Chapter 74: High School Girl’s Graduation (2)
Kang Ra-Eun and Seo Yi-Seo went around by car to look for a place to live before entering Seoul National University. Yi-Seo continued to voice her admiration from the passenger seat as Ra-Eun expertly maneuvered through very tight alleyways.
“Didn’t you say it hadn’t been that long since you got your driver’s license? How are you so good? I think you’re better than my dad!”
Yi-Seo was being genuine. Not only that, but Ra-Eun’s car was not small, but a mid-sized foreign luxury vehicle. A novice driver would naturally be afraid to drive in such tight spaces, but Ra-Eun was masterfully handling the steering wheel to the finest detail.
Ra-Eun answered, “I think driving just suits me.”
She parked in a public parking lot and looked around the new properties on sale with Yi-Seo and a real estate agent that Ma Yeong-Jun had introduced her to. Yeong-Jun had likely done something, because the real estate agent was being overly polite to her.
“This is one of our cleanest and most cost-effective homes for sale.”
Most people looked for studio apartments when they first set out to live independently, but Ra-Eun wanted a large apartment. It didn’t matter if it was expensive; she simply wanted a spacious, newly constructed, clean and well-maintained place with a good view, and she had plenty of money for it.
However, Yi-Seo couldn’t help but feel burdened.
“Can we really choose a place like this, Ra-Eun?” she asked.
“Why? You don’t like it?”
“No, I love it, but it’s expensive, isn’t it?”
Yi-Seo knew even without hearing the price that the place was far too expensive for two girls, who had only just become adults, to afford.
However, Ra-Eun replied as if the price did not matter, “It’s pointless to worry about a celebrity.”
Yi-Seo had mixed feelings since Ra-Eun was indeed a celebrity. Ra-Eun had no intention of demanding monthly rent from Yi-Seo. She was simply looking for a house for herself, and there was only one thing that she wanted from Yi-Seo.
Ra-Eun had to juggle both university and her acting career, so she had no time to take care of housework. Hence, Yi-Seo would fill that role. Yi-Seo herself said to leave the housework to her, but she still couldn’t help but feel a little burdened.
Having taken a liking to the city view from the upper floors, Ra-Eun asked the real estate agent to sign the contract immediately without even asking for the terms of sale. The agent replied that they would start the procedure right away.
‘I’m finally out of that shabby home.’
Ra-Eun couldn't care less whether or not the rent was expensive. She was already happy enough that she had escaped from a house with a rattling air conditioner.
***
There was about a month left until university life would begin. After having completely moved into their new home, Ra-Eun drove to a building that wasn’t even ten minutes away. The clothing business being managed by Park Seol-Hun had also taken the opportunity to move to a bigger base of operations near Ra-Eun’s new home.
They were still in the middle of unpacking. Ra-Eun took off her sunglasses and walked over to Yeong-Jun.
“Where’s our little mister?” she asked.
“Seol-Hun? He’s away on an external meeting right now,” Yeong-Jun answered.
“Really? Oh, right. I was able to buy a good home thanks to the real estate agent that you introduced me to, but he was shaking way too much. What in the world did you say to him when you introduced him to me?”
Yeong-Jun said while shrugging as if it was no big deal, “I told him that we’d drown him in an Incheon beach if he treated our precious client like some gullible customer.”
That was Yeong-Jun’s way of dealing with people. But thanks to him, Ra-Eun was able to finalize the tenancy agreement very easily.
“Tell mister to set a date for a meeting when he comes back. I want to hear the overall direction of how this company will be managed before I resume my TV career.”
Kang Ra-Hyuk would handle the stock trading, and Seol-Hun had to take on a central role in the business. Ra-Eun needed money to face Kim Han-Gyo and Kim Chi-Yeol. Guns and knives were now obsolete in this capitalistic era. Financial prowess, in other words, money, was power, and she was planning on stacking as much of it as possible until the right time.
“Oh, and Mr. Gangster,” Ra-Eun said to Yeong-Jun. “Keep recruiting more executives just in case.”
Yeong-Jun asked her jokingly, “You gonna wage a war or something?”
“I guess so.”
That was the sole reason she returned, albeit as a high school girl.
***
Ra-Eun was frantically busy despite university not having begun yet. Yi-Seo knocked on Ra-Eun’s room door as she was working.
“Ra-Eun, everyone wants to meet tomorrow. Are you free?”
“Everyone?”
“Our high school classmates. Sang-Woon is gonna enlist soon, so they decided to have a send-off party.
“Has that much time passed already?”
Time waiting for someone else’s enlistment flew by in an instant. She was busy, but she couldn’t afford to miss it.
