I Returned as a High School Girl

Chapter 133: Sunbae’s Proposal (5)

Ji Han-Seok took Ra-Eun somewhere else after asking to talk in private with her.

“Somewhere without people would be best...”

However, it was not easy to find such a place in a broadcasting station. Finding a place that met Han-Seok’s conditions in a place bustling with people was very difficult.

Just then, Ra-Eun suggested, “How about my waiting room, then?”

Shin Yu-Bin had left to do some business and Ryu Ha-Yeon had said that she would be in the dressing room for about thirty minutes, so Ra-Eun had been planning on spending time alone in her waiting room.

Han-Seok nodded and accepted her suggestion. “Okay.”

It was not like Han-Seok hadn’t thought of using a waiting room, but like Ra-Eun had said, there was no one in there. Ra-Eun’s suspicions rose as she watched Han-Seok carefully close the door.

‘Why did he want to chat in private?’

She first wondered if she had unconsciously said something disrespectful, but she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what she had said to offend Han-Seok.

‘At times like this, it’s best to just ask the person.’

This method fitted Ra-Eun’s personality best.

“Why did you want to see me in private, sunbae?”

If she had said something to offend Han-Seok in any way, she hoped for him to just say it to her straight. Ra-Eun had not been in the entertainment industry for a long time, so there were bound to be many things that she didn’t know about. If that was the case, she just needed to be criticized for it so that she could fix it for the future. She had been criticized in such ways by her superiors back when she was a bodyguard, and fixed her mistakes right away.

However, Han-Seok had a completely different reason for wanting to see her in private.

“It’s about back when we... partook in the community service together.”

“I see, sunbae.”

Han-Seok smiled awkwardly from seeing Ra-Eun completely stiff as if she was preparing to be criticized.

“No, I didn’t call you over to criticize you, so you can relax.”

Han-Seok sometimes felt like Ra-Eun was one of his army juniors since they would be this stiff whenever they felt like they would be grilled. However, Ra-Eun stayed as she was despite being told it was okay to relax. Han-Seok thought it could be the aftereffects of her starring in a gender bender film, but she had often acted like a man even before that.

“Ahem!” Han-Seok cleared his throat. “Anyway. It looked like you were talking about something with Yeon-Gyu after we completed the community service...”

Han-Seok also knew that Ra-Eun and Kim Yeon-Gyu had spoken privately, but he did not know the contents of their conversation. He had wanted to eavesdrop on them, but there had been too many eyes on him to do so. Their conversation had been on his mind all this time because he had figured out that Yeon-Gyu had romantic feelings for Ra-Eun.

“...”

Ra-Eun acted weirdly as soon as she was asked the question. It was more accurate to say that she was confused.

‘Did Han-Seok sunbae hear what Yeon-Gyu said?’

Han-Seok could tell something was wrong as soon as Ra-Eun showed such a response.

“Looks like something did happen,” he remarked.

Ra-Eun nodded with the assumption that Han-Seok already knew.

“Yes,” she replied.

“What was it about? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But if you do, I promise I won't tell anyone.”

Ra-Eun was greatly relieved that Han-Seok would keep it a secret, since nothing good would come out of this spreading.

“Yeon-Gyu wanted to consult me on something.”

“Consult you?”

“He said he had come to like me.”

It was exactly as Han-Seok had expected.

“I see. I knew it...”

However, he had never expected Yeon-Gyu to confess this quickly. It was actually not Ra-Eun’s first time being confessed to by male celebrities, and Han-Seok also knew this very well. The entertainment industry was full of people, especially very charming people, whether they be men or women. Because of this, love confessions were very common; it just never reached the ears of reporters, so it was never spread to the public.

Han-Seok knew that Ra-Eun had been confessed to by tons of people, but this was the first time someone that he was close to had confessed to her.

“I never knew Yeon-Gyu was so direct in terms of romance,” Han-Seok commented.

They had known each other for quite a while, but Han-Seok never knew Yeon-Gyu had such a side to him.

“And Ra-Eun... what did you say?” he asked.

He was highly curious about her response. If she said that they decided to date each other, Han-Seok wasn’t confident that he would be able to congratulate them since he also had feelings for Ra-Eun. That was why he was so curious about his junior’s confession.

Ra-Eun answered simply, “I turned him down.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes.”

She had turned him down on the spot.

Han-Seok gave her his personal opinion. “Don’t you think Yeon-Gyu is a good guy? He has a good personality, has no red flags, and is good-looking.”

In terms of his stats as a man, Yeon-Gyu was fairly high on the tier list. However, he was still far from meeting Ra-Eun’s standards.

“I don’t have any intention of dating anyone yet,” she answered.

Han-Seok was greatly relieved by that, but also worried at the same time that he might also be turned down if he ever confessed to her. As he was about to speak, Ryu Ha-Yeon opened the waiting room door.

