Chapter 36 : Chapter 36

Monday morning.

I woke up at my usual time and washed up.

As I finished my shower, Yang Hye-in came into the room.

When I sat in the chair, Yang Hye-in dried my hair with a hairdryer and carefully brushed it.

I dozed off for a while, waiting for my hair to dry, and after Yang Hye-in's final check, I changed into my school uniform.

And as always, following Yang Hye-in's lead, I stepped out of the room and headed downstairs to the dining room—

I noticed a slightly different atmosphere from usual.

The servants usually didn't respond much to me, but they maintained a minimum level of courtesy.

They didn't talk or give proper answers, but if I passed close by, they would stop walking and bow their heads.

Once I passed, they would resume moving.

Ah, it's not that they stopped doing that.

Rather, I noticed they were doing 'a little more'.

In other words, they were behaving in ways they normally didn't.

Normally, servants who bowed wouldn't look at me.

It was hard to tell if they were greeting me or avoiding my gaze, as they stared at the ground waiting for me to pass.

But the servant who passed by my side didn't do that.

They stopped and bowed, but for a brief moment, they lifted their eyes to look at me and made eye contact.

The servant quickly lowered their gaze again.

It wasn't a big deal.

Honestly, it felt like something that could happen impulsively, without them realizing it.

But at the same time, it was the first time I'd seen something like this.

Until now, the only person in this mansion who met my eyes without being called was Yang Hye-in.

If I had been a little more careless, I might've asked if they had something to say.

"…Miss."

As I barely managed to kill my curiosity and passed by quietly, Yang Hye-in, who was following behind me, spoke softly.

"I'll explain in the car in a moment."

It seemed Yang Hye-in knew why that servant had acted like that.

I nodded silently and headed to the dining room.

*

As soon as I got in the car, Yang Hye-in, seated next to me, immediately pulled out her smartphone to show me.

There was an article on the screen.

But before I even read the headline, I already knew what the article was about.

That's because there was a huge photo at the top of the article.

It was me, wearing a cap pulled low, a black t-shirt, jeans, and a gray jumper—a somewhat tomboyish outfit.

And Yoo Ha-neul was hugging my arm as if clinging to me, smiling brightly while looking at me.

…Ironically, since Yoo Ha-neul's face wasn't glowing in the picture, I could see her face much more clearly.

She had an utterly happy expression, showing not the slightest trace of concern.

[The Heir of Eugene Group Appears After Years… Who is the Mysterious Girl with Her?]

The title didn't include the word "romance," but the implication was clear.

They were probably trying to stir up gossip about me and Yoo Ha-neul to boost views.

The article itself was short.

[The sole heir of Eugene Group, Ye Sara, has made a public appearance after several years. She was seen with a girl around her age, looking much happier than the circulating rumors suggested.]

It wasn't really an article but more like a description of the picture.

Maybe because it was breaking news?

"…So, the servants in the mansion looked at me like that because they saw this?"

"Yes, that's correct… I'm sorry. This was my oversight."

"What?"

I was somewhat surprised by Yang Hye-in's sudden apology and asked in return.

"I should have anticipated something like this happening when you went out."

"Anticipated?"

"…You're different from other children of chaebol families."

That was certainly true.

In the world I lived in, it wasn't uncommon for the children of wealthy families to appear in the news or have their photos circulate online.

I'm not talking about scandals; just pictures of them being the subject of people's curiosity.

For example, a picture of a child using a competitor's product instead of the one made by their father's company, or a middle-school-type dramatic post that went viral online.

But usually, these cases didn't have as much impact as articles about celebrities.

Since they didn't regularly appear in the media, and there wasn't much of interest besides the fact that they were born lucky, they generally didn't attract a lot of attention unless they caused some crazy scandal.

But Ye Sara's story was a bit different.

She was the heir to a company with a market capitalization of 3,600 trillion won.

Not just the largest company in Korea, but the biggest in this world.

About 30% of the global population used the smartphones this company manufactured, it held a 50% market share in the foundry industry, and it could also design semiconductors at will.

In other words, this wasn't just the top company by market cap—it was an absurdly gigantic company.

It was almost surprising that they had managed to grow so large without being taken down somewhere along the way.

It wouldn't be odd if some overly patriotic people made videos about the company and uploaded them to streaming sites.

"You alone hold 5.7% of the company's shares."

Right.

I was probably one of the wealthiest teenagers in the world, maybe even the wealthiest.

