I Returned as a High School Girl

Kang Ra-Eun’s head once again turned into jumbles due to Je-Woon’s honest confession. Like she had thought, her expectation had been spot on.

“When I held you close on stage, I thought that I didn’t want to lose you to any other man. So, my head was getting closer to yours before I had even realized it.”

“...”

“But I realized after you closed your eyes tightly that I was only thinking of myself. Selfishly doing only what I want without thinking about how you feel isn’t courteous at all, so that’s why I stopped midway.”

The mystery had finally been solved. Je-Woon bowed to Ra-Eun.

“I should’ve apologized way earlier than this. I’m really sorry.”

“N-No. It’s not like we actually kissed. Ultimately, it turned out fine, and the staff members were saying that the choreography was filled with more emotion than during the rehearsal. You don’t have to let it bother you so much.”

Ra-Eun was the one to be flustered due to Je-Woon’s sincere apology. If he hadn’t apologized, Ra-Eun was actually thinking about striking him with a flying side kick while shouting, “I knew it, you piece of shit!”. Considering her personality, it was more than possible. However, she couldn’t scold someone who was apologizing so sincerely.

The burden weighing down on Je-Woon’s heart alleviated somewhat after Ra-Eun accepted his apology. He raised himself back up and smiled bitterly. He was far better than a certain stalker songstress. Ra-Eun decided to become a generous person just for today.

***

Ra-Eun had gone through a lot during Je-Woon’s stage performance, but it was no exaggeration to call it a huge success in terms of the massive amount of attention it had received. Je-Woon’s title track had no intention of dropping down from the number one spot. Their song was on wherever Ra-Eun went, making her feel strange.

‘It’s so weird hearing myself singing when I’m just walking down the street.’

This was likely how singers felt. Albeit indirectly, Ra-Eun could understand how singers felt on a daily basis.

.

A portion of the profits made through the album would be paid to Ra-Eun. Although she had not done any major jobs since Spokesperson, she had reaped an enormous amount of profits. She might have treated Je-Woon to dinner if he was in Korea right now.

‘I’d heard that it was even up on foreign charts.’

USA, UK, Japan, etc... Ra-Eun’s voice was spreading throughout the world, raising people’s interest in her even more. Thanks to that, she had gotten a text from Chief Jung this morning to meet this evening if she had time.

‘What’s he gonna talk about this time?’

Ra-Eun felt anxious at first, but replied that she would since she was also curious about what it was. Before that, she went to the fitness center like always. She went right into calisthenics as she was being coached by a personal trainer for the first time in a long while. The trainer expressed her amazement as she scanned Ra-Eun’s body while she was warming up.

“I don’t think there are any other actors that maintain a figure like yours when they aren’t working.”

Ra-Eun did not actively think about maintaining her figure; she just loved to break a sweat while exercising. She had made it into a habit to work out whenever she had free time, so her figure was just naturally maintained.

“When will you start working again?” the trainer asked.

Ra-Eun answered while shaking her head, “I’m not thinking about it yet.”

“Really? It’s been quite a while since the Spokesperson?filming ended, hasn’t it?”

Ra-Eun had not begun another production for half a year, but she did not mind it much. After all, her goal was not to succeed as a celebrity, but to take revenge against Kim Han-Gyo. Nothing was holding her back since she had no attachments to the entertainment industry. Many people were jealous of how carefree she could be.

The trainer continued to show interest in Ra-Eun’s next production while checking the lines of her hips.

“How about a romance genre this time?”

“Are you giving suggestions based on your preferences?”

The trainer did not deny Ra-Eun’s deduction.

“It’d be amazing if you and Je-Woon could be a protagonist couple. Highlight clips of you and him in Reaper?have been trending again on ArcaTube.”

Clips of their former drama together had been getting attention again due to the overflowing chemistry that they had shown during their stage performance. Not just that, there have been an overwhelming number of fanfics with Ra-Eun and Je-Woon as the protagonists, along with fan-made season 2 stories of Reaper. The level of fangirling was getting higher and higher by the second.

Ra-Eun had also taken a look at a few fanarts circling around the internet. There were ones of her and Je-Woon actually kissing on stage, and she also saw a few original fanfics of them actually becoming a couple. She was quite used to the fanart culture, but she felt extremely complicated whenever she saw ones of her getting together with Ji Han-Seok, Min Se-Min, and other male celebrities.