“Okay, I’ll go. It was bothering me that I couldn’t go see him off, so I should at least go to his send-off party.”
She would not be able to go to the training center to see Choi Sang-Woon off because she had a drama shoot scheduled on that day. It was probably a good thing, since it would become complete chaos if a popular actress like her showed up at the training center. That was best for Ra-Eun, Sang-Woon, and those who were in charge of regulating the new recruits.
***
They decided to hold the party at Ra-Eun and Yi-Seo’s home. It would be uncomfortable to hold it at a restaurant since Ra-Eun was so famous, so they decided to hold the party at their home for it to also serve as a housewarming party.
Since it was so spacious, it could fit every single one of their friends without issue. Meanwhile, Na Gyu-Rin and Choi Ro-Mi had arrived earlier than the others and were absorbed in checking out Ra-Eun and Yi-Seo’s home.
“My, my, my! Look at this! The view is insane!”
“How in the world did you get a house like this?”
Anything could be bought with money. With the amount that Ra-Eun was earning through stock trading and her appearances in productions, renting a place like this was chump change for her.
The others arrived one after another. It had only been a month, but the youthfulness that they emitted in their uniforms had mostly disappeared. Especially...
“Why do you boys already look like old men when you haven’t even gone to the army yet?”
Sang-Woon, Kim Yeong-Gyo and the other boys smiled awkwardly at Ro-Mi’s sharp comment. There was a reason for their sudden ‘aging.’
“Alcohol was a lot more delicious than we expected.”
“Yeah.”
It was all because of alcohol. Of course, women drank alcohol as well. Ro-Mi and Gyu-Rin had a few sips of beer together, but they had not drunk as much as men drank to their absolute limits to gauge their alcohol tolerance.
“And today... Ta-dah! Take a look at this.”
Yeong-Gyo and the other boys took out a black bag. It was filled with soju and beer.
“This is Sang-Woon’s send-off party, so it’d be a waste not to drink, right?”
Gyu-Rin retorted sharply, “Who do you think you are, trying to hold a drinking party at someone else’s house with the house owners right here? Right, Ra-Eun? Yi-Seo?”
Yi-Seo relinquished the right to answer to Ra-Eun since Ra-Eun was the true owner of the house. However, Ra-Eun took Yeong-Gyo’s side instead of Gyu-Rin’s.
“You sure brought some good ones. I also wanted to drink.”
“Eh, really?”
“Yeah.”
Ra-Eun had always liked alcohol. She not only used to drink at dinner parties with her security team members, but even used to drink wine and vodka by herself.
‘But I’ve never drunk as a high school girl.’
Ra-Eun was a minor until a short while ago. It was possible for her to secretly drink alcohol if she wanted to, but she had been holding herself back since it could deal a massively negative impact on her career and image as an actress. In the shadows, she had to be the mastermind who resorted to various expedients through Ma Yeong-Jun, but in the light, she had to be a righteous actress with a clean image.
Hence, no matter how much Ra-Eun wanted to drink, she exercised her superhuman endurance to hold back until she became of drinking age. And today, the time had finally come. She could finally drink alcohol! She was already salivating.
Yi-Seo asked her in worry, “Will you be alright? You’ve never drunk before.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. My tolerance is pretty high.”
“It is? How do you know?”
Ra-Eun had unconsciously blurted it out because that had been the case in her past life.
“No, I just... thought I’d have a pretty high tolerance.”
She managed to play it off as an assumption. The boys got fired up after receiving the house owner’s permission.
“All right! Let’s party tonight!”
They had gathered for Sang-Woon’s send-off party plus Ra-Eun and Yi-Seo’s housewarming party, but the purpose of the party had changed a little... no, a lot.
***
Ra-Eun clicked her tongue as she watched Sang-Woon and Yeong-Gyo mixing the soju and beer.
“Hey, hey, give it here. I’ll do it.”
She displayed her hand skills tempered through experience. She added the soju and beer in the ideal ratio and made a whirlpool with a chopstick as a finishing touch. The members of the party were lost for words.
Gyu-Rin asked while blinking, “Where did you learn to do that, Ra-Eun?”
“Hm? Oh, during shoots. You want the acting to be as realistic as possible, so you learn all kinds of stuff.”
Being an actress was amazing for making all kinds of excuses. Ra-Eun confidently chose the soju bomb as her first glass. She was unmoved by her friends’ worries.
‘This is nothing more than a light beverage to me.’
Ra-Eun downed the glass after clinking the glasses with her friends. Something of this level was nothing to Ra-Eun in her past life, but as soon as she had one glass...
‘...Huh?’
She felt something was off.
‘No way. Am I... a lightweight?’
She was already feeling dizzy.
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