Chapter 45: Eun Yuri’s Proposal

When Han Doa rushed in, making a fuss, Kim Noeul finally dodged Han Doa’s wooden sword and ran away.

Avoiding Na Yuna, who was approaching me like a zombie with dead eyes, I checked my messages.

‘Kim Ga-eul…?’

Kim Noeul’s younger sister had sent me a text.

[Kim Ga-eul: The recent trends in the academy are strange]

Upon checking the message, my eyes narrowed involuntarily.

[Me: What exactly do you mean by strange?]

[Kim Ga-eul: Originally, Dowon High School students couldn’t even raise their heads, but recently they’ve started acting up again]

[Kim Ga-eul: Hankook High School is the same, as if they aren’t even paying attention to Haneul High School’s actions…]

After hearing her report, I was lost in thought.

This was not in the original story. This was because in the original story, I didn’t take over the rights of the academy district from the first semester.

In this world, I had taken the academy district and the rotary from Ojakgyo’s grasp earlier than in the original story due to my intervention.

But Ojakgyo wasn’t stupid either. They couldn’t just stand by and watch, so they started to counterattack.

‘But unless they beat my ranking, that kind of resistance won’t work in the academy district.’

Within the academy, the victory or defeat is determined purely by grades, not by fists.

Besides, the Haneul High School disciplinary department and even the students from Yushin High School are patrolling the rotary near the academy district.

It meant that it wasn’t an environment where Ojakgyo could easily run wild.

‘What kind of tricks are Ojakgyo preparing?’

Seeing my expression become serious, Kim Noeul stopped joking around and approached me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your sister contacted me. She said the atmosphere at TT Academy is strange.”

“…Ga-eul contacted you? Why?”

When Kim Noeul asked with a meaningful look, I recalled the time when I exchanged numbers with Kim Ga-eul.

I happened to run into Kim Ga-eul when I briefly stopped by the academy to pick up exam materials.

‘Hello, oppa. It’s hard to see you at the academy.’

‘I have free attendance. I came to pick up materials today.’

‘Ah, I see. Then, would you like to exchange numbers? I want to ask oppa if I don’t know something.’

‘I don’t mind…. Your sister is good at studying too.’

‘Oppa is better.’

I exchanged numbers with Kim Ga-eul with that kind of feeling. And she said one thing to me as she left.

‘Please take good care of my sister.’

She was a girl who seemed like she would do well in social life later.

“She just said to take good care of you and wanted to exchange numbers. That’s all.”

“Is that so…?”

“Your sister is so kind. She even asked me to consider her lacking sister.”

Kim Noeul had a displeased expression, but she didn’t keep asking. Han Doa approached from behind, tying her wooden sword to her belt.

“Didn’t you say something was happening in the academy district?”

“Ah, we were talking about that.”

I told them the contents of the conversation I had with Kim Ga-eul. Han Doa tilted her head after hearing the story.

“First of all, I haven’t received any special reports from the members. So I thought it would be okay for the time being.”

“It seems that Ojakgyo isn’t planning to resist on a large scale yet. It seems like they’re looking for an opportunity right now.”

Kim Noeul added an explanation to Han Doa’s words. Na Yuna, who had been listening quietly from the side, also opened her mouth.

“I also heard about the Yushin High School side from Soyeon. The Yushin High School students were patrolling the rotary, but the Hankook High School kids were in groups.”

“I clearly warned them not to form groups…!”

Han Doa bit her lip.

“It seems like we won’t be able to rest comfortably until the summer vacation. We need to prepare so that we can respond at any time.”

Na Yuna trembled slightly, as if she was frightened by Kim Noeul’s words. I stared at them and changed the subject.

“But for now, the final exam is just around the corner, so don’t neglect your studying either.”

Han Doa and Na Yuna’s expressions darkened at my words.

“Maru-hoobae. There might be a fight that determines the fate of Hakdo…”

“Th, that’s right. It’s an emergency situation right now.”

“Isn’t internal score also one of the ways to bring a lot of rights to Hakdo? If you study hard now, the foundation to fight against Ojakgyo will be strengthened.”

I gave a word of advice to them, who were escaping reality.

If the academic level of Haneul High School rises, they will naturally receive many benefits and have more leeway. To resist Ojakgyo, they also need to pay attention to their studies.

