Chapter 32: Pride of the School (1)

The time for the second semester midterm exams had come after summer break. Kang Ra-Eun had shocked all the teachers by scoring top of her class during the first semester final exams. Ra-Eun was going to fully utilize all the knowledge that she possessed to get a high score this time as well. This time...

‘I should be able to place within the top 5 in the entire school.’

She wanted to aim for the top spot, but her knowledge of high school subjects was not all together since it had been such a long time since she had graduated. However, she was not stressed out about it, since she just needed to refresh the knowledge that she had forgotten instead of learning it anew.

It was much easier to walk a path that she had walked once before. Thanks to this, Ra-Eun felt partially relieved.

‘As long as I manage to get through these midterms, I should be able to get the top spot in the entire school for the final exams.’

She hadn’t intended to put her life on the line for her grades at first, because she just needed to do well on the SATs. However, the scores of the original Kang Ra-Eun’s first year exams and second year midterm exam were so abysmal that she had no choice but to focus on her academic performance.

Ra-Eun’s plan had gone awry. She had to raise her grade point average and get a high score on her SATs to enter a prestigious university.

‘Academic background is the most fundamental factor to making connections.’

She had to make ample preparations to ruin such a massive figure like Kim Han-Gyo. Looking at the bigger picture, making connections would build the framework for her revenge.

That was why Ra-Eun had gathered with her friends to study today. They were at Starlight Road, the cafe that Seo Yi-Seo’s father owned, as always.

Na Gyu-Rin sighed while twirling her pen.

“Sigh, my head’s about to burst, dammit.”

Gyu-Rin and Yi-Seo were both on the smarter side in their classes, but being good at studying did not equal liking to study. Ra-Eun had never seen a single student who liked to study in her life. The same applied for Gyu-Rin.

“Argh, screw it.”

Gyu-Rin declared a temporary ceasefire after wrestling with her math workbook for two hours straight.

“Yi-Seo, can I order a cake? I’m craving some sugar right now.”

“Which one?” Yi-Seo asked.

“The mocha almond cake.”

It was the item that Gyu-Rin liked the most in the Starlight Road menu.

“Just a sec. Dad probably made some, but I’m not sure if we have any left.”

As Yi-Seo was about to get up to check, Yi-Jun quickly brought the cake slice over while he was at the till.

“Stay seated, sis. Here it is.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Yi-Seo asked in confusion.

Was her little brother always so quick? No, not in the slightest. He would not even listen whenever Yi-Seo asked him to do something for her, but his attitude had made a complete 180 in front of her friends.

Yi-Jun had masqueraded himself into a sensible young man. There was no way that Yi-Seo’s friends would know about his true self.

Gyu-Rin smiled brightly.

“Thanks, Yi-Jun.”

“Not at all. And Ra-Eun noona, your glass looked empty, so I brought you a new americano.”

In actuality, Yi-Jun had only been preparing to score points with Ra-Eun, but his preparations had coincidentally overlapped with Gyu-Rin’s order. He had unintentionally received points from two of his older sister’s friends. Although, he wasn’t sure what Ra-Eun thought of his consideration.

“Thanks,” Ra-Eun said.

Sip.

Ra-Eun’s energy tank was refilled from the nice cup of coffee. They all enjoyed a break after being absorbed in a studying spree.

After the short dessert break, Choi Ro-Mi asked her friends while pointing at the workbook, “You’re all done, right? Shall we mark it together?”

“Sure.”

“Yi-Jun, while you’re here, could you say the numbers on this answer sheet out loud in order?”

Yi-Jun nodded and slowly called out the numbers to make the marking easier for the girls.

“Question one, #2. Question two, #5. Question three...”

After marking all twenty questions, Ra-Eun had gotten a perfect score. She was the only one who had gotten every question right. Gyu-Rin repeatedly checked Ra-Eun’s workbook with a flabbergasted expression.

“Unbelievable. How did you solve Question 15?”

The question was convoluted from just a glance, and Ra-Eun did not seem to have shown much work in the space provided below. Her friends thought that she guessed at first. Ra-Eun decided to exclusively tell them her secret problem-solving tip.

“Answers to convoluted questions like this are usually one or zero.”

Question designers usually designed convoluted questions like this and made the answers as easy as they could be. As long as one knew that, they could turn the 20% chance into 50%, one or zero. Even if it turned out to be incorrect, one would have been able to spend more time on solving other questions, and if it turned out to be right, then it would be a jackpot.

