Secrets of the Sole Heir

The day after the camping trip, as students, we returned to the heavy school life. The school atmosphere now felt calmer than before. I walked down the school corridor, occasionally glancing out the window, enjoying the sight of students busy with their activities. However, there was an uneasiness I couldn’t ignore, worried about the grades that would be posted on the bulletin board today.

“Narin!” Hana’s voice startled me. I turned around and saw my best friend walking quickly toward me, her face full of curiosity.

“Why are you daydreaming this early in the morning? Are you okay?” she asked, matching my pace.

I smiled slightly, trying to look normal. “It’s nothing. Just a little sleep-deprived.”

“Oh yeah? Did you know there’s a new rumor going around?” she said, leaning in slightly, as if not wanting others to hear.

“What rumor this time?” I asked, a little uninterested as I continued walking.

Hana let out a long sigh, and she seemed reluctant to talk about it. “It’s actually not important, but I just wanted to share it with you.”

I smiled, not understanding her mood—wanting to gossip but not looking excited. “What is it?”

She glanced left and right, making sure no one was eavesdropping or paying attention to us.

“Today, Pouwels Group announced their sole heir. Da Reum,” she whispered.

My steps faltered for a moment before continuing. “Isn’t that normal? He’s Do Hwan’s older brother, so it’s not surprising if he becomes the heir,” I replied casually.

“Wait!” Hana frowned, her eyes full of suspicion. She grabbed my arm, stopping me right in front of the empty classroom.

Oh God… there was something I had forgotten.

“How did you know that Do Hwan has Pouwels Group’s bloodline? When the whole world only knows that the family acknowledges having one son?”

I froze. My eyes darted around, searching for an excuse. Right. No one else knew about this yet. How could I forget?

“Ah… right. You’ve been quite close to Do Hwan for a while now, so it’s not surprising that you know. He must have told you, right? Probably just to show off,” she said lazily, rolling her eyes.

I immediately let out an awkward laugh, trying to agree with the safe assumption Hana had just made.

“But the real issue is… the words ‘sole heir,’” Hana whispered again as she continued walking into the classroom.

I frowned. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Listen, Narin! ‘Sole heir’ means that Da Reum will be declared as the only recipient of all the wealth, including the family assets. Which means Da Reum is the only person who will inherit everything and take over Pouwels Group. But what about Do Hwan? Aren’t they brothers? And why has the family never mentioned their second son?” Hana explained.

I lowered my head, feeling both anxious and confused. What was really happening inside that conglomerate family?

Just as we reached the classroom, the school bell rang. Hana took a deep breath before opening the door and entering first, while I followed behind her, my mind full of questions.

---

The classroom was quite calm. Most students were chatting casually, while others were busy checking the test results that had just been handed out.

I sat quietly in my seat, watching Hana, who kept furrowing her brows, focused on comparing her answers with my answer sheet.

I chuckled. Seeing her so serious like this made me feel a little amused. “What’s with that frown?”

Hana took a deep breath and let it out heavily. She placed her answer sheet down and rubbed her eyes gently, perhaps already tired of looking at the dizzying writings on the paper.

“Before this exam, I studied a little, though my real intention was to get closer to someone at that time. And I thought at least my results would improve a little from before, but it turns out it’s the same,” she grumbled with a pout.

I glanced at her test sheet and pointed at a few numbers that weren’t marked wrong. “Who said so? You did improve. You got two more correct answers than before.”

She still showed a gloomy expression. “Two more is nothing. I feel betrayed by the effort I put in.”

“Oh, come on. Even a small improvement is still progress. You just need to study harder to get the best score in the final exam before CSAT,” I said, trying to lift her spirits.

“Do you think there’s enough time? We’re already in our last year. Instead of studying, I’d rather enjoy my high school days that will never come again,” she said proudly.

“You’re not afraid of getting scolded by the Principal anymore?” I teased.

“My dad? Hmm, there’s no way he would scold his beloved and beautiful daughter. I just need to put on my cute face, and he’ll give in. Don’t worry.”

I nodded, agreeing with her. Let it be. After all, it was true that the Principal adored his daughter.

