Chapter 6: Street Casting (2)

The bobbed-haired girl was Kang Ra-Eun’s classmate. Ra-Eun slowly muttered while staring intently at her.

“Seo Yi-Seo... was it?”

The bobbed-haired girl nodded repeatedly. “That’s right. Thanks for helping me as I was about to fall earlier.”

“That’s nothing to thank me for.”

It was Ra-Eun’s first time speaking with someone of her age and sex since returning as a high school girl. She had never approached any of her classmates first, nor did she see the need to. She only had one goal, and that was to graduate from high school and become an adult, which was why she never tried to needlessly make friends. But even so...

‘I at least memorized their names.’

She had memorized every single one, but there were two reasons why Seo Yi-Seo’s name was easier to memorize than others. First, it was an easy name to memorize, and second...

‘She’s the one who dropped to 2nd place because of me.’

Yi-Seo was the top of Year 2 Class 5, and Ra-Eun had taken that title from her a few days ago. Ra-Eun quickly scanned Yi-Seo, who was holding a tray.

‘She doesn’t look like a customer.’

Ra-Eun asked a throwaway question, “Do your parents run this place?”

“How did you know?”

“I just had a feeling.” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

While the two were conversing...

“Hey, Ra-Eun,” Ra-Hyuk whispered, “Who is she?”

“She’s a classmate, her name is—” As Ra-Eun was answering...

“I’m Seo Yi-Seo, Ra-Eun’s friend. Are you Ra-Eun’s older brother?”

Ra-Eun pondered over how to respond to Yi-Seo’s declaration of friendship. Meanwhile, Ra-Hyuk answered while nodding, “Yeah, I’m Ra-Eun’s older brother, Kang Ra-Hyuk. That aside, I didn’t realize Ra-Eun had a model student for a friend.”

Ra-Hyuk was surprised. She was obviously diligent and good at studying from her clean-cut appearance. He had once seen the kind of people Ra-Eun associated herself with, and all he had seen were delinquents who obviously did not study. At that moment, Yi-Seo told Ra-Hyuk something that he had not known.

“Ra-Eun is smarter than me.”

“Come on, even if you’re friends, that’s a bit much. You don’t have to lie like that. I know very well that my little sister is at the bottom of her class,” Ra-Hyuk expressed.

“No, it’s true. Don’t you know that Ra-Eun scored first in our class in the final exams?”

“...First?”

“You didn’t tell your family, Ra-Eun?”

Ra-Eun held in her sigh while fiddling around with the ends of her hair. “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell them?” Yi-Seo asked.

The reason was very simple.

“Because it’s a hassle.” What was most important to Ra-Eun right now wasn’t showing off that she was smart to her family, but to earn money and a good academic record. Ra-Hyuk stared at his little sister dumbfoundedly.

“Is your friend telling the truth?” Ra-Hyuk asked.

“Yeah.”

“How in the world did you go from last to first...? Did you cheat?”

“That’s exactly what my homeroom teacher asked me.”

Ra-Hyuk didn’t believe it in the slightest. Feeling frustrated, Yi-Seo decided to step in for Ra-Eun.

“Here, please take a look at this photo.” It was the grade ranking, and Ra-Eun’s name was clearly printed on the first place spot.

Ra-Hyuk blinked repeatedly, unable to distinguish whether this was a dream or reality. He was surprised enough when his profits skyrocketed thanks to Ra-Eun’s stock trading information, but he was in even more awe now.

“Show Dad that report card later,” Ra-Hyuk stated.

“Why?” Ra-Eun asked.

“It’ll cheer him up, even just a little. Can you imagine how happy he would be when he finds out his daughter scored first?”

“...”

For their father who was working his hardest... Kang Ra-Eun clicked her tongue.

“Okay, okay.” She didn’t like it, but she had no choice.

***

It was the day of the summer break ceremony. Ra-Eun was overjoyed that she did not have to go to school for a while.

‘I was just about getting sick of school, perfect timing.’

She was planning on spending the break at home with Ra-Hyuk to inflate their money through stock trading, but before that...

‘I still have one more thing I have to do.’

Ra-Eun went to Yi-Seo as soon as the ceremony was over and school ended.

“Yi-Seo.”

Once she called out to Yi-Seo, her classmates stared at the two of them with anxiety, worried that Ra-Eun would harass Yi-Seo. It was to the point that some were talking about calling a teacher. However, not a shred of uneasiness could be heard from Yi-Seo’s response.

“What is it?” It was a response that she would make to any of her friends.

“I have a favor to ask,” Ra-Eun stated.

“What kind of favor?”

Ra-Eun slightly blushed. “...Come with me to buy some clothes.”

“Okay, let’s go. Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know. You choose.”

She wasn’t all that interested in buying clothes, even in her past life. Since Park Geon-Woo worked in security, all that he needed were suits.

