I Returned as a High School Girl

“We’re here, Seon-Hye,” her manager remarked.

Seon-Hye slowly got out of the car, the chilly winter wind enveloping her. She shivered, but wasn’t sure whether it was because of the cold or the anxiety. The two of them quickly entered the studio to escape the cold. She had gotten more or less accustomed to a set since she had been active as a singer for a while, but...

“Being in a drama set feels awkward no matter how many times I come to one.”

Her manager giggled quietly.

“Don’t be so nervous. You did well during the last shoot, didn’t you? Are you still not used to the environment yet?”

“I’m still in the middle of getting used to it, but... I’m even more nervous because the person who I’ll be working with today is such an amazing person.”

“I get that. After all, she’s probably the most famous actress in Korea.”

As they were talking, the topic of their conversation walked into the studio. The woman was shining even without a spotlight on her. The staff members greeted the woman who was pretty much the epitome of a celebrity.

“Good morning, Ra-Eun!”

“We’ll be in your care today as well!”

Kang Ra-Eun greeted them back while slightly bowing her head. She had debuted when she was a high school girl, and had risen to become Korea’s poster actress. To Seon-Hye, who was dreaming of becoming both a singer and actress, Ra-Eun was her role model. It was her first time meeting Ra-Eun ever since she had debuted as a celebrity.

Ra-Eun spoke first once she saw Seon-Hye, “Ethel, right?”

Ethel was Seon-Hye’s singer alias.

Seon-Hye replied extremely nervously, “Yes, I am. I will be in your care today, sunbae! I look forward to your guidance!”

Ra-Eun smiled at how enthusiastic Seon-Hye was.

“Same to you.”

Seon-Hye’s mind momentarily turned blank the moment that she witnessed a smile that would charm even women. While Ra-Eun had gone to have a script reading session with Ji Han-Seok, Seon-Hye’s manager poked her side.

“What are you doing? You need to go get your makeup done.”

“Ah, okay!”

She had been charmed by Ra-Eun before she had even realized it.

***

After the short script reading session, Ra-Eun drank some water and checked her watch. Han-Seok softly laughed.

“You said you have plans this evening, right?”

“Yes, with Je-Woon sunbae. I think it’s been two years since we’d last met.”

“I’d bet. He’s been super busy working hard overseas lately.”

Bex had pretty much become a globally famous group, and Je-Woon’s popularity was head and shoulders above that of the other members. For the last two years, the group had been traveling the world while working on albums, so they had been given a three-month break before working on their next album. The first thing that Je-Woon did when he got the break was make dinner plans with Ra-Eun.

Ra-Eun asked Han-Seok while staring at her smartphone, “Would you like to join us, Han-Seok oppa?”

Han-Seok’s heart throbbed from the word ‘oppa’. It had not been very long since Ra-Eun had changed the way that she addressed Han-Seok from ‘sunbae’ to ‘oppa’; about three weeks ago at most. Hence, Han-Seok felt like he was on cloud nine every single time Ra-Eun called him ‘oppa’. But that aside...

“No, I’m fine, so you two can have fun.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. We’ve been hanging out a lot with just the two of us lately, but it’s been two years for Je-Woon. The fight should be fair, don’t you think?”

Ra-Eun smiled bitterly. Despite it having been three years since her revenge had been fulfilled, the two men were still in love with Ra-Eun. They had thought that their feelings for Ra-Eun would fade with time, but it had been the opposite; their feelings for her had only gotten stronger with time.

Han-Seok’s heart beat every single time he saw Ra-Eun, who had become even more womanly than before. He was like this when he saw Ra-Eun often, so he wondered how Je-Woon would react.

“He might cancel his overseas plans and stay in Korea the moment he sees you,” Han-Seok expressed.

“Come on, there\'s no way.”

Ra-Eun thought Han-Seok was overreacting, but Han-Seok was sure that Je-Woon would do something like that, considering his personality.

“Are you going off to see Je-Woon as soon as the shoot is over?”

“No. A younger guy I know is going off to France to learn design, so I have to take him to Incheon Airport first.”

“Seo Yi-Jun, right? He’s been on TV a lot lately. He’s tall and handsome, so he has a lot of female fans.”

“He said he thinks he has a knack for TV.”

Yi-Jun had become a TV sensation just like Ra-Eun after consistently appearing on shows. Ra-Eun was proud of him after having seen his progress from up close.

“Does he like you too?” Han-Seok asked sharply.

However, Ra-Eun answered in a roundabout way.

