I Returned as a High School Girl

Kang Ra-Eun and Je-Woon sat down in the seats that had been reserved for them. Before the musical began, Ra-Eun slightly turned to look around the area to her diagonal right. She saw a woman with long straight hair with a cap on, sitting alone; she was able to tell who it was just from those features. Reporter Ahn Su-Jin.

Su-Jin met eyes with Ra-Eun and gave her a thumbs up, as if telling her not to worry since she was properly taking the photos. Ra-Eun slightly nodded and went back to looking at the stage.

Je-Woon glanced at her and asked, “What is it, Ra-Eun? Did you recognize someone?”

“Huh? N-No. It’s nothing, sunbae.”

It would be a problem if Je-Woon found out that Su-Jin was here. Right now, they only had one job, which was to watch the musical like a couple. Reporter Ahn would take care of the rest.

***

Ra-Eun honestly had no interest in musicals, but that was back when she used to be a man. Everything changed when she turned into a woman. It might have been because she walked the path of an actress, but her interest in musicals had increased considerably compared to before.

Not just that, the one that she had come to see with Je-Woon was very entertaining. The actors were fantastic, and Tae-Chan’s performance did not fall behind in any way. As for his singing ability, there was no need to even mention it.

‘His main occupation is a singer, so there’s no question about his skills.’

Due to that, Tae-Chan shined relatively more when he sang compared to when he acted.

“Thank you very much!”

After the musical was over, the actors lined up horizontally while holding hands and bowed toward the audience, who then showered them with applause.

“What did you think about Tae-Chan? He was great, wasn’t he?” Je-Woon whispered.

Ra-Eun softly nodded. She wondered if he had gone to acting school, but that had not been the case.

“I don’t mean to brag, but I watched over his performance whenever I could and coached him.”

“You taught him yourself, sunbae?”

“I wouldn’t say that I taught him. I just gave him a few pieces of advice. Tae-Chan did the rest himself.”

Je-Woon himself did not find it to be a big deal, but the advice of a sunbae was extremely precious to a novice, and Tae-Chan likely had felt the same. Not just that, he and Je-Woon were very close; Je-Woon would not have filtered his advice and had given it to him straight since it was for Tae-Chan’s sake.

“Please teach me as well next time, sunbae,” Ra-Eun expressed.

Je-Woon chuckled. “I should be the one being taught by you.”

He did not mind whether he would be teaching her or the other way around; he was happy as long as he could spend time with her.

***

“Miss Kang.”

While Je-Woon had gone to talk to Tae-Chan, someone called Ra-Eun over from the end of the hallway. It was Su-Jin. She showed Ra-Eun the multitude of photos that she had taken with her camera.

“They came out really well,” Su-Jin said.

However, Ra-Eun did not think so.

“Aren’t they a bit blurry?”

The photos had been taken in secret, so perfect quality could not be expected. Ra-Eun wondered if these pictures would really be okay to use. However, Su-Jin thought the complete opposite.

“This much is perfect. Take other scandalous articles for example. They rarely have high-resolution photos, right?”

“Well... Yes.”

“Also, if the photos are too clear, it might garner suspicion that the photos were staged. That’s why I think they’re perfect as they are.”

The public needed to think that the photos had been taken in secret, hence why Su-Jin had taken the photos in a slightly lower resolution. After Ra-Eun thought about it, she saw her point.

“Would you like me to take more?” Su-Jin asked.

“I think one or two more would be great. Even better if they’re taken at other locations.”

“I see. Understood.”

Right as they had finished their conversation, Je-Woon came back after talking to Tae-Chan. Su-Jin hurriedly left the scene so as to not get caught.

“Sorry for making you wait, Ra-Eun.”

“Not at all, sunbae. More importantly, do you have time to spare?”

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Then why don’t we spend a little more time together?”

They had originally planned to watch the musical and go about their separate ways after getting some coffee, but after talking to Su-Jin...

‘I can’t just let him go.’

She was planning on spending the rest of the day on a date with Je-Woon.

***

While they were having a meal, Ra-Eun picked up a small cut of meat with her fork and held it out toward Je-Woon.

“Sunbae. Say ahh~”

“Are you trying to feed me?”

“Yes.”

Je-Woon felt more bewildered than happy as Ra-Eun did things that she had never done before.

“My arm hurts, sunbae. Hurry.”

“O-Okay. Ahh...”

Je-Woon ate the meat that Ra-Eun had handed him. Her shows of affection did not end there. They returned to Je-Woon’s car after getting two coffees to-go at a cafe.

“Sunbae. Is that good?”

Ra-Eu showed interest in the earl gray milk tea that Je-Woon had ordered.

“It is. This drink suits my tastes the best in that brand establishment.”

“Then could I have a sip?”

“Sure. Oh, should I go get a new straw?”

