I Returned as a High School Girl

Kang Ra-Eun suppressed her laugh as she watched Joo Yeon-Ha venting her rage.

‘I heard that Congressman Jin Pil-Oh has quite the personality, but so does this woman.’

It was obvious that they hadn’t been a match for each other, considering they both had such strong personalities. Relationships were built on compromises and considerations; only fights would ensue if both parties asserted only their own opinions. Ra-Eun could feel that she had accomplished her goal as she watched Yeon-Ha fuming.

Just then, Han-Seok, who had gone out of the room for a quick call, returned. He tilted his head in wonder at seeing Yeon-Ha’s purple face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Huh? No, it’s nothing.”

Yeon-Ha knew that she would only be smearing herself with disgrace if she disclosed her private circumstances to her nephew, so she played it cool and went outside to cool down for a little.

Han-Seok then asked Ra-Eun, “Did something happen while I was away?” 𝒃𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝒍.𝒐𝙧𝒈

Ra-Eun smiled as she picked up a slice of pork rib that Yeon-Ha had cooked.

“No, nothing happened.”

Han-Seok was confused for a while as the two women responded as if they had come to a mutual understanding.

***

“Chef Joo,” Ra-Eun called out to Yeon-Ha before leaving the restaurant and handed her a name card. “This is the number of the acquaintance that I had mentioned. They’ll organize everything that you want to divulge and publish it in an article.”

“Thank you so much, Ra-Eun. I’ll make sure to repay you next time.”

“It’s no problem at all. I’ll hope for the matter to be resolved amicably.”

However, there was no way that it would. The moment that the battle between Jin Pil-Oh and Yeon-Ha came up to the surface for all to see, it would only reach a satisfying resolution long after they had made an exhibition of themselves.

Ra-Eun got into Han-Seok’s car. Before starting the engine, Han-Seok asked about what had happened back at the restaurant again.

“Whose name card did you give her?”

“One of my reporter acquaintances.”

“A reporter? Why?”

“You’ll find out soon enough on the news.”

Kim Han-Gyo’s right and left hands would soon be indisposed. All that awaited him after that was to be expelled from his party.

***

Like Ra-Eun had said, an article containing the real reason for Congressman Jin Pil-Oh and Joo Yeon-Ha’s divorce was uploaded to the internet not long after. The article was written by Ahn Su-Jin. Pil-Oh unintentionally cursed as soon as he saw the name.

“Fucking bitch! Not her again!”

Pil-Oh also knew Su-Jin very well since she had been one of the culprits who had driven Han-Gyo, the man whom he served, into the verge of ruin. Although Ra-Eun was the true mastermind, Su-Jin had acted as Ra-Eun’s voice to tell people about Han-Gyo’s injustices to the entire nation. Pil-Oh couldn’t get Su-Jin’s name out of his head since she had mainly been the one in the light.

Just like Ra-Eun had persuaded... no, led Yeon-Ha into doing, multiple articles reporting that Yeon-Ha had filed a lawsuit against Pil-Oh for never paying back what he had borrowed from her, began to spread. It had been the complete opposite of what Pil-Oh had said in the interview about Yeon-Ha being severely possessive.

Only the two of them knew the whole truth. But besides that, just the fact that he had become the main focus of a scandal had been enough to deal massive damage to his reputation. Pil-Oh had been the only one among Han-Gyo’s close associates who had a relatively okay image in the eyes of the public, but that had been completely shattered.

The air of the party, which had already been bad due to Han-Gyo, was getting even worse. Pil-Oh decided to turn off his smartphone entirely because he had been getting barraged with calls. Han-Gyo, who was sitting across from Pil-Oh, squeezed his temple with his left hand. He had been suffering from a splitting headache since earlier.

“I believe I had told you to watch that mouth of yours, wherever you were,” Han-Gyo uttered in a low tone, terrifying Pil-Oh.

“I-I’m sorry...”

He and Jo Su-Hwang had ended up in the same boat as Han-Gyo while trying to stick up for him. Han-Gyo had now lost everyone that could cover for him. He could no longer think of any way to sort this out. Despair began to seep into his head for the first time in his life.

***

Just the fact that Ra-Eun had kept Pil-Oh and Su-Hwang in check had been a massive plus for her.

‘Now, the anti-Kim Han-Gyo faction will grow influence within the party without me even laying a finger.’

She expected that she wouldn’t have to do anything in particular anymore, but she couldn’t let her guard down. She had to always be wary of the chance that Han-Gyo would find a way out of the mess. She needed to drill into her head that she could never let her guard down when it came to Kim Han-Gyo.

‘I’d been betrayed by him exactly because I had let my guard down.’

Ra-Eun now needed to take every single possibility into consideration. She could forgive herself for making a mistake once, but never twice. She summoned Ma Yeong-Jun and ordered him to place Han-Gyo under watch twenty-four seven.

He sighed and expressed, “We sure don’t get a break.”

“You can hire more people if you need to. You already know that I’m not stingy about that kind of stuff, don’t you?”

It was not like they were poor. Not just that, Ra-Eun was willing to make any kind of investment if it had something to do with her revenge. Despite that, Yeong-Jun shook his head to express that it was okay.

“I wasn’t serious. We don’t need more people for something like that. Also, it’s super easy to keep an eye on him since he’s been cooped up in his house for the last few days.”

They did not need to tail him anywhere since he did not go anywhere. Han-Gyo knew that it would only be a detriment to himself if he were to show himself to the public now, so he had buried himself in his hole on purpose. He seemed to believe that time would take care of this mess, like every other predicament that he had ever been in. But of course, Ra-Eun would not sit tight and let that happen.

“Tell Reporter Ahn to leak sources that weren’t revealed during the general election. We won’t be able to use them if not now,” Ra-Eun said.

“Got it,” Yeong-Jun replied.

He nodded and then turned around to leave her office, but then thought of the question that he had asked her a while back.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard your answer yet,” he remarked.

“My answer to what?”

“About what you were going to do after you chased Kim Han-Gyo out of politics.”

He still had not received an answer from Ra-Eun about her plans after her revenge. There was only one answer that she could give at this moment.

“I’m still thinking about it.”

***

Spokesperson was removed from all cinemas after the final screening of the day. Ra-Eun was impressed by the final total attendance.

[Total attendance: 14,847,037]

Significantly more people had come to watch the film compared to everyone’s expectations, thanks to the press that it had received from the battle for Jongno between Hong Oh-Yeon and Kim Han-Gyo. It had now become the most popular production that Ra-Eun had ever starred in.

‘It went beyond my expectations.’

She had known that the film would become a hit, but had never expected over 14 million people to watch it. Ra-Eun had ended up needing to shoot a kiss scene because of it, but she didn’t care anymore.

‘After all, my goal to expel Kim Han-Gyo from politics is almost complete.’

Today, the statement of the newly-elected congresspersons to expel Han-Gyo from the party had been officially announced to the public. The majority of the party members expressed their agreement since it was the obvious choice to throw the captain that was trying to sink the ship, off of it. But of course, more time was needed to see where the situation would head since it might turn in a direction that Ra-Eun had never expected.

‘Mr. Ma said that he would report to me if anything happens.’

If not Yeong-Jun, then Congresswoman Hong would contact Ra-Eun first if her opposing party was doing anything suspicious. All that Ra-Eun needed to do now was to wait.

‘I’ve waited years ever since becoming a high school girl. I can wait a few days.’

Ra-Eun felt like she had now become a master of patience. Even now, she was waiting for someone in her office. She stood up from her chair the moment she heard a knock on her door. The door opened to reveal Park Seol-Hun, along with Chairman Ji and Ji Han-Seok.

Ra-Eun brightly greeted the two of them, “I’ve been waiting for you. Please take a seat here.”

There were many factors that had led to Han-Gyo losing the general election, but Chairman Ji’s part in it had been considerably large. Han-Gyo had not been able to hold his ideal campaign because Chairman Ji had restricted his funds necessary for it. Ra-Eun belatedly thanked Chairman Ji for that.

“Thank you very much for accepting my request, Chairman.”

“How could I not when it’s your request, my dear?” Chairman Ji exclaimed.

Ra-Eun smiled in response.

“That aside, it’s my first time here, and I’m very impressed with the place.”

This was Chairman Ji’s first time visiting Levanche headquarters, and the same went for Han-Seok. It was only after his mention had Ra-Eun realized the fact.

“Why don’t you take a look around the building, now that you’re here?” she suggested.

“That sounds great.”

The three of them stood up as soon as they had just sat down. It was not time for people to clock out yet, so the desks were full with people. As soon as Ra-Eun appeared with Chairman Ji, Director Do Hye-Yeong strongly jabbed Yeong-Jun’s side with her elbow. He, who had been engrossed in idol girl groups with earphones on like always, awkwardly coughed and pretended to be working hard.

Ra-Eun said while gesturing toward the work space, “Although it’s tiny compared to Do-Dam Group, We try our best to keep the work environment as neat and proper as possible.”

“The size of a company doesn’t matter; what truly matters is its values.”

Chairman Ji knew better than anyone else that having a large building was pointless.

“You have to ensure internal stability. From my experience of running a company, I’ve come to learn that results matter far more than aesthetics.”

“I will keep that in mind, Chairman.”

Chairman Ji was bewildered by how formal Ra-Eun was.

“Oh, I didn’t come here to talk about things like this. I’m sorry for getting so serious,” he softly laughed while reproaching himself. “That’s how much I consider you as family, so try not to take what I just said too seriously.”

“Okay, Chairman.”

The mention of Ra-Eun being like family embarrassed Han-Seok.