The two women lowered their heads, unable to find anything to refute my words. Separately from that, Kim Noeul whistled as if it was not her business.

“Why don’t you have a reaction? You’re included. Work hard.”

“I’m perfect this time.”

Kim Noeul retorted with a calm expression.

“Really? Are you confident?”

“I’m getting all As this time.”

I outwardly reacted indifferently to Kim Noeul’s words, but I was secretly surprised.

She lacked time to concentrate on her studies recently because of the fight with Ojakgyo and the alliance agreement.

Even so, seeing her so confident, she still had the qualities of a versatile beauty.

‘Well, she has to be this good to be Alice’s rival.’

I felt sorry for making such an unreasonable request to Kim Noeul, but I couldn’t help it because of who the opponent was. And Kim Noeul also has the potential to fully digest that unreasonable request.

“Let’s focus on the final exam for now, and let’s watch the academy district for a while. We need to see what kind of card the opponent plays so that we can choose the card to respond to.”

That day’s conversation ended like that, and the day of the final exam came in the blink of an eye.

I smoothly solved the exam questions as usual, as I had studied. After suffering from all sorts of vicious private school questions, solving the Haneul High School internal exam questions was like heaven.

After the three days of exams were over, we gathered again in the counseling department. This time, Teacher Chae Yubin was with us.

She was in charge of mathematics, so she knew our math scores.

“Everyone, you worked hard during the semester. I know you were busy with things outside of school, but thank you for continuing to work hard on your studies.”

When she clapped, we also clapped.

“Noeul and Maru got everything right? The difficulty wasn’t different from the midterm exam… You’ve improved.”

“It’s thanks to the teacher.”

“Don’t be modest. You can improve a lot just by solving practice exams and N problems.”

Chae Yubin continued the conversation, making statements that advocated for private education without any hesitation.

“I also heard about Yuna and Doa’s grades from the third-year teacher. They were surprised that your grades had improved a lot.”

“R, really?”

“Hoo, I’m alive.”

Na Yuna was surprised, and Han Doa breathed a sigh of relief because she had achieved her goal.

“By the way, it’s almost time for the graduation ceremony, have you all made plans?”

We closed our mouths at Chae Yubin’s question.

If we were ordinary students, we would be making fun vacation plans, but we couldn’t afford to relax because of the situation.

If Ojakgyo caused a ruckus during the vacation, we would have to join in on that ruckus. In fact, we can’t really rest properly.

Chae Yubin scratched her head as if she realized our situation only after asking the question.

“I was short-sighted…. You guys have a lot on your shoulders…. I’m also in contact with the faculty advisor of the student council at another school because I thought it might be helpful.”

“I didn’t know that.”

When Kim Noeul’s eyes widened, Chae Yubin regained her confidence and continued.

“I’m asking them to help Haneul High School. Most people ignore me, but there are some who listen to me.”

“We have to add even a small hand right now.”

Han Doa muttered, stroking the handle of her wooden sword. She was on guard every day in case an incident occurred in the TT academy district.

“Has anything happened while you were guarding?”

Han Doa nodded at Na Yuna’s question.

“There were no special incidents. Except that there were more new students because the summer school started….”

New students.

Suddenly, that word bothered me.

The card that Ojakgyo will play.

The power of the academy district is determined by grades. If Ojakgyo tries to regain the power of the academy district….

“…Ah.”

Having reached a conclusion, I got up from my seat. The women looked up at me as I stood up.

“What’s wrong?”

I exchanged glances with Kim Noeul, who was looking up at me, and opened my mouth.

“Let’s go to TT Academy now.”

“…It seems like something’s bothering you.”

The women got up from their seats without saying a word at my suggestion. Teacher Chae Yubin blinked.

“Th… I’ll lock the door and leave. You seem to be in a hurry, so go quickly.”

“Thank you.”

We left Haneul High School and ran to the academy.

“Maru…! What were you thinking, suddenly going to the academy…!”

Na Yuna asked me, panting. I answered her while running.

“To include TT Academy in their area again, they have no choice but to compete with grades. In other words, Ojakgyo will put pressure on us with grades. In the process, they won’t hesitate to use violence near the rotary.”

“Maru-hoobae will be pressed down by grades?”

Han Doa, who was speaking as if she didn’t understand, had her pupils shaking violently as if she had reached the same conclusion as me.

“No way….”