“Oh, you’re here too, Han-Seok?” she remarked.

“H-Hello,” he greeted Ha-Yeon who was holding the outfit that Ra-Eun would be wearing today.

“What were you two talking about?” she asked.

“Just... stuff about the entertainment industry. Right, Ra-Eun?”

Ra-Eun nodded in response.

“I should go get ready for the recording too. I’ll see you later, Ra-Eun.”

“Okay, sunbae. See you in a bit.”

Ha-Yeon’s eyes glinted with suspicion as they shot back at Ra-Eun after watching Han-Seok hurriedly leave the waiting room.

“What did you talk about with Han-Seok? she asked.

She smelled something fishy as she watched Han-Seok leave as if he was running away, but Ra-Eun remained as calm as always.

“It wasn’t anything special.”

She wasn’t lying, because it had become all too common for her to be confessed to.

***

Han-Seok was both a celebrity and a director of Do-Dam Group. He was considerably talented as an actor, but he had also been acknowledged as a businessman by Chairman Ji. His grandfather’s expectations of him allowed him to continue to do his best in both his acting career and directorial duties.

Han-Seok arrived at the company headquarters one day.

“Director, the chairman wants to see you.”

Chairman Ji’s secretary had come to relay him a message.

“Me?”

He went to the chairman’s office right away.

Knock, knock.

“It’s me, Grandpa. I heard that you’d called for me.”

Han-Seok opened the door and entered the office after getting Chairman Ji’s permission to come in. The chairman had been practicing golf, and gestured at Han-Seok to take a seat.

“I wanted to ask you how things were going with work,” Chairman Ji remarked.

Han-Seok was relieved that it wasn’t anything serious. He lightly laughed and drank the tea that the secretary had poured for him.

“It’s been going well, for both my acting career and company work.”

“That’s good to hear. It must be highly difficult to do well in both at once.”

“It must be because I’m just cut out for them.”

The amount of stress that Han-Seok suffered would have been enormous if that had not been the case. He had been dedicated to them both despite the physical exhaustion they brought because he enjoyed doing them.

“The movie that Ra-Eun starred in did extremely well, did it not?” Chairman Ji asked.

“You’re talking about One of a Kind of Girl, right? The total attendance exceeded seven million people, and... it might even reach eight next month,” Han-Seok replied.

Just this could be considered a colossal achievement.

“And so... Our sales skyrocketed because she modeled for our product last time, didn’t they? How about you try asking her to model for us again?” the chairman asked.

He had asked how Han-Seok was doing as a formality; this was the real reason why he had called him. Han-Seok agreed and took out a notepad.

“I’ll try to set up a meeting with Ra-Eun soon. What about you, Grandpa?”

“Yes, it’s been a while, so I should go see her as well. Oh, I wonder if I should also give Congresswoman Hong a call? The three of us had promised to get together to have a meal someday.”

“Congresswoman Hong Oh-Yeon, right? The one who Ra-Eun introduced you to?”

“Yeah. We met a few times to talk, and we happened to have many things in common.”

The two of them were future pillars to Ra-Eun’s plan.

“I would’ve never been able to get together and chat with Congresswoman Hong if it weren’t for Ra-Eun.”

The fact that the two of them got along well together had also been included in Ra-Eun’s calculations.

Chairman Ji emphasized while looking at Han-Seok, “I know you have romantic feelings for Ra-Eun.”

“Pardon...?”

Han-Seok was deeply flustered by his grandfather’s pinpoint statement. It would’ve been weirder if he didn’t know.

“I can tell from just the way you look at her.”

“...”

Chairman Ji continued as he looked at his grandson’s bright-red face, “If you’re going to capture her heart, make sure you grab on tight like a man. I’m sure Ra-Eun will grow to become a highly influential figure in the future.”

“Do you mean... as a celebrity?” Han-Seok asked.

“No,” Chairman replied with sharp eyes. “The entertainment industry, the political and financial world... There won’t be anywhere that her influence won’t reach.”

Chairman Ji was sure that Ra-Eun would become a representative figure of Korea in the future.

“So, I want to bring her into our household no matter what.”

Ra-Eun had become the number one woman that Chairman Ji wanted as a daughter-in-law before he knew it.

***

Ra-Eun, who had no idea what Chairman Ji and Han-Seok were talking about in the meantime, was busy with something else.

“Is this the place, Yi-Seo?” she asked.

“Yeah, but is it really okay for you to be here?”

“Yeah. I already got permission from my agency, so it’s fine.”

Compared to the worried Seo Yi-Seo, Ra-Eun was as calm as always. Yi-Seo couldn’t help but be worried, because...

“I’ve gotta check how our Private First Class Seo is doing with my own eyes.”

Today was the day they would visit Seo Yi-Jun.