We both fell silent, focused on our answer sheets, until suddenly, the classroom door swung open loudly. A male student rushed in, panting, his face full of excitement.

“Guys, the scores are posted on the announcement board!” he shouted.

In an instant, the whole class erupted. The sound of chairs scraping and footsteps echoed as the students hurriedly got up from their seats.

“Let’s check it out!” one student shouted enthusiastically.

Hana turned to me with sparkling eyes. “Narin, let’s go see!” She grabbed my hand just as I nodded. We all hurried to gather around the school’s announcement board.

The school hallway became crowded with the excited voices of students who had found their rankings and scores. Some looked disappointed, some satisfied, and some confused. But as we got closer, for some reason, the atmosphere shifted slightly.

“Excuse me, excuse me. Make way. I also want to see my fantastic score,” Hana said as she tried to push past a few students who were blocking the way. Finally, we managed to reach the front of the board.

Hana ran her finger down the list, searching for her name among the hundreds of third-year students. Strangely, she always started from the bottom. And when she found her name, she screamed at the top of her lungs, making everyone around us jump in surprise.

“Woahhh. Narin, I can’t believe this. This is impossible.”

“What is it?”

Hana didn’t answer, so I followed the point of her finger. Her rank had gone up by one spot. From 200th place to 199th out of 300 students. That was an impressive achievement. She hugged me excitedly, and I hugged her back. I was happy she had improved, especially seeing how much joy it brought her.

“You deserve this. I told you, didn’t I? Hard work always pays off,” I said. She nodded, touched.

“Now, let’s check your name.”

Hana immediately lifted her head, searching for my name in the top ranks. Meanwhile, I looked for my name in second place. My name had always remained in that spot, but this time was different. It wasn’t there. Impossible. Had my score dropped? Then suddenly…

“Narin!”

For the umpteenth time, Hana screamed. This time, I wasn’t startled at all. I was still focused on the missing second place, my mind racing through possibilities that could leave me deeply disappointed in myself.

“Narin, look at this!” Hana nudged my arm, insisting I see what she was pointing at. With no choice, I followed her finger’s direction.

“You’re ranked number one, Narin. You’re amazing. I’m so proud to have a friend like you,” she continued. Her words snapped me back to reality, and I quickly checked to see if that name truly belonged to me.

Kang Narin.

It really was me. Oh God, I never expected this to happen. I had worked so hard to reach first place, yet I could never surpass the class president, who had always maintained his top rank. And today… I was overjoyed.

We hugged again. It was thrilling to realize that we both had good news to celebrate.

However, this reality seemed to make everyone around us look at me strangely. I understood—this wasn’t something easy for everyone to accept. They started whispering, but their voices weren’t far enough to escape my ears.

“Is this real?” someone said in shock.

“Do you think this makes sense?” another voice responded.

“No way… the number one spot changed?”

Hana huffed in irritation upon hearing the murmurs around us. She crossed her arms, her eyes flashing with obvious anger.

“Why are you acting like this is something impossible?” Hana’s voice was sharp and clear, loud enough for everyone near the announcement board to hear. “Narin is smart, and if she made it to the top, it’s because of her own hard work! What’s so strange about that?”

Some students were startled by Hana’s words, but instead of quieting down, the murmuring grew even louder.

“But it’s still weird,” someone muttered with a sneer. “Park Jiho has always been number one, and now he suddenly got pushed down? Is this really just hard work?”

“What do you mean?” Hana immediately turned around with a fierce glare.

“No. I mean… if it was really just hard work, why only now?”

“You—”

Hana lost her patience and looked ready to confront them directly. I quickly grabbed her arm before things escalated. “Hana, that’s enough,” I whispered, trying to calm her down.

“But, Narin! This isn’t fair! They’re talking as if you did something wrong, when all you did was get a better score!” Hana protested, her voice full of emotion.

I shook my head slightly. “Arguing won’t change their minds. There’s no point in fighting now.”

But the whispers around us continued. The strange stares stayed on me, making my chest feel tight. I bit my lip, trying to hold back the mix of emotions that were now blending with rising panic.

***