Of course, technically, it wasn't my wealth—it was Ye Sara's.

That was just her stock, and if you included real estate, her assets would be even larger.

Though it probably wouldn't be as much as the stock.

Even if I couldn't spend that money freely right now, anyone who married me would also gain an enormous fortune.

Maybe this was like how scandals followed princes and princesses in countries that still had royalty?

"And, you've also been famous for your looks since you were a child."

When I searched Ye Sara's name online, even pictures from her childhood came up with captions like "Top-tier beauty among Korea's wealthy."

"…"

I see now.

Everything that could make someone famous was all condensed into one person.

On top of that, her media absence over the past few years had unintentionally created an air of mystery, which likely enhanced her image even more.

"…Who do you think took this picture?"

"We'll have to look into that. The newspaper might not have taken it themselves."

She meant there was a chance someone had sold the picture.

"Headquarters might already be investigating."

"Which means…"

"Yes, the chairwoman might already know."

There was a brief silence in the car.

Despite the large engine, the inside of the luxury foreign sedan was eerily quiet.

"…Has there been any contact?"

"Not yet."

I rubbed my eyelids with my hand.

"…I'm sorry."

"…No, I went out without thinking too much."

At my words, Yang Hye-in pressed her lips tightly together.

I had been too complacent.

The enemy wasn't only on the inside.

Ye Sara was so famous that even people unrelated to me could see me as prey.

*

When I entered the classroom, the buzzing stopped immediately.

For a moment, all the students in the class stared at me.

Was it because of the article circulating online?

Normally, the kids would just glance at me and go back to what they were doing, but now it was as if they had all been captivated, their eyes glued to me.

So, I acted differently than usual.

Normally, just as the kids ignored me, I would ignore them.

But if they were looking at me, I should at least meet their gazes in return.

I slowly looked around, meeting the eyes of each person who was staring at me.

Ye Sara had a pretty face but also very sharp eyes.

Just a slight side-eye or upward glance could create the impression that I could cut through something with my gaze.

Naturally, the kids I made eye contact with quickly turned their heads away.

After clearing away all the stares, I calmly walked to my seat and sat down.

…When I think about it, this isn't just a crisis.

I had decided to benchmark the original Ye Sara as a way to escape the current situation, where the chairwoman held complete control over me.

Of course, I wasn't planning to ruin myself like the Ye Sara in the game.

I just intended to make sure no one could look down on me, like in the game.

Move the kids' parents with money so they stop ignoring Ye Sara?

Manipulate the school itself to make her invisible?

Then I'd just cause such a huge mess that it couldn't be handled with money.

But unlike the original Ye Sara, who gave up on everything, I would do it as gentlemanly as possible.

Creak.

The classroom door opened again.

Once again, everyone's attention turned toward the door.

"…Huh?"

The person being stared at froze.

Although she was used to receiving glances, today's stares were much sharper and heavier than the usual indifferent looks.

"Ha-neul!"

When I called out to the frozen Yoo Ha-neul,

"…Huh!?"

She looked even more surprised.

…Oh, right.

Have I never called her by name before?

Well, that wasn't important right now.

What was more important was—

The desks in the classroom were originally arranged in separate rows.

Although some kids moved their desks to sit next to their friends during break time or lunch, during class, it was the norm for the desks to remain separated.

Not that it mattered to me, the "invisible person".

I reached out and…

Tried to drag Yoo Ha-neul's desk over to mine but hesitated.

…It was heavy.

What on earth did she put in the desk drawer?

Did she have something other than textbooks stuffed in there?

"Ugh."

I stood up, using my body weight to pull the desk toward mine.

It didn't take long for Yoo Ha-neul's desk to be placed right next to mine.

Yeah.

Since I'm "invisible", it doesn't matter what I do, right?

Since I've already drawn attention today, this is perfect.

I'm going to become a total attention-seeker from today.

The chairwoman is bound to find out anyway, so there's no turning back.

I patted the seat right next to me while looking at Yoo Ha-neul.

"Come, sit here."

Then I flashed a big grin.

Yes, if they could ignore me when I was alone, if no one could face me no matter what I did,

Let's see if they can still ignore me now that I have a few allies.

The more waves overlap, the more chaotic and unpredictable they become.

"Huhh??"

Yoo Ha-neul still looked extremely flustered.

Well, this is just the beginning.

Let's see who wins this.