I Returned as a High School Girl

Rewinding the time to before Park Hee-Woo had sent Kang Ra-Eun the text that the operation had been successful, Hee-Woo went to see Park Chan-Gil once again while the Just Like a Melodrama Protagonist shoots were going on. Much time had passed since their meeting with Chairman Jang Yun-Jik.

“Has Chairman Jang still not given his answer?”

Chan-Gil nodded. During their meeting, Chairman Jang had not been able to give his answer right away. He had told them that he would think about it; in other words, he had put it off. A week passed since then, which was neither short nor long, but it could only feel like a month for the people waiting for his response, especially Hee-Woo.

She had guaranteed the operation’s success and scheduled everything such that the production would open right away, but if Chairman Jang decided not to give in to their threats and side with Kim Han-Gyo instead, Hee-Woo would be in a predicament. Hence, she had come to see Chan-Gil early in the morning.

“Not yet,” he answered.

Unlike the fretting Hee-Woo, Chan-Gil was as calm as he could be, possibly because he had no reason to fret.

“If Chairman Jang doesn’t comply...”

As Hee-Woo was about to express her anxiety, Chan-Gil cut her off.

“That will never happen, so don’t worry.”

Hee-Woo was not able to erase her anxiety despite her father’s strong confidence.

“What makes you so sure?” she asked curiously.

Chan-Gil, who had been reclining in his chair, raised himself back up.

He fixed his glasses and slowly answered, “Because Chairman Jang is as good of an entrepreneur as me. That’s why I believe he will most definitely accept my offer.”

“An entrepreneur...?”

“Do you still remember what I said to you when I left TP Entertainment in your hands?”

Hee-Woo heavily nodded and replied, “You told me to become an entrepreneur.”

“And what makes an entrepreneur?”

“I believe you’d said it’s someone who always chooses the option that benefits themselves.”

“We are not volunteer workers. We are entrepreneurs who pursue profits above all else. Not just me, but Chairman Jang as well. No, he might be even more of a nasty entrepreneur than I am.”

Chan-Gil fixed his gaze on his daughter, who had a stiff expression.

“I assure you that Chairman Jang knows very well about which choice would benefit him.”

Would he choose friendship or his company?

“If I was put in Chairman Jang’s shoes, I would choose my company without hesitation.”

Hee-Woo also knew that very well, since that was the kind of person her father was.

“In that aspect, we are the same, so—”

Vrrrr—

Chan-Gil’s smartphone vibrated before he could finish his sentence. After checking the caller ID and a short call, he finished what he was about to say. 𝓫ℯ𝓭𝓃𝓸𝓋ℯ𝓁．𝓬𝓸𝓂

“Chairman Jang has decided to accept our offer, so go about your own business.”

Chairman Jang had ultimately raised the white flag. Hee-Woo once again came to realize how true the phrase ‘fight fire with fire’ was.

***

Ra-Eun’s mood was heightened as soon as she heard the news that the operation had been successful. She was having difficulty pulling down the soaring corners of her mouth. She had made her final move.

‘Now that he’s all alone, the only thing left for him to do is to surrender.’

It was truly a shame that she couldn't watch Han-Gyo fall into despair as he was abandoned by even Chairman Jang Yun-Jik. Her revenge plan that had transcended the space-time continuum had been fulfilled.

‘But why am I getting such a bad feeling?’

Ra-Eun’s intuition had gotten sharper after becoming a woman. It was on the mark almost 100% of the time, so the weird feeling that she was getting after the good news bothered her.

‘Am I overreacting?’

It was possible that Ra-Eun was being too sensitive because she was up against Kim Han-Gyo.

‘Or maybe it’s just getting mixed with my feelings regarding the shoots.’

Not just that, her body wasn’t in the best shape right now. She could think of several reasons for her bad feeling. There was no need to be bothered by what had yet to happen. She would only tire herself out, so she got to reading her script by herself to find something to focus on, despite the other actors not having arrived yet.

As Ra-Eun was reading through her script, Jang Yu-Ha, the actress who she would be working with today, approached her.

“What are you doing by yourself, Ra-Eun?”

She was also one of the members who had appeared with Ra-Eun on Director Joo Seong-Won’s army variety show, On Duty, All Clear!, as well as the oldest one who had been on it.

“Hello, sunbae. You’re quite early today.”

“I had a recording before this, but it finished earlier than I’d expected, so here I am. What about you? Do you usually come this early?”

“Sometimes.”

Ra-Eun usually arrived on set early whenever she woke up early for some reason or when she had nothing to do at home.

