Chapter 4: It hurts more than a high place.

Time passed, and I entered elementary school.

Should I say, as expected, I ended up enrolling in the same elementary school I had graduated from in my previous life.

Gwangmyeong Private Elementary School.

Among the few private elementary schools in the country, it had the longest history, and its facilities were maintained annually, making it a school that didn’t fall short even when compared to newly built ones.

However, the tuition was equally expensive.

Actually, this school was quite a distance from home.

Because of that, as soon as I entered elementary school, I had to wake up early every morning to get ready for school.

Although there wasn’t much inconvenience since a school bus ran, I had to truly contend with young children from early in the morning.

Even though it was a private school and students were filtered once by exams, kids were still kids in the end.

Not only could they not stay still for a moment, but they also reacted strongly to minor things, leaving no quiet moment on the bus.

Although there was a teacher on duty on the bus, it was impossible for that one teacher to quiet dozens of children.

The school grounds were a bit larger than typical elementary schools.

There was one five-story main building, one annex for practical activities, one gymnasium for physical education classes, and one more single-story building for school meals.

It consisted of a total of four buildings and a playground in between them.

A low wall surrounded the grounds, and a quite high fence was installed only on the playground side.

There were separate guardhouses at both the main gate and the back gate, giving the feeling that once you entered, your connection to the outside was severed.

School lessons weren’t difficult.

Rather, they were boring to death.

Learning basic arithmetic or ABCs at this point was agonizing, and I only felt less sleepy during arts and physical education classes.

As I yawned widely while sitting, Hyojeong next to me looked my way.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing.”

When I asked back because she was staring too much, Hyojeong quickly turned her head away.

‘What’s she doing?’

Just as I remembered from my previous life, Hyojeong also enrolled in the same school and was in the same class.

If my memory served correctly, we would be in different classes about twice during elementary school.

There was something else I learned in this life.

Hyojeong was an extremely timid child.

Moreover, she got nervous easily.

Even so, being the daughter of a wealthy family, she must have grown up receiving all sorts of love, yet she wasn’t arrogant at all.

Well, that was probably true for all the other kids attending this school.

“I told you, if you have something to say, you can speak comfortably.”

Unable to bear Hyojeong’s frustrating demeanor, I repeated the words I had said many times before.

Even though her parents weren’t present, Hyojeong maintained a cautious attitude towards me.

It was probably due to her parents’ hysterical upbringing.

I felt a sense of ‘they must both be struggling.’

“U-uh, okay. I’ll do that.”

Hyojeong couldn’t hide the forced nature of her smile.

I turned my gaze and rested my chin on the desk.

At first, a strong desire for revenge was boiling within me.

Since I wouldn’t meet the guy who cheated with Hyojeong until university anyway, I planned to get ample revenge on Hyojeong until then.

However, it turned out that getting revenge on a child with such an attitude was utterly uninteresting.

No, she would almost burst into tears just from me saying something.

At this rate, me just talking to her would be no different from tormenting her.

In the end, I couldn’t do anything, so I decided to change my plans.

When lunchtime arrived, the boys in the class rushed out the back door of the classroom, vying with each other.

Well, they were just kids, after all.

I pulled Hyojeong’s arm, who was hesitating beside me.

“Let’s go eat.”

Without waiting for a reply, I led Hyojeong by the arm.

It was a bit forceful, but there was no way to wait for every single one of her answers.

Actually, besides revenge, there were a few other things I wanted to achieve in this life.

I planned to try everything I had given up in my previous life to meet my parents’ expectations.

One of them was making friends.

Of course, it wasn’t that I had no friends in my previous life.

There was Hyojeong, and I also knew a few other children from influential families whom my parents introduced me to, but honestly, I didn’t feel like they were true friends.

After I got a bit older, the time I had to meet them out of obligation for family relations was longer than the time I met them because I wanted to.

So, I carefully pondered why I hadn’t been able to make other friends in my previous life.

Even if after-school hours were busy, not having friends even during school hours seemed a bit severe now that I thought about it.

‘Was this what they called a loner?’

Anyway, as I tried to find the reason, I felt that it was largely due to my unsociable personality.

Even at school, I spent more time studying than resting, all to meet my parents’ expectations, and eventually, even the kids who used to talk to me drifted away.

So, the idea was, ‘Let’s try to be more sociable and cheerful in this life!’

I had planned to pursue this independently of my revenge on Hyojeong, but once I realized how serious Hyojeong’s condition was, I couldn’t.

Anyway, how satisfying would it be to get revenge on a gloomy and depressed child?

Wouldn’t it be much more interesting revenge to lift her up high and then drop her?

That’s why I came up with the Hyojeong’s Sociability Improvement Plan.

Now that I thought about it, even in my memories from my previous life, Hyojeong’s personality wasn’t very cheerful at first.

