridden for the rest of his life. However, Ra-Eun did not feel a shred of sympathy for him.

‘He’s done way worse to me.’

Not pressing the power button of the running machine that had been maintaining Han-Gyo’s life was mercy enough. She went back to her seat in her Levanche office when Park Seol-Hun and Ma Yeong-Jun arrived just in time.

“Are you busy, Chairwoman Kang?”

“No, why?”

“The merger. I came to tell you that we settled on the conditions this morning.”

“Good work, mister.”

“It’s my job, after all.” Seol-Hun shrugged and then asked in all seriousness, “What about you? Are you feeling better now?”

“Me? Well, I’ve always been fine. Why?”

Seol-Hun knew that was a lie. From how Ra-Eun had been acting the last few days, she had not been fine at all. She had been conflicted over something. Seol-Hun knew that it had something to do with Han-Gyo, but not even he, one of her closest associates, knew why. However, it no longer mattered; now that Ra-Eun had regained her smile, his worries had completely vanished.

“I can’t really explain why, but I’ve been feeling like you’re gonna up and vanish one day.”

That was why Seol-Hun had told Ra-Eun to come back no matter what. Ra-Eun had also thought a lot about it because back then, she had not made up her mind whether or not to live on as a woman. However, when she had gone to the hospital late at night to put her revenge to an end at last, she had finally made up her mind after seeing all of the messages from people who were worried about her.

“I won’t be going anywhere. Rather, we’ll be getting even busier, so you’d better be prepared. Got it, mister?”

“I was born ready, so don’t worry about me,” Seol-Hun said confidently.

Yeong-Jun smiled after a long time as he watched over their conversation in silence.

***

While Ra-Eun was heading to the film set in Shin Yu-Bin’s car, she was busy talking with her older brother Kang Ra-Hyuk and her father on the phone. The call went on for very long because they were so worried that their little sister and daughter had been hurt due to the confrontation with Han-Gyo.

“I’m fine, so make sure you tell Dad not to worry so much.”

- You’re really fine, right?

“Are you gonna do something for me if I’m not?”

- Well...

“Don’t worry and just move on from it like always. That’d be more comfortable for me.”

Since the person herself was saying that, Ra-Hyuk couldn’t pry any further. The situation had been resolved well, and the public was basically treating the incident as if it never happened. Ra-Eun also wanted to focus on what she wanted to do, like her business and acting career.

Ra-Hyuk sighed.

- Okay. Make sure to tell me if there’s anything on your mind.

“Mm. Oh and...” Ra-Eun blushed a little. “...Thanks for worrying about me.”

If Ra-Hyuk had not called her back then, Ra-Eun might have become the same kind of human garbage as Han-Gyo. She was no longer Park Geon-Woo; she was Kang Ra-Eun, the girl who had been like a shining light to everyone around her since her high school days. She did not want to change that.

Ra-Hyuk was lost for words from hearing the rare occasion of gratitude from his little sister. Ra-Eun hung up in embarrassment as he was stuttering. Yu-Bin snickered as she witnessed that from the driver seat.

“You seem close with your brother.”

“We’re not close.”

Ra-Eun said that, but her relationship with Ra-Hyuk was quite good. She had thought of Ra-Hyuk as a stranger in the beginning, but she had to acknowledge it now; Ra-Hyuk and the siblings’ father had become an irreplaceable family to her.

‘How did that even end up happening?’

Ra-Eun suppressed a sigh while looking out the window with her chin resting on her hand.

‘Well, it’s not bad.’

She felt like she was getting more and more adjusted to her current life.

***

Despite the huge incident, Ra-Eun greeted the staff members as brightly as always. The staff members also did not go out of their way to bring up the incident with Han-Gyo. Not only was it not about anything good, it was also a huge nuisance to the person who had been involved if they kept bringing up something so sensitive, even if it had been resolved well.

In exchange, Director Yoon Tae-Yoon said concisely to Ra-Eun, “I’m sorry you had to go through that, but I’m glad it all worked out well.”

Ra-Eun smiled and replied, “It was nothing. I just told the truth, and the misunderstandings resolved themselves.”