“It’s okay,” Ra-Eun said as she put her lips on the straw that Je-Woon had used.

Seeing that, Je-Woon’s face slightly reddened. The term ‘indirect kiss’ swirled around his mind.

Ra-Eun returned his drink to him and expressed, “It’s good, just like you said.”

“Rea...lly?”

“Yes. I’ll have to order that next time as well.”

“...”

Je-Woon looked down at the earl gray milk tea cup that Ra-Eun had handed back to him for a while without even starting the car. Her saliva was on the end of the straw. He had to wonder for a while whether it was okay for him to put his lips on the straw or not.

***

The date had gone on for longer than planned. While they were wondering where to go, Je-Woon gave her a suggestion.

“I heard from Tae-Chan earlier that they were having some sort of interesting event at Se-Gang World.”

“An interesting event?”

“Yeah, something called a mask festival. They’re playing tag while wearing masks, apparently. I want to give it a try, but how about you?”

If they were wearing masks, they wouldn’t have to worry about the public’s gaze. In other words, they could freely enjoy their date. However, Ra-Eun was hesitant to accept the offer.

‘Isn’t it meaningless if our faces don’t show?’

Ra-Eun told Je-Woon that she would think about it and quickly texted Su-Jin for assistance by telling her that this was the kind of event they would be going to, and if it was okay for their faces not to show. Su-Jin answered:

- You’re going to be wearing the same clothes anyway, right? So it’ll be fine.

Ra-Eun answered Je-Woon as soon as she got approval, “Let’s go, sunbae.”

Their final date spot had been decided.

***

Like Je-Woon had expected, none of the people around them recognized them since they were wearing masks. All the attention they received was simply people thinking that they were a couple with fairly attractive features.

Ra-Eun took a look at her masked self in the mirror.

‘Masked woman, Mark 2.’

She smiled in self-mockery. Meanwhile, a staff member explained the details of the mask festival to all the participants.

“We staff members wearing wolf masks will be chasing you all. You only have to do one thing: run away from the wolves until time is up. However, even if a wolf touches you, you won’t be considered caught as long as the bracelet on your left wrist is fine. We will be giving prizes to the people who survive to the very end, so please do your best!”

People’s cheers filled the event venue. The hide & seek would be held within a portion of the amusement park. It was such a large space that running away seemed easy enough. Or at least, the participants thought.

“Begin!”

The staff members wearing wolf masks ran toward the participants at insane speeds as soon as the signal was dropped.

“Why are they so damn fast?!”

“Did they hire track & field athletes or something?”

“Honey! Run!”

The wolves were far faster than the participants. Several people had already been caught not long after the event began. A few wolves targeted Je-Woon and Ra-Eun, but...

‘Catch me if you can!’

The two of them easily escaped the wolves with movements that were far more agile than the other participants. The wolves were bewildered.

“Those two are fast, so watch out!”

“Don’t take them alone! Surround them as a group!”

“Okay, hyung!”

The wolves commenced a joint operation, but even that was not enough to catch Je-Woon and Ra-Eun. Seeing no hope in their current plan, they changed tactics.

“Aim for the woman first!”

Ra-Eun clicked her tongue.

‘They’re looking down on me.’

It couldn’t be helped, since men usually had the advantage in such events. After all, there was a huge difference in the physical capabilities between men and women. Even for the other couples participating in the event, the boyfriends were protecting their girlfriends from the wolves.

The wolves gave up on targeting Je-Woon and aimed only for Ra-Eun, but they had missed one thing.

‘Oh, no you don’t!’

Ra-Eun possessed far higher athletic ability than Je-Woon. She used a bench as a prop to jump into the bushes. The wolves were lost for words as she flew through the air. She landed on the ground and ran into a dark alleyway. Just then...

“Over here, Ra-Eun!”

Je-Woon yanked Ra-Eun toward where he was. They hid inside a cleaning tool storage room. Meanwhile, the wolves were looking around for Ra-Eun outside.

“...”

“...”

They looked outside from the small space. They were so close that they could feel each other’s rough breaths. Je-Woon looked down at the mask-wearing Ra-Eun. She was as beautiful as always despite wearing a mask. She was so charming that he couldn’t possibly take his eyes off of her.

Despite having performed on stage with countless beautiful women, Je-Woon’s heart had never beaten so much for any other woman. Ra-Eun was the first. He wondered what made her so charming and what about her made him so crazy for her.

“Sunbae,” Ra-Eun whispered. “I think the wolves are gone.”

“...”

However, Je-Woon did not move. Just as Ra-Eun was about to say something else, The masked Je-Woon’s face got closer to Ra-Eun’s masked face.

Tap.

Their lip areas touched. After the masked kiss was over, Je-Woon explained to the flustered Ra-Eun the reason why he had done that.

“It’s practice for the kiss scene.”

“...”

Ra-Eun was not able to move for a while due to his unexpected action.