That was Ra-Eun’s lifehack among lifehacks that one would not be able to learn without direct experience. Gyu-Rin, Yi-Seo and Ro-Mi kept nodding in admiration. The same went for Yi-Jun.

“It looks like it was true that you were super good at studying, noona.”

“What, did you think it was a lie?” Ra-Eun retorted.

“No, of course not. But do you even have time to study? You must be busy going back and forth between school and shoots.”

If Yi-Jun were told to study while keeping up with the same schedule as Ra-Eun, then he was sure that he would give up one or the other, the entertainment industry or his studies. However, Ra-Eun was easily hunting two hares at once.

“It’s not like sitting in front of a desk for long is gonna make you magically good at studying,” Ra-Eun remarked.

The amount of studying did not always correlate to one’s grades. It all came down to how efficiently one studied. Ra-Eun had already experienced high school and the SATs. Because she had personally experienced every single lifehack on how to study effectively, she was able to focus on her studies far more efficiently than in her past life.

Ra-Eun had been a delinquent until early in the first semester. Her transformation to a model student marveled Yi-Seo, Gyu-Rin and Ro-Mi.

***

On the day of the second semester midterm exams, all eyes of the teachers acting as supervisors were on Ra-Eun. Ra-Eun giggled in her mind.

‘They must still doubt me.’

They were still filled with suspicions on how Ra-Eun scored top of her class in the last exams without cheating. Their eyes blatantly expressed their determination to uncover her trick. However, Ra-Eun did not mind it too much because she knew very well that their efforts were meaningless.

‘Just don’t lose focus and get your head in the game.’

The rebellion of the girl at the bottom of her class had commenced once again as she picked up her pen.

***

The midterm exams of the second semester had come to an end. The staff room was once again up in a stir as the results came out. The homeroom teacher of Ra-Eun’s class had heard from his colleague that the vice principal was looking for him. He predicted that it was likely because of what had gotten the staff room so riled up.

“Vice principal, I heard that you were looking for me...”

The vice principal immediately mentioned someone’s name as the homeroom teacher arrived.

“I saw that the student Kang Ra-Eun in your class scored second in the entire school, Mr. Yoon.”

Ra-Eun’s grades had jumped from the bottom of the ladder all the way up to the top two in the entire school. This result was even more shocking than when she scored first in her class. The homeroom teacher had suspected that Ra-Eun had cheated last time, but that was not the case this time.

“Ra-Eun seems to have studied a lot over the break,” he replied.

“Did you not suspect her of cheating last time?” the vice principal questioned.

“Yes. That was why I kept my eye on her the entire time during the midterms, but there was absolutely nothing suspicious.”

The result was purely born out of skill. Having nothing else to say, all that the homeroom teacher could do was nod.

“It’s not like a student who was last in her class can’t reach the top in the school,” the vice principal expressed.

Studying rewarded those who worked hard accordingly. The vice principal knew this better than anyone else.

“The reason why I called you, Mr. Yoon...” the vice principal mentioned.

It was not because of suspicion toward Ra-Eun’s grades.

“You know that our school website will be renewed, right?”

“Yes, I know,” Mr. Yoon answered.

“The principal asked us to decorate the main page in this renewal so that it doesn’t look bland like last time, and after some thought...”

The vice principal’s idea was very simple.

“How about we put up a photo of our students dressed neatly in their uniform on the main page? I think that would be pretty good.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Mr. Yoon replied.

The uniform was one of the first things that came across people’s minds when they thought of school, and this idea took that into account. There were already tons of schools who had decorated their website’s main page like that.

“And so, I was thinking it would be nice to have Ra-Eun there,” the vice principal expressed.

That was the real reason why he called for Mr. Yoon. Ra-Eun was a popular high school girl on the national level, and he had thought that it would be good advertisement for the school by having her on their main page.

“Just Ra-Eun?” Mr. Yoon asked.

“No, I’d like to have a two-shot of her and one of the boys as the models. In any case, could you please go ask Ra-Eun about it?”

“I understand.”

The homeroom teacher tilted his head after coming out of the vice principal’s office.

‘I wonder if Ra-Eun will do it.’

He knew very well what Ra-Eun’s personality was like, so he couldn’t be sure.

1. This is an idiom meaning that chasing too many goals at once will leave you empty-handed, but Ra-Eun is easily multi-tasking.