TRGD 14

Chapter 14

“Hohoho. I hope it suited your taste, Chief of General Affairs. I did my best to prepare everything.”

“It’s delicious. This omakase place is the real deal.”

“Right?”

“The botan shrimp is incredibly fresh.”

“I’ve heard a rumor that they’ll be serving botan shrimp when the U.S. President visits in a few days.”

“Really?”

“Yes~. A hotel chef who was invited to the Blue House told me.”

Sushi Omakase Ran (蘭), an exclusive sushi omakase restaurant located in Cheongdam, Gangnam.

Its dark black-toned interior gave the place a quiet sense of elegance.

Among certain members of the upper class, it had already earned a reputation as the perfect place to entertain important guests.

Only a few months after opening, reservations for an entire month were already fully booked.

The Japanese head chef, formerly from a five-star hotel in Japan, personally visited Noryangjin Fish Market before dawn every day to purchase fresh wild ingredients.

Naturally, the prices were outrageous.

The chef’s recommended lunch course started at around one million won.

“Mrs. Jo, I really like your personality. You’re thoughtful and genuinely care about the school.”

“Oh my, how could I possibly compare to you, Chief? Hohoho.”

“I think it would be nice if we worked together next year. I have a feeling we’d make a great team.”

“If you entrust me with the position, I’ll do my absolute best to serve both the school and the children.”

Jo Hee-jung smiled brightly, revealing her perfectly aligned teeth.

She had finally won over the Chief of General Affairs.

The effort she had poured in over the past two years had not been wasted.

Even though her husband was a wealthy man who owned several buildings across Gangnam and Gangbuk, there were still things money alone couldn’t accomplish.

Becoming an executive member of the Cheonghwa High School Parents’ Association was one of them.

The only position she had barely managed to obtain was a seat on the School Lunch Subcommittee.

Now she needed a title that truly carried weight.

She had to shake off the label of a nouveau riche.

She needed the title of executive member of the Cheonghwa High School Parents’ Association, one she could proudly present.

Getting in was the hardest part.

Once she became an executive, she would naturally blend in with the Gangnam mothers.

It carried more influence than any business card.

She would also be welcomed into gatherings of former and current Parents’ Association executives.

Simply belonging to that organization would change her daughter’s future.

It was a group where power and exclusive information flowed endlessly.

Access to that world would become part of everyday life.

It would even change the future of the family fortune they had built through real estate.

To obtain that opportunity, she had spared neither money nor time.

Fortunately, her daughter had continued to maintain excellent grades.

Hiring expensive private tutors had proven worthwhile.

She had never dared dream of becoming the Parents’ Association President or Vice President.

Instead, the position of Chief of General Affairs, where financial resources and social skills mattered most, suited her personality perfectly.

The current Chief of General Affairs would finish her term because of the two-consecutive-term limit.

Afterward, she would move into the School Operations Committee.

For two years, Jo Hee-jung had continuously treated her to expensive gifts and meals in order to inherit that position.

The current Chief had exceptionally high standards.

Unless it was a luxury brand, she wouldn’t even glance at it.

One way or another, well over a hundred million won had disappeared.

Now it was finally time to reap the rewards.

As long as nothing unexpected happened, the next Chief of General Affairs position was practically guaranteed…

Ring, ring, ring~♫

The ringtone, Mozart’s Symphony, echoed pleasantly through the room.

It was carefully chosen to match the refined atmosphere.

My beloved daughter?

Checking her phone, Jo Hee-jung frowned.

Why was her daughter calling during school hours?

It was lunchtime at school.

She never called at this time.

“Chief, it’s my daughter. Let me take this call for just a moment.”

“Of course. It must be something about school.”

“Yes~. Hoho.”

Maintaining her graceful smile, Jo Hee-jung pressed the answer button.

“My precious daughter, it’s Mom~. What is—”

“Waaaah! Mom! I got hit! Waaaaah! Sob… sob…!”

Even though the phone wasn’t on speaker, her daughter’s loud sobbing echoed through the restaurant.

“You got hit? Wh-Who hit you?!”

She raised her voice without realizing it.

Completely forgetting where she was, Jo Hee-jung’s usual temper surfaced.

At the same time, her thoughts became tangled.

Her daughter had inherited her own extremely sensitive personality.

If she had caused trouble at this crucial moment, the Chief of General Affairs position that was practically within her grasp could disappear.

Of course she was worried that her daughter had been hit…

But what occupied her mind even more was protecting her opportunity.

“It was that welfare kid…! He hit me…! Sob…!”

“The welfare kid? Which bastard was it?!”

The anxiety that had briefly weighed on her vanished instantly.

If it had been another wealthy family’s child, it would have been a serious problem.

But a welfare student?

That was different.

“H-Ha Tae-woong! Ha Tae-woong!”

Ha Tae-woong?

It was a name she had never heard before.

Whoosh!

Flames practically erupted from Jo Hee-jung’s eyes.

Since her opponent was just a welfare student, she no longer had anything to hesitate about.

“Wait there! Mom’s coming to the school right now!!”

Kang Ah-ri?

Back when I was a student at Cheonghwa, I’d picked up bits and pieces of information about various people.

But Kang Ah-ri was someone I had never really gotten to know during that period.

The only things I knew were that she majored in the cello…

…and that she was considered one of the three great beauties of Cheonghwa High School.

Of course, I could see her now.

She was around 167 centimeters tall.

Her proportions and figure were good enough for a school uniform model.

She always wore her neat bob haircut.

She possessed a beauty overflowing with Eastern elegance, enough to remind anyone of a tranquil ink-wash painting.

The more I looked at her, the calmer I felt, and a satisfied smile naturally spread across my lips.