“I guess Hongdae is the best in terms of size. But if you think it’s too far, then the underground shopping mall in Bupyeong Station is good too. That place is pretty big.”

“Then let’s just go to the closer one,” Ra-Eun expressed. She couldn’t care less about which area had the prettier clothes. And so, Kang Ra-Eun and Seo Yi-Seo, the two people whom one would never think would associate with each other, left the classroom together. The other kids remaining in the classroom did nothing but stare in the direction that the two disappeared to with baffled expressions.

***

The Bupyeong Station underground shopping mall was riddled with clothing stores.

“Why don’t we go there?” Seo Yi-Seo pointed at a store. “I’m a regular there. The clerk unnie is really good at coordinating.”

Ra-Eun expressed her ambiguity as she looked inside. “It doesn’t look like they sell menswear.”

“What do you mean?” Yi-Seo asked.

“Can you take me to a menswear store?”

Yi-Seo thought she had misheard. “By buying clothes, did you mean you were buying clothes for your brother?”

“No, they’re for me,” Ra-Eun stated.

“Then why do you want to buy menswear?”

“Umm...”

Because she was originally a man, but there was no way she could say that. It wasn’t like Yi-Seo would believe her anyway. She’d just be treated like a crazy person.

“I just... like wearing menswear.”

“Why? With a figure like yours, any clothes you wear would look perfect on you! You’re wasting your figure!”

It didn’t matter if it was a waste. Whatever Yi-Seo did, she could not break Ra-Eun’s stubbornness. In the end, they decided to visit a menswear store. The part-timer was confused by the two high school girls’ visit.

“Dear customers, we don’t sell womenswear here,” the part-timer remarked.

“We know.” Ra-Eun grabbed the gray cotton trousers and blue shirt that were displayed at the entrance.

“Is this the smallest size you have?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing smaller than this?”

“Yes, miss. That is the smallest.”

Ra-Eun held the blue shirt up to herself just in case, but as expected...

“It doesn’t suit you, Ra-Eun,” Yi-Seo protested.

She was right. It was far too big to even properly serve as clothing. The same went for the trousers. No matter how much she tightened the waistband, the pants just slid down. She tried her best to find menswear that fit her figure, but...

‘I guess it was a waste of time.’

None of the seven stores they went to had what she needed.

‘Dammit.’

It was easier to just give up. Ra-Eun decided to let her stubbornness be broken. As soon as they entered a womenswear store, a female clerk appearing to be in her twenties greeted them.

“Is there a specific piece of clothing you’re looking for?” the clerk asked.

“Please recommend to me some comfortable pants and clothes,” Ra-Eun answered.

“Do you have a kind of clothing in mind?”

“No, I don’t.”

She just wanted the clerk to just roughly coordinate her. After some time, the clerk brought a large array of clothes and described each product one by one.

“These skinny jeans are on trend lately. They’re made of spandex, so they will look great on someone with long and slender legs like yourself. They also accentuates the hips, so they’ll display the lines of your hips beautifully. Here we have some baggy pants, and I think white suits you best.”

The clerk kept holding clothes up to Ra-Eun, using her as a model.

“Your skin tone is on the lighter side, so I think you should match it with bright colors. Also...” The clerk asked while pointing at Ra-Eun’s chest, “I’m sorry, but may I have a quick touch?”

“Yes, go ahead,” Ra-Eun permitted nonchalantly.

“Then excuse me... Oh my, dear customer, you have a great figure. Are you a high school student?”

Ra-Eun nodded.

“I’m jealous. I’m not this well-endowed yet— Ahem! Anyway, dear customer, your body is more glamorous compared to others, so I’d recommend clothes that accentuate your figure instead of rounded clothes. If you wear oversized clothes, it would completely kill your waistline because of your large bust.”

“Oh... I see.”

The clerk continued to rapid-fire her suggestions. Ra-Eun was so tired that she just let things take its course.

***

Ra-Eun chose the clothes that she liked among the clerk’s recommendations. She used 1.2 million won of the five million that Ra-Hyuk gave her.

‘I can always extort more from him.’

They were making much more than that, so it didn’t matter.

“Is there anywhere else you want to go?” Yi-Seo asked, but Ra-Eun shook her head.

“Let’s just have some coffee and go home,” Ra-Eun said.

“Okay.”

Ra-Eun felt sorry to just send Yi-Seo home after dragging her all over the place. As they were heading to the cafe, a man chased after them.

“Excuse me!” A man in his thirties wearing a suit quickly scanned Ra-Eun. “Are you a high school student?”

“Can I help you?” Ra-Eun asked while blatantly displaying her discomfort.

“Oh, I’m not a sketchy person.” The man handed his card over to Ra-Eun. “I’m looking for someone who will appear in a drama. Are you perhaps interested in the entertainment industry?”

It was the street casting that she’d only heard about. Ra-Eun never thought that such a thing would happen to her.

1. Unnie is an honorific that Korean women use to address their older sisters or older women that they are close to.