“Were you having a reading session?” Yu-Ha asked.

“Yes.”

“Should I join you?”

“That’d be great.”

Their roles in the film were that of mother and daughter, so they had a lot of scenes together. They both took their positions and began the script reading session. They worked rather well together despite it being their first attempt, possibly because they were rather close.

“Haaa...”

However, unlike the result of the session, Yu-Ha sighed lifelessly.

“What’s wrong, sunbae? Did I make a mistake somewhere?”

“No, nothing like that. You were fantastic. It’s just because of the situation I’ve been placed in.”

“What situation?”

There had been no bad articles released regarding her. Ra-Eun wondered if she had a problem that had not been leaked to the public. Yu-Ha looked around to check whether anyone would be able to hear their conversation, and then sighed once again.

“I just thought that I’ve reached an age where I have to take on the role of a mother.”

Come to think of it, this was Yu-Ha’s first time playing a mother role. She could still play daughter roles, but it was no longer roles like the youngest daughter, but mainly roles of fairly aged eldest daughters, or highly successful single women in their thirties.

All actors had to take on roles that matched their age range; someone in their teens couldn’t play a character in their forties or fifties, and vice versa. It was not completely impossible, but unless they had a severe case of baby face or had an expert level of understanding of generational culture, it was highly difficult to pull off.

“I was so shocked when I was first contacted by Director Yoon for this role that I was in deep thought for days on end.”

“I... see.”

Ra-Eun honestly did not see it as something to be so shocked over. She hadn’t lived as a woman for very long, so she could not sympathize with the sorrows of aging.

Yu-Ha suddenly grasped one of Ra-Eun’s hands.

“Ra-Eun.”

“Yes?”

“Working your hardest as an actress is good and all, but make sure to keep in mind that you should enjoy something while you still have it. Your twenties will fly away before you know it.”

“...”

“When I was in my twenties, I was sure that I was the most beautiful person in the world, but I only feel envy and sorrow when I see young people like you. Sigh...”

No matter how much science developed, it was humanly impossible to revert time. One’s youth would never come back once it was gone. Yu-Ha clenched Ra-Eun’s hand even tighter.

“You’ll really regret it if you only work until you reach your late thirties like me. Working is good, but you should never forget that you should also enjoy life. Okay?”

“Okay... I’ll keep it in mind for the time being.”

“And if you find yourself a good man, hook him in without a second thought. Youth, and love. Make sure you never waste those two things.

“Love...”

The word truly did not match Ra-Eun at all.

“Okay. I’ll try.”

However, she had no choice but to agree since it was her sunbae’s heartfelt advice.

***

“Cut! That was great. Let’s move on to the next scene.”

Ra-Eun and Yu-Ha had gotten in sync through the script reading sessions, so they were breezing through every single scene. Finishing early was good for both the production team and the actors, under the pretense that they were satisfied with the result. However, both Ra-Eun and Yu-Ha were veteran actresses, so no flaws could be found in their performances. They also took in additional feedback from Director Yoon and immediately adopted them into their performances.

They began the final scene for today. Yu-Ha’s character opened the door of her daughter’s room with a tray of fruits in hand.

“Seo-Mi. Yun-Seok came by earlier.”

“Yun-Seok? Why?”

“He said he had something to give you. Why don’t you give him a call?”

“...It’s fine. I’ll ask when I see him later.”

Yu-Ha acted the nagging mother as she stared at Kang Seo-Mi, played by Ra-Eun, plopped on her bed.

“Jeez. What am I always telling you? Don’t put things off to the last minute, and just do them when they come to mind. You’re gonna get an earful from your boyfriend when you get one if you’re like that.”

“I told you, I’m not gonna get a boyfriend, so please get out of my room!”

“Hey, I’m not done with you, young lady!”

Ra-Eun pushed Yu-Ha out of the room. The camera filmed Yu-Ha’s frustrated face, and that was a wrap for today.

“Great job, sunbae,” Ra-Eun approached Yu-Ha and said.

Unlike the nagging that she had showered Ra-Eun’s character with, Yu-Ha replied with a smile, “You too. Why don’t we have a meal together since it’s been so long? I found a really good place not long ago.”

“That sounds great.”

As they were about to go, Shin Yu-Bin handed Ra-Eun the smartphone that Ra-Eun had left with her and said, “Ra-Eun. You got a call earlier.”

“From who?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Umm... I believe his name was Ma Yeong-Jun, right? The really large man that you’d hired.”

“...”

The bad feeling that she had pushed into the corners of her mind had come back.