I Returned as a High School Girl

The opinion to expel Kim Han-Gyo from the party was beginning to take flight. To stop this, the senior congresspersons who were considered to be Han-Gyo’s left and right hands stepped up to stop it in its tracks.

Congressman Jo Su-Hwang called a few congresspersons by using a meal as an excuse.

“After all that Congressman Kim Han-Gyo has done for our party, isn’t it a clear betrayal to abandon him at his time of need? Huh?”

The congresspersons couldn’t refute Su-Hwang’s claims since he wasn’t wrong. All of them knew how hard Han-Gyo had worked for the party ever since his newly elected days. Although the process itself had not been free of sins, it was undoubtedly thanks to Han-Gyo that their formerly meager party had risen to its current power. Hence, the congresspersons couldn’t say anything in opposition to Su-Hwang’s words.

Just then, one of the congresspersons sprang up from his seat while slamming the table with his hand and said, “What would you have us do, then? Do you want us to drag Congressman Kim with us? We’re all going to drown at this rate!”

It was Woo Seong-Hyuk, a congressperson who had entered the party around the same time as Su-Hwang. He had also been one of the people who had been helped by Han-Gyo, so no one had expected him to stand against Han-Gyo.

“You of all people shouldn’t be saying something like that, Congressman Woo!”

“Nonsense. Then do you seriously believe it makes sense to let the entire party die just for the sake of Congressman Kim?”

“That’s...”

Su-Hwang was appealing to the congresspersons’ emotions and sympathy, but Seong-Hyuk was using cold hard facts to persuade them.

“You need to take an objective view as well, Congressman Joo. If you truly want to help Congressman Kim, we have to stay alive first. Only then will we even have a choice to help him. Who will help him if we go down with him? Rather, will there even be anyone who will help us in our time of need?”

“...”

“I ask all of you to think carefully as well. Think of it not as a betrayal, but a small sacrifice that we must make for the future.”

Congressman Woo got up and left after leaving them with that line. He looked around him after he had gotten far enough away from the meeting place, and then called someone.

- Hello?

The voice on the other side of the phone had been changed by a device so much that Seong-Hyuk could not tell whether it was a man or a woman.

He continued while wiping his sweat with the back of his hand, “I did as you said.”

- Good work.

“As promised, don’t ever let those documents reach the hands of reporters.”

The person on the other side of the phone softly laughed.

- Your voice is severely trembling, Congressman. Are you okay?

“...!”

Seong-Hyuk hurriedly coughed to clear his throat. The confidence that he had shown earlier had completely vanished. Now, he was nothing more than a rabbit trembling before a lion. On the other hand, the tone of the person on the other side of the phone was overflowing with leisure as if they were looking right at Seong-Hyuk.

- I understand. Like you’ve requested, the documents regarding Yi-Jeong Industries will never see the light of day.

Seong-Hyuk was finally able to smile, but it was not over yet.

- But what to do? It looks like Yi-Jeong Industries isn’t the only company that you’d been taking bribes from.

“Y-You...!”

- So, I will greatly appreciate your cooperation in the days to come. If you don’t want to end up in the same boat as Congressman Kim Han-Gyo, that is.

The person then hung up. Seong-Hyuk gritted his teeth while clenching his smartphone.

“Dammit! Motherfucker...!!!”

***

Kang Ra-Eun put down her smartphone while giggling. One party always held power over the other as soon as a weakness was discovered. At this moment, Ra-Eun held absolute power over Seong-Hyuk. Not just Seong-Hyuk, but many other congresspersons in the party that Han-Gyo was in were in the same position as Seong-Hyuk. Ra-Eun was planning on making them promote the opinion of expelling Han-Gyo. However, for this plan to fully bloom...

‘I need to destroy Jo Su-Hwang and Jin Pil-Oh.’

The miniboss needed to be defeated before the final boss; that was how games worked. As a player of that game, Ra-Eun was planning on taking the proper steps to clear it. And of course, she had no intention of playing fairly.

‘Ploys are necessary from time to time.’

Ra-Eun put the file containing information on Woo Seong-Hyuk into a drawer, and then took out a file containing information on Jo Su-Hwang and Jin Pil-Oh.

“This bastard Jo Su-Hwang is by no means spick and span either.”

It was as expected of one of Han-Gyo’s close associates. He had made hundreds of millions of unjust profits through various public projects alone.

‘He had even been involved in site selection for new cities. I knew it was weird.’

Congressman Jo Su-Hwang had bought a massive region of land for a new city five months before the public announcement had been made. After the public announcement from the government, the land prices skyrocketed. This was only the tip of the iceberg; he had been involved in countless more injustices.

‘It’s not that this country has no money, but just that there are too many thieves.’