“That man Kim Han-Gyo is to blame for all this. I never liked him ever since he was a politician. I hope the prosecution investigates him thoroughly and makes sure he gets punished for all of his crimes.”

The investigation was still ongoing. There was no one who would be backing up Han-Gyo, not even his seniors, juniors nor colleagues. Because the public was monitoring the entire situation with eagle eyes, it would not be glossed over half-assedly.

Even if there were signs that it was about to be, Ra-Eun would take measures so that it would not. She would make sure that Han-Gyo would end up either in a hospital or a prison cell.

“You know you have an important scene today, right?” Director Yoon asked.

Ra-Eun nodded. Today was when they would be shooting the scene where Kang Seo-Mi, played by Ra-Eun, kissed Min Woo-Chan, played by Je-Woon, after confirming their feelings for each other.

Ra-Eun in the past would have been immensely bothered by the kiss scene, but now that the massive wave that was Kim Han-Gyo had passed and she had already experienced a kiss scene with Ji Han-Seok in front of a bunch of people, she wasn’t feeling much pressured by today’s kiss scene. Rather, Je-Woon seemed far more nervous than her.

“Where’s Je-Woon sunbae?”

“He went to brush his teeth. I think it’s the third time today since he arrived on set.”

Je-Woon loved to stay clean, but he was going further than usual to the point of being a germaphobe today. Je-Woon wouldn’t stand for even a hint of bad breath. Je-Woon, who had completed his third brushing, came back to the set and met Ra-Eun.

“Hey, Ra-Eun.”

“Why are you brushing your teeth so much, sunbae?”

“Oh... J-Just ‘cause.”

Je-Woon couldn’t hide his embarrassment as Ra-Eun asked as if she was teasing him. She quickly got her makeup done, changed her clothes and did a quick script reading session with Je-Woon. After they went through their lines, the last line of text on the script caught their attention.

(The two people look at each other and kiss.)

There was no need to perform the act while script reading, but Ra-Eun suddenly closed the distance between her and Je-Woon. Je-Woon unwittingly gulped as he stared at Ra-Eun’s beautiful face right in front of him. She then stepped back.

“How was that angle?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Huh? Uhh... I-It wasn’t bad, but it was a bit too fast. I’m gonna be the one approaching you anyway, so I’ll take care of the pace.”

“Okay, sunbae.”

After the reading session, Ra-Eun went to the bathroom before the shoot began. Je-Woon sighed as soon as he was left alone.

“I thought my heart was gonna stop.”

His head was already blank just from practice, so he was already nervous about what the real thing would be like.

***

Take 1.

Ra-Eun and Je-Woon managed to finish all of their other scenes in just one take like professional actors.

“I’ve actually liked you for a long time.”

Je-Woon had ended up confessing to Ra-Eun for a second time. Of course, this confession was as Min Woo-Chan to Kang Seo-Mi, but he poured his heart into the confession as if he was actually confessing to Ra-Eun. Because of this, the staff members who were watching over his acting thought that his confession performance was extremely high-quality. However, people who knew about the relationship between Je-Woon and Ra-Eun would know that this was not a performance.

Seo-Mi, played by Ra-Eun, expressed slight surprise.

She said to her high school classmate who had managed to muster up the courage, “Why are you saying that now after all this time, idiot?”

Tears formed on Ra-Eun’s eyes. She curled up the corners of her mouth to express that they were tears of happiness.

“I like you too.”

They had confirmed their feelings for each other. Je-Woon slowly approached Ra-Eun first, put his arms around her waist and carefully placed his lips onto hers. Their kiss went on for a long time. The camera focused on Ra-Eun, who had her eyes slightly closed.

‘Come to think of it, this is my third kiss with a man.’

Ra-Eun almost chuckled. Seo Yi-Jun, Han-Seok, and now Je-Woon. Not even she knew how it ended up this way.

As soon as Director Yoon okayed the take, Je-Woon said to himself, “Maybe I should’ve brushed my teeth one more time.”

“Not at all. It was good, so you don’t have to worry about it, sunbae.”

“It was good? The kiss with me was good?”

Ra-Eun lightly punched Je-Woon’s arm.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Sorry. It was just a joke.”

Je-Woon thought as he saw Ra-Eun lightly giggling that it had been worth it to brush his teeth multiple times.