“That’s why we’re going to check.”

We arrived at the academy and headed to the desk at the entrance. Our group of four were famous people in the academy, so attention was focused on us.

“Those are the Haneul High School kids.”

“Wow, is that the Avengers? They’re all extraordinary.”

“Let’s exclude that cow ghost with bangs in the middle.”

Ignoring the students’ chatter, I scanned the grade trend chart posted on the bulletin board.

It was a bulletin board with the names of students with excellent grades or students whose grades had risen rapidly. If there was a change, I could check this bulletin board.

But even after checking, there were no meaningful changes. Most of the top students were still Haneul High School students, and the best among them was me.

‘Was my prediction wrong…?’

While I was worrying, a middle school student was running towards us.

“Unni!”

It was Kim Noeul’s younger sister, Kim Ga-eul. Kim Noeul patted her sister’s back, who was breathing heavily, and asked.

“Did something happen?”

Kim Ga-eul, after catching her breath, pointed to the counseling room with her finger. Quite a few students were gathered there.

“I didn’t pay attention because I thought it was a normal new registration as usual… But after listening to the people around me, it felt strange….”

“New registration?”

Kim Noeul said that and raised her head. And her gaze was fixed on a female student who was coming out of the counseling room.

A rare hairstyle with braided hair hanging over one shoulder.

A benevolent smile reminiscent of maternal love.

The female student was talking to the counseling teacher and approaching us.

“I don’t know why a student who rejected the love calls of so many academies decided to register, but you thought really well, Yuri-yang (is a Korean honorific suffix-especially towards younger people or students — in a polite or affectionate way). We will spare no support.”

“The SAT is coming up soon. There’s no such thing as too much for an exam that puts your life on the line.”

“Haha, that’s a really good saying! Many students will register after seeing Yuri student!”

The surrounding students stopped to see Eun Yuri’s appearance.

“That woman is Eun Yuri….”

“She got a perfect score on the Hakdo mock exam in June. Is she even human?”

“She’s really elegantly pretty…. She lives in a different world.”

“No, how can she have such a body when she’s just sitting on a chair?”

Eun Yuri, who was having a friendly conversation, discovered us standing in the hallway. Her gaze scanned us and then was fixed on me.

She didn’t even look at the women around me and approached me.

Kim Noeul and Han Doa stood in front of her, but Eun Yuri didn’t stop walking.

“Stop.”

“With what confidence are you approaching?”

Eun Yuri smiled at the two women who were growling.

“Why are you stopping me? What harm am I doing?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know? Think about your affiliation.”

Eun Yuri, who had been silently observing Han Doa’s resistance, twisted her hair with one hand and continued.

“Han Doa. The disciplinary department head of Haneul High School. Originally, she was a kendo prodigy until middle school, but she gave up kendo due to an incident involving Lee Jihye.”

“…What?”

“Jihye still wants to see you. Shouldn’t you face the past properly? You haven’t completely tied it up, so both Jihye and you have lingering feelings, right?”

Unlike Eun Yuri’s calm tone, Han Doa’s breath became rough. Her arm trembled and headed towards the wooden sword.

Kim Noeul grabbed Han Doa’s arm.

“This is inside the academy. The moment you draw your wooden sword, it will be disadvantageous to us.”

“…….”

Han Doa gritted her teeth and calmed her trembling arm. Eun Yuri, who had been watching the scene with a smile, finally broke through the two women and came to me.

“I’ve really been curious about you, but I’m lucky today. To be able to meet you like this.”

“…It’s a coincidence. I was the same.”

“Is that so? I guess we get along well.”

She chuckled and scrutinized my face. I frowned because I didn’t like that gaze.

“Why are you staring so much?”

“Sorry. I was staring because it’s amazing that you don’t look like an honor student at all.”

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Eun Yuri narrowed her brows as if she didn’t like the surrounding noise and muttered.

“Actually, I don’t understand the current situation. Why is everyone making such a fuss when just an ordinary student has registered for the academy.”

“You know the reason best, don’t you? I don’t have a hobby of laughing at self-deprecating jokes.”

“You’re on edge…. But since we met, I’ll make a suggestion that I’ve been thinking about for a long time.”

Eun Yuri held out her hand and asked for a handshake.

“Don’t you want to join Ojakgyo?”

“…….”

“While you’re at it, study with me too…. Huh?”