When was it?

Her personality began to brighten little by little around the time she entered middle school and became a second-year student.

Well, I’m just accelerating that a bit, so it shouldn’t matter much.

Anyway, after devising such a plan, I started approaching Hyojeong more actively.

I had thought that making my own friends would be sufficient once I was a bit older and could have proper conversations, so I had planned to stay quiet until the kids around me were more articulate, but to fix Hyojeong’s personality, a slight change in my plan was necessary.

“Would you two like to eat with us?”

I spoke to two quiet-looking girls I had in mind.

They seemed to be childhood friends as well, sticking close together like that ever since I first saw them in class.

One girl was a bit shorter than the other, with long black hair, wearing glasses, and generally had a gentle impression.

The taller one had shoulder-length bob hair and slightly upturned eyes, making her look a bit stern.

“U-us?”

Looking at Hyojeong, she seemed a bit relieved.

Indeed, introducing Hyojeong to bright, outgoing kids right away would probably be too overwhelming for her.

I hadn’t had friends before, but that was because I hadn’t tried to make any.

I could at least show this much consideration.

“Yeah, Hyojeong and I are childhood friends too. Wouldn’t it be more comfortable if there were two pairs of us?”

When I suggested this with the widest smile I could manage, the two of them began to whisper and consult with each other.

Then, one of the girls looked at us and gave a small nod.

As we walked out into the hallway to go to the cafeteria, Hyojeong naturally slipped in between those girls and me.

‘Could Hyojeong have wanted to become friends with these girls all along?’

Considering her personality, it wasn’t that strange, but if Hyojeong was proactive like this, it was certainly a welcome development for me.

‘If she showed enthusiasm, wouldn’t her sociability improve even faster?’

“My name is Shin Soan.”

Seeing the gentle-looking girl with glasses glance nervously at me, I smiled brightly and told her my name.

“Ah, yes. Soan. I’m Lee Minjeong.”

“I’m Yoon Seonjae.”

After the gentle girl introduced herself first, the stern-looking girl also said her name with a curt expression.

It seemed she wasn’t too pleased that I had spoken to them first.

“M-my name is Yoo Hyojeong.”

Hyojeong, commendably, introduced herself without being told.

‘Hmm, seeing her progress already, this plan might not take too long.’

Those girls seemed to have quite kind dispositions too.

It felt good, like watching cute younger cousins.

That was also the only part of family gatherings I enjoyed in my previous life.

‘Those kids probably haven’t even been born yet.’

As I slightly stepped back and watched the girls, the ones who had been a bit awkward slowly began to open up and talk.

Their heartwarming sight was quite satisfying.

‘Come to think of it, if I’m going to make friends, should I get close to girls first?’

It felt a bit different from what I had admired.

I had admired things like friends meeting up to play ball or going to PC bangs.

‘Something like an unreserved relationship?’

I envied relationships where people could comfortably swear at each other yet remain close without any lingering resentment.

‘Well, would it be that different with girls?’

If I tried, I could surely make friends with such relationships.

Getting along with boys wouldn’t be bad per se, but since my body’s gender was female, if I only hung out with boys without any female friends, people around me would find that strange too.

For successful revenge, I wanted to minimize anything that would draw attention.

As I walked behind them, thinking various thoughts, we soon arrived at the cafeteria.

Following the order we had walked in, I naturally stood behind those three girls.

“Um, are you okay?”

Then, Hyojeong, who was right in front of me, turned slightly back and spoke to me.

It was the first time in this life that she had spoken to me first, even without being able to make proper eye contact.

“Huh, me?”

As I was flustered by the unexpected turn of events, Hyojeong’s face turned beet red, and her hands began to wander aimlessly in the air.

“No, it’s just, you were quiet.”

“Ah, yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking about something else.”

“U-uh, okay.”

At my reply, Hyojeong turned her head forward again.

I never imagined she would suddenly speak to me.

I even wondered what on earth was going on.

In my perception, I thought I wouldn’t need to initiate conversation for a while.

If the effect was this good, it actually made me anxious.

Looking ahead, Hyojeong was talking with the two girls in front of her again.

The other two, besides Hyojeong, glanced at me.

‘Did they think it was strange that I initiated the conversation and then completely dropped out of it?’

‘Well, that could be it.’

“Ah, I’m sorr—”

Just as I was about to apologize to the girls and join the conversation, boys who had run up from behind suddenly cut in front of us.

It was a clear case of cutting in line.

Then, the stern-looking girl, Seonjae, spoke to the boy.

“Excuse me, no cutting in line.”

“What?”

Then the boy, who had been snickering behind them, turned around and glared at the four of us.

“What grade are you guys in? You’re smaller than us, so you must be first graders, right? We’re second graders!”

‘Huh? What are these guys saying?’