I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 80: Hollywood (2)

A luxury hotel in Hollywood.

I sipped my coffee and smiled.

“Well, that was a pretty decent result.”

“...That it was.”

Lee Si-hyun, sprawled out on the bed staring at the ceiling, muttered in a strange tone.

“Who would’ve thought the most prestigious bank in France was this corrupt? It was kind of eye-opening.”

“You’re worried our company might end up like that?”

Si-hyun reluctantly nodded.

“Yes. And... I’m worried I might end up that way. It’s a well-known fact that people eventually change, isn’t it?”

True. People change.

I did too.

“It’s fine. I’ll hold things steady. I’m the only one in our company allowed to be corrupt.”

Corruption eats away at a company. There’s no way I’d allow that as the company’s owner, right?

I’m going to build a clean organization—for the sake of my own greed.

“...Yes, understood. I’ll trust you. But could you please scoot over a bit...?”

Heh heh.

“Nope. Who knows when I’ll see you again? Once we get older, we won’t be able to do stuff like this.”

I buried my face in Si-hyun’s chest and rubbed against it.

Hehe, so nice.

“...I thought you were fine now since you’ve been hanging around some guys lately.”

“What are you talking about? Pretty girls are still better than handsome guys.”

Men like me too much. You know what I mean.

Their physiological reactions are way too honest. I understand why, considering my past life, but still...

“Well, I mean... if a girl like you throws herself half-naked at someone, of course..."

“Hmph, not my problem.”

And anyway, it was just swimming class. I was a little excited, but that’s all.

“....”

Without a word, Si-hyun gently hugged my head and patted it.

“Mmm... anyway. UA will soon be acquired by Alpha Fund. You’ll need to bring a few of the directors over from there... You ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) handle it.”

“W-Wait. It’s being acquired by Alpha Fund, right? How am I supposed to bring them to Daehwa Middle School? There’s no connection at all.”

“That’s for you to figure out. You’re the chief secretary of my company—the second-in-command. Shouldn’t someone like you make it happen?”

When an incompetent employee gets promoted through connections, people call that corruption.

“Work hard so that there’s no one more competent than you, Si-hyun.”

Feeling a bit of a chill, Si-hyun’s arms around me tightened slightly.

“...Yes, I’ll do my best.”

“...Uh, just to be clear—I don’t mean you should eliminate everyone better than you. I mean improve yourself. You get what I’m saying, right?”

“Oh, that’s not what you meant?”

Her body trembled. What on earth is she saying?

“Ugh... I can’t leave you in Russia too long.”

My poor Si-hyun’s going weird on me.

***

Daehwa Middle School’s Film Club.

Originally meant to be a theater or film appreciation club, it ended up a full-on film production club thanks to Yoo Ha-yeon dumping a ridiculous