Ra-Eun was also planning on using the information that she had to blackmail Su-Hwang. But more importantly, the past life information of the other one, Congressman Jin Pil-Oh, caught Ra-Eun’s attention.

‘I never thought I’d see Chef Joo Yeon-Ha’s name on here.’

It was as if the heavens were aiding her revenge.

***

Congressman Jin Pil-Oh and Joo Yeon-Ha had registered for marriage in the past, but had gotten officially divorced only one year after. Ra-Eun was extremely curious about why they had gotten divorced, and had come to find out that Pil-Oh had been the problem after getting Ma Yeong-Jun to investigate further.

‘Congressman Jin kept borrowing money from Chef Joo to set up his business.’

It would be no problem if he had paid her back, but he had still not to this day.

‘They must have gotten divorced because of the money.’

After further investigation, Ra-Eun had also found out that after the divorce, Yeon-Ha had also filed a civil lawsuit against Pil-Oh due to money matters.

‘If I use this well...’

Ra-Eun could drive Congressman Jin Pil-Oh into the ground. It was not a bad idea to blackmail Pil-Oh like she had just done with Seong-Hyuk, but there was a much better way. She picked up her smartphone once again after having devised the perfect plan to bring down Pil-Oh, and searched for a certain someone in her contacts. A name showed up on her display.

[Ji Han-Seok sunbae]

“Since it’s been a while, I’ll ask sunbae to treat me to something delicious.”

But of course, that was not Ra-Eun’s true objective.

***

Han-Seok had been rather surprised to get a call from Ra-Eun first since she rarely called him for anything. He had no idea why she had asked to meet him, but decided to agree to a meeting anyway. They had decided on a time and place that could get them away from the public eye.

Ra-Eun arrived at the restaurant that Han-Seok’s acquaintance owned. She discovered him sitting at a window table and quickly walked up to him.

“Sunbae.”

“Oh, hey.”

Ra-Eun was wearing casual clothes unlike her getup during the stage event, but Han-Seok liked this look of hers very much as well.

“I’d never expected you to suggest we have a meal first,” he remarked.

“Why is that?”

“Well, just because it rarely happens, especially as of late.”

Ra-Eun had been extremely busy lately, so she had not been making any special dinner plans with anyone.

“Is there something that you want to ask from me?” Han-Seok asked.

He had a strong feeling that Ra-Eun had called him out to ask something from him. Ra-Eun pretended to be hesitant. Seeing that, Han-Seok smiled as softly as possible to make her feel at ease.

“You can tell me. What is it?”

“To tell you the truth... I met your aunt after the stage event.”

“My younger aunt?”

“I’m not sure about that. I only got her name, Joo Yeon-Ha.”

“Yeah, that’s my younger aunt.” 𝙗𝒆𝒅𝙣𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒏𝙚𝙩

There had been no one but Yeon-Ha among Han-Seok’s relatives who had been in the event venue at the time, so he had been able to easily infer the identity of the relative that Ra-Eun had met.

“But what about her?” Han-Seok asked.

“She gave me her card. It seemed like she owned a restaurant, but it would be a bit weird if I visited by myself. So, I called you to ask if you’d be okay with accompanying me.”

Ra-Eun needed a catalyst to get even closer with Yeon-Ha, and she believed that Han-Seok would be perfect for that role. Han-Seok accepted her request without a second thought.

“Okay. She had actually asked me to come visit at least once. I haven’t been able to because I’ve been so busy, but I should take this opportunity to go.”

“Thank you very much, sunbae.”

“There’s no need to thank me.”

Ra-Eun had fulfilled her objective, but she had fulfilled it way too soon.

‘What should I talk about now?’

She had no idea what to do now.

***

They had just finished their dinner, but Han-Seok found it a shame to just part after this.

He pointed to a lake park in the distance and asked Ra-Eun, “Why don’t we have some coffee over there?”

“Sure.”

Coffee was the perfect drink after a meal. Ra-Eun had also been craving some coffee, so she immediately agreed. There was barely anyone in the park; it was the middle of the night, so the lamps beautifully lit the park.

The two of them walked to a bench near the lake. Han-Seok took out a handkerchief and laid it on the bench before Ra-Eun took a seat.

“Thank you, sunbae. You’re such a gentleman.”

“This is nothing.”

Han-Seok was extremely courteous to others. Ra-Eun had approached Han-Seok simply to form a connection with him in the beginning, but she now held him in very high regard.

As they were warming up their bodies with the warm coffee, Han-Seok asked, “You said that you’re not thinking of starring in a production anytime soon, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Ra-Eun had decided to take a break from productions. Han-Seok sipped his coffee and looked toward the lake. However, his words were undoubtedly directed at her.

“Ra-Eun.”

“Yes?”

He then spoke after having made some sort of resolution.

“Don’t shoot that kiss scene with any other guy.”