“I’m not sure. People sometimes don’t know how they themselves feel, much less someone else entirely.”

This was obviously a lie. Ra-Eun knew very well that Yi-Jun still had feelings for her. He had even confessed to her indirectly while they were drinking together.

“As popular as always, Ra-Eun.”

Ra-Eun was popular among both men and women. She used to find it exhausting, but she had gotten used to it. In the first place, it wasn’t a bad thing to have people liking her.

***

Ra-Eun parked her car near the airport and headed to the trunk with the Seo siblings. Yi-Jun took out a large suitcase and a small backpack, and smiled at the two women.

“I’m off.”

“Have a safe trip,” Seo Yi-Seo said.

“Call me if you’re having trouble. We have a Levanche branch there, so I’ll have them take care of things if necessary.”

Yi-Jun’s load on his shoulders had gotten lighter thanks to Ra-Eun’s reliable words.

“Okay, noona.”

“Don’t get distracted by the pretty French women. Don’t forget that you’re there to study.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, noona. I only have eyes for one woman.”

The three of them all knew who that woman was. Ra-Eun smirked and lightly punched Yi-Jun’s shoulder.

“Stop being stupid and get out of here.”

“Okay. I’ll see you both in two months!”

After sending off Yi-Jun, they went back into the car. Yi-Seo sighed as she got in the passenger seat.

Ra-Eun turned to Yi-Seo and said, “Are you worried about Yi-Jun?”

“I guess... Yeah.”

“You don’t have to worry about him. Yi-Jun can take care of himself just fine.”

He had been doing so for a while now. He was no longer the little brother that Yi-Seo had to look out for. Yi-Jun had grown into a reliable and trustworthy man, and Ra-Eun’s trust in him was as strong as ever.

***

After taking Yi-Seo home, Ra-Eun went to have a late dinner with Je-Woon in a purple one-piece dress.

Je-Woon expressed, “I’ve fallen in love with you all over again after two years.”

“And you’ve become a complete casanova during these two years, sunbae.”

“Casanova? What do you mean?”

“You never used to use sly pickup lines like that before.”

“I’d appreciate it if you could consider it as a rise in frequency of being honest with my feelings to the woman I like instead.”

“Okay, okay.”

Je-Woon asked Ra-Eun, who was slicing the meat small enough to have it in one bite.

“How’s your company doing? Levanche seems to be doing really well lately.”

“We’re planning on opening more branches in California and Texas. We’re going to be taking a proper hold of America, and then move on to other countries.”

“Levanche is pretty much dominating the Korean market, isn’t it?”

“Yes, based on market shares.”

Their sales were no joke either. Not just that, Ra-Eun had succeeded in amassing massive wealth through investing in cryptocurrency lately. Since she was a successful businesswoman, investor, celebrity, had perfect looks and figure, and even a great personality on top of that, she was getting offers from pretty much every single industry.

“How about you move on to Hollywood? You worked with them a little bit before, didn’t you?”

Despite Hollywood wanting Ra-Eun, she was adamant on staying in Korea, and had a valid reason for doing so.

“I found something that I need to do,” she stated.

“What is it?”

Ra-Eun smiled meaningfully.

“You’ll find out soon.”

She was as full of secrets as always.

***

The next day, Ra-Eun arrived at her office in Levanche and summoned Park Seol-Hun, Ma Yeong-Jun, So Ha-Jin and her other close associates.

“I happened to see some interesting news.”

Yeong-Jun reacted first, “Are you talking about the news regarding Kim Han-Gyo? That was a week ago.”

Han-Gyo had been unable to escape hospital life to the very end, and had passed away a week ago due to aggravations in his health. On the day that the formerly influential politician passed away, Ra-Eun celebrated by herself. She had thought that her revenge had ended then and there, but...

“There’s still one left.”

She put up an article on a projector. It was written by Reporter Ahn Su-Jin. The headline went:

[Kim Han-Gyo’s son Kim Chi-Yeol declares his return to politics. “I want to restore me and my father\'s honor.”]

Chi-Yeol, who had recently gotten out of prison, had declared his return to politics. Seol-Hun feigned laughter as soon as he saw the article.

“There’s no way that’d actually work.”

The political world had no intention of letting Chi-Yeol back in, but he continued to express his will to do so.

Ra-Eun said while pointing at the article, “Kim Han-Gyo may be dead, but his son is still alive.”

She looked toward her associates.

“Let’s start back up the revenge that had been left on pause.”

An ending was a new beginning. Ra-Eun’s second beginning was about to begin.