“Were you calling me?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected address, I asked again to make sure.

She had suddenly walked over and called me “Oppa.”

“Yes…”

“Why?”

“You’re the transfer student who came back, right?”

…

Kang Ah-ri answered with a faint blush on her face.

Her gaze was different from everyone else’s.

It was pure.

Not a trace of prejudice could be found in her eyes.

“Thank you…”

“Hm?”

“A-Ah-ri! What are you saying?!”

Ahn Ah-ram hurriedly grabbed Kang Ah-ri’s arm.

It was a silent message telling her to stay away from the welfare student who had been causing chaos around the school since this morning.

“That day… do you remember? The rainy day…”

Maybe it was her eyes.

At her words, memories from before my regression surfaced as vividly as if it had happened yesterday.

It wasn’t that long ago.

The beginning of the semester.

Or rather, if I counted the years I had already lived…

It had been over ten years ago.

For me, that day belonged to the distant past.

It was raining.

Despite being March, a torrential downpour had suddenly fallen.

It wasn’t even in the forecast.

The heavy rain had started in the afternoon.

Every day back then was filled with confusion.

Life had become overwhelming.

I had been seriously considering dropping out.

As I stood there blankly, staring at the unexpected rain, a female student stopped beside me.

A first-year girl.

She looked flustered by the sudden downpour.

A large cello case hung over her shoulder.

I noticed the hesitation in her eyes.

I was holding a large umbrella.

For a moment, I wondered if I should give it to her.

But it wouldn’t solve the problem.

The rain was pouring down, and carrying that enormous cello case, she didn’t even seem capable of holding an umbrella.

“…Your ride?”

I asked absentmindedly.

Because of school regulations, cars weren’t allowed inside the school gate.

“It’s… waiting outside the front gate.”

She answered with her round eyes sparkling.

That was when I noticed the name on her badge.

Kang Ah-ri.

“Want to… go together?”

I asked even though I expected her to refuse.

Most students treated welfare students like insects.

“…Thank you.”

But Kang Ah-ri reacted differently.

Contrary to all expectations, she thanked me and even bowed her head slightly.

Fwoosh.

As if I had been waiting for it, I opened the umbrella.

At the same time, Kang Ah-ri carefully stepped closer.

“Your… bag.”

I held out my hand.

She stared at me quietly.

Then she handed over the cello case, which had to be worth at least several hundred million won.

I slung it over my left shoulder.

My own backpack remained on my back.

Matching our pace, we began walking together.

Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap.

Rumble—

Crash!

As the rain pounded down and thunder roared overhead, she gently grabbed my arm.

That day—

The first and last time.

The girl from that memory…

Was the Kang Ah-ri standing before me now.

The one with whom I had shared only a fleeting moment.

“Then… buy me lunch.”

Now that I remembered, it was actually nice seeing her again.

Half joking, half serious, I tossed out the words casually.

The cafeteria was still full of students staring at us.

Normally, she would refuse.

After all, getting involved with a welfare student who had just resorted to violence…

“010-9XX9-1009.”

Kang Ah-ri softly recited a phone number.

“…?”

“Call me whenever you have time.”

She gave a small bow.

Looking at my stunned expression, Kang Ah-ri remained as calm as ever.

“L-Let’s go.”

Ahn Ah-ram hurriedly pulled Kang Ah-ri away.

…

Silence immediately swallowed the entire cafeteria.

“Woooow… Ha Tae-woong… you…”

Park Ji-woong let out a gasp full of admiration.

Apparently, he couldn’t believe I had just gotten her phone number.

Lunchtime ended in a way I had never wanted.

In only a few hours after arriving at school, one spectacular incident after another had unfolded.

But I already knew.

The real beginning…

Started now.

“Suppose the function z = f(x, y) has continuous partial derivatives fx and fy, and x = Φ(u, v), y = Ψ(u, v) are differentiable functions of u and v…”

The fifth period immediately after lunch was mathematics.

The life I had lived before was no different from a battlefield.

Sometimes you had to retreat.

When you gained the advantage and attacked, you had to bite straight through your opponent’s throat to finish the fight.

And when you decided to end a war…

You charged forward with the resolve to die if necessary.

The fire of battle stirred once again within me.

Of course, I also enjoyed attending math class after so long.

Math had once been one of the subjects I hated most.

The mathematics at Cheonghwa High School was even more brutal than the infamous CSAT killer problems.

No matter how hard I struggled, I could never keep up.

After entering university, I took mathematics courses as electives.

They were somewhat related to my major.

At one particular moment during college…

I finally discovered the joy that mathematics could offer.

The wall of mathematics I had never been able to overcome…

Finally shattered.

Now I could solve problems as complicated as the one on the board with mental calculations alone.

Not every problem, of course.

I wasn’t a mathematical genius.

Normally I’d still need to write out at least part of the solution process…

Huh?

Wait…

I can solve it?

“Holy shit.”

The words slipped out before I realized it.

…

The math classroom fell completely silent.

Everyone must have heard me swear.

Yet not a single student raised their head or looked back.

If this had happened before, they would all have glared at me as if they wanted to kill me.

Now they already knew the rumors about the welfare student’s rebellion that had spread throughout the school today.

So they deliberately ignored me.

But then—

Knock. Knock.

Creak.

The classroom door was flung open roughly.

Standing there was a middle-aged man with a completely bald head, his face flushed bright red with anger.

“Mr. Oh, sorry.”

“Y-Yes…”

Even the math teacher stammered in surprise.

The middle-aged man quickly scanned the classroom, searching for someone.

Then—

“Hey! Ha Tae-woong! Get your ass out here right now, you little bastard!!”