I Returned as a High School Girl

Kang Ra-Eun’s gaze focused on the end of Seo Yi-Jun’s ballpoint pen. She immediately catched on from the unmoving pen that he was hesitating to sign the contract.

“Is there something you don’t like among the conditions? Tell me and I’ll get Mr. Park to modify it right away.”

“No. There’s nothing like that.”

The conditions of employment weren’t bad; rather, the conditions were just right for Yi-Jun, who was still a student. The salary was also quite handsome like Park Seol-Hun had mentioned, but Yi-Jun was reluctant to sign the contract despite all that.

“Um, Noona.” 𝘣𝑒𝑑𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝘤𝑜𝑚

“What is it?”

“Do I have to sign this contract right away?”

“No, it’s nothing urgent. Mr. Park also said that you can take your time.”

“Then could I sign it later?”

“...”

Although she was not showing it, Ra-Eun was quite surprised by Yi-Jun’s decision to put off the contract signing. Yi-Jun had always said himself that he wanted to work at Levanche, so she couldn’t help but find it weird that his attitude had suddenly changed.

‘Well, I’m sure he’s getting offers from tons of other companies.’

It was not a bad idea for him to compare Levanche’s conditions of employment with those of other companies. After all, the choice was up to Yi-Jun to make. Although Ra-Eun would be sad if he chose to work at a different company, she did not want to force him to come work for them simply out of attachment.

“Okay. Take your time thinking it through,” Ra-Eun expressed.

“I’m sorry, Noona.”

“It’s okay. It’s your prerogative to choose the company that offers you better conditions. I have no place to meddle with that.”

“No. It’s not because I’ve been offered a job from someplace else.”

“Then why?”

“...” Yi-Jun hesitated to answer.

It had been because he had recently come to realize that being way too close to Ra-Eun could possibly become a detriment to the possibility of a romantic relationship blooming between them. Hence, Yi-Jun had been thinking it would be a good idea to distance himself a little from her. However, he couldn’t tell her this.

“I’ll tell you when I get the chance next time,” he said.

“Since when have you been this secretive?”

“I’m not sure myself.”

Yi-Jun did not want to do this either, but he had no choice this time. That was how important Ra-Eun was to him.

***

As Ra-Eun was being driven back home after a film shoot, Chief Jung, who had come to the set, brought something up to her.

“Ra-Eun. Do you have some free time next week?”

“Free time?”

“You see...”

Chief Jung seemed troubled; it did not look to be about something good.

“You know Jeong-Yun, right?”

“Choi Jeong-Yun sunbae? Yes.”

She was an actress in the same agency as Ra-Eun, who had debuted three years earlier than her. They were not awfully close, but Ra-Eun had a fairly good impression of Jeong-Yun because she had taught Ra-Eun things that she did not know about back when they had starred in a drama together.

“Some family matters came up for her, so she can’t appear in a program that had already been scheduled for her next week. So, I was hoping you’d go on the show as a substitute.”

“Which program?” Ra-Eun asked.

“The Great Escape. You know it, right?”

“Oh, that one?”

It was a variety show with an escape room theme. It was so popular that it would have five whole seasons in the future. Ra-Eun also watched it whenever she had time after work.

‘I’ve wanted to go on it at least once.’

She had never expected to get the opportunity in such a way.

.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Really?”

Even if he had asked, Chief Jung considered the possibility of Ra-Eun saying yes to be low, so he couldn’t help but be surprised by the result.

“But would the program director be okay with that?” Ra-Eun asked.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I feel bad for Jeong-Yun for saying this, but the program director would much prefer you than her. Please keep what I just said a secret from Jeong-Yun.”

“Okay.”

Ra-Eun was a very tight-lipped woman; she could keep a secret of that level.

***

Ra-Eun had agreed to appear on the program because she frequently enjoyed watching it, but she had never expected to meet Yi-Jun on the set.

“You decided to appear on this too?” she asked.

“Yes. I got an offer out of the blue, and I agreed since I thought it’d be fun. But why are you here, Noona? I didn’t hear anything about you when I had the meeting with the program director...”

“I’m a substitute for Jeong-Yun sunbae. In any case, I guess this is the first time we’re appearing on a show together. I’ll be in your care.”

“Same here.”

They saw each other all the time at home, but it was a completely new feeling to see each other on a set. A familiar face arrived on the set as well.

“Yi-Jun!”

Hye-Ryeong, a famous idol as well as Yi-Jun’s fan, had been casted to appear on The Great Escape as well, simply for the reason that Yi-Jun would be appearing on it. Hye-Ryeong belatedly greeted Ra-Eun as well, and then took out a tumbler from her handbag to give to Yi-Jun.

“I made this tea. It’s gotten cold lately, so have some of this,” she said.

“Thank you very much, Hye-Ryeong.”

“We decided to speak casually with each other, didn’t we?”

“Oh... We did.”

As they were chatting it up while laughing, a staff member called Hye-Ryeong.

“Hey.” Ra-Eun poked Yi-Jun’s side with her elbow the moment Hye-Ryeong left. “You two seem to be hitting it off. Are you two dating?”

“It’s nothing like that, Noona.”

“...”

Ra-Eun tried to think that it was none of her business whether or not Yi-Jun got along with Hye-Ryeong, but...

‘I’m pissed off for some reason.’

An ominous feeling began to rise up within her.

***

The cast members had been locked up in a place akin to a prison. The nine members had not been locked up in the same area; they had been divided into teams of three, one of the teams being Yi-Jun, Ra-Eun and Hye-Ryeong.

Yi-Jun sighed while scratching his head as he combed through the room.

“Man... I have no clue about any of them.”

They needed to find clues that the staff members had left to open the lock, but Yi-Jun couldn’t make sense of the clues even after finding them. Hye-Ryeong was also in the same shoes. The two of them were blankly staring at a 3x3 number keypad.

Yi-Jun turned to ask Ra-Eun, who had been silent for a while now, “What do you think, Noona?”

“Me? About what?”

“The code. Do you think you can solve it?”

“I’d already solved it a long time ago.”

“Huh? Really?’

Ra-Eun had been silent only for two reasons; the show wouldn’t have enough content if they had solved it way too quickly, and she wanted to give chances for Yi-Jun and Hye-Ryeong to shine.

Hye-Ryeong remarked in astonishment, “I thought you were silent because you also had no idea like us.”

One of Ra-Eun’s eyebrows slightly twitched.

‘Does this girl think I’m brainless?’

Ra-Eun had not liked Hye-Ryeong from the start despite this being their first time meeting, also the fact that she was being overly friendly to Yi-Jun.

She remarked while pointing at the keypad, “Don’t just look at the numbers. Take a look at the arrows next to them as well. Okay, let’s try the first one step by step.”

Ra-Eun started from the top corner, and then followed the arrows down, down, right, right, up, up, left and then left.

“You see? We made a zero. We just do the same thing for the rest of them.”

“Oh my, you’re right!”

“Wow... You’re so smart, Noona.”

‘No, you guys are just dim-witted,’ Ra-Eun thought, but barely managed to suppress it from coming out.

And just like that, Ra-Eun managed to deduce the four numbers of the lock combination.

Ker-chunk!

The lock opened like she had predicted. Their team had been the first to escape.

“Let’s go search for the others.”

“Okay.”

Hye-Ryeong suddenly clung to Yi-Jun while walking down a long hallway.

“I’m so scared, Yi-Jun. Could you stay by my side?”

“U-Umm...”

Yi-Jun unconsciously looked over at Ra-Eun. Like he had expected, she was staring daggers their way. Yi-Jun thought that Ra-Eun was far scarier than this hallway.

***

Team Ra-Eun had finally managed to meet up with the others. As they were solving the puzzles one by one, darkness suddenly enveloped them. The cast members were in a fluster. As Yi-Jun was hanging around while trying to figure out what was going on, he suddenly felt a warm sensation on his left arm. Someone had hugged his arm. As he was about to ask who it was...

“Be quiet.”

Yi-Jun froze from the familiar female voice. He had thought it was Hye-Ryeong at first, but it had been Ra-Eun, the woman whom he liked, who had suddenly linked arms with him.

Ra-Eun looked up at him while sulking and said, “What? I’m scared, too.”

She was scared of ghosts, not the dark. But despite that, she pulled Yi-Jun closer to her. Yi-Jun unwittingly laughed as he witnessed this side of Ra-Eun.

Ra-Eun asked irritatingly, “Got a problem?”

“No, of course not.”

Yi-Jun had thought that he should maintain a certain distance from Ra-Eun, but that thought had already blown away. He was the happiest in his entire life when he was this close to her, so he couldn’t understand why he should keep his distance. Having realized that he had been wrong, he reached for his waist and turned off the mic attached to him.

He then whispered to Ra-Eun so that no one could hear them, “Noona. You’ll be going straight home once the shoot is over, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll sign the contract when we get home.”

Yi-Jun’s straying feelings had once again taken its course back toward Ra-Eun. She smiled. Yi-Jun could see her radiant smile as clear as day despite them being in the dark.

“You should’ve done so from the start, punk,” Ra-Eun expressed.

“You’re right. I’m sorry for making you worry, Noona.”

Yi-Jun had come to realize once again that he only had feelings for Ra-Eun.