It wasn’t only men; there were also ones of her getting together with female celebrities. However, she couldn’t even be happy that she was being put together with women since she was a woman herself on the outside. It was pitiful how getting together with either gender had become extremely weird for her, and there was no way that the trainer would understand how she was feeling right now.

“In any case, you have to tell me when your next production is decided, okay?”

Ra-Eun replied while smiling bitterly, “I’ll try my best.”

***

Ra-Eun finished her workout and headed to GNF with Shin Yu-Bin, who had come to pick her up. Chief Jung rushed to where she was waiting as soon as he received the news.

“Ra-Eun! I have huge news for you!”

Ra-Eun felt more anxiety than excitement whenever Chief Jung expressed such overt joy.

“What is it now? Like I’d said before, I don’t want to start a production yet.”

There was still a chance that Kim Han-Gyo would somehow flip the tables after his overwhelming defeat in the general election and expulsion from his party. Ra-Eun needed to pay close attention to how he would come out, so she had decided to take some time off of production work for a while. Her personal revenge was far more important than her work in the entertainment industry.

“I know. I do, but this is on a whole other level.”

Ra-Eun’s left eyebrow flinched from Chief Jung’s curiosity-inducing statement.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I was contacted by someone wanting to cast you for a minor role.” 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑒𝘭.𝑐𝑜𝑚

It was weird for Ra-Eun, who had been starring in nothing but lead and supporting roles, to be offered a minor role, but what was even weirder was Chief Jung’s attitude. He was far too hyped up despite Ra-Eun having been offered only a minor role. Yu-Bin also thought the same way.

“Did the casting offer come from Hollywood or something?” she asked jokingly.

“Whoa. How did you know?”

“Eh... Are you serious?”

Yu-Bin was shocked despite having guessed correctly. Hollywood was the goal and dream of all those in the film industry, and Ra-Eun had received a casting offer from there. However, Ra-Eun was still unmoved.

“Hollywood or not, I’m not going to star in anything for the time being.”

“Come on, Ra-Eun. Don’t be like that and give me a bit more of your time. You can at least hear me out on what kind of production it is, can’t you?”

“...”

Chief Jung was right. It was not like Ra-Eun would lose out just from hearing what kind of production it was.

“You know Rail Universe Studios, right? The superhero film company.”

Ra-Eun’s expression completely changed after hearing the name.

“Do you mean the studio that made Steel Man, Raven, and Flame?” she asked.

“Yeah, that’s it!”

The superhero series of the Rail Universe was extremely popular. Comics, films, animations, toys, merchandise, etc... It was no exaggeration to say that they had a massive amount of influence in the film industry. Ra-Eun had also been a Rail Universe fanboy ever since she had been a man, enough for her to have collected and displayed action figures of Rail Universe superheroes in her house.

“They said that they wanted to cast you for ‘Black Cat’. There’s a scene where Black Cat makes a short appearance in the upcoming Steel Man 3, and you apparently caught their attention while they were looking for an Asian actress to take on the role.”

Black Cat was a female hero specialized in action with her superhuman athletic ability and senses. She was a fairly popular character even among the other Rail Universe heroes. She would even get her own film in the future and make tons of money. As a Rail Universe fan, Ra-Eun couldn’t not find the offer appealing. However, she was worried about one thing.

“Isn’t that character’s costume... A bit too revealing?”

It was no exaggeration to say that her costume was basically as revealing as a swimsuit. That was the only thing on Ra-Eun’s mind.

“That’s just in the comic version. They’re apparently going to modify the costume for the film. They even said that they would also take your opinions into account, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Chief Jung said.

“That’s a relief.”

It was also a minor role, so the shoots would not take long at all. The time had finally come when her job matched her hobby.

“Do you have the script, Chief Jung?”

“I do! I printed it out just in case.”

Ra-Eun had found something to do when she got back home.

***

Black Cat would appear in the film for about five to eight minutes.

‘As expected of a minor role. It’s extremely short.’

The plot of Steel Man 3 would not be affected in any way even if Black Cat wasn’t in it, but there was only one reason why she had been added.

‘They’re trying to see if they can make a solo hero film out of her.’

Expanding their universe in such a way was Rail Universe Studio’s greatest trait. There would be one shoot in Korea and one in America.

‘There are a lot of action scenes.’

Ra-Eun had wanted to do action scenes for a while now, and this one was filled with it since it was a superhero film. Not only did she like the script, she would never have another chance to star in a Rail Universe film. It did not take long for her to contact Chief Jung. She had made her choice.

“Chief Jung. I’ll do it.”

Her fanboy nature had made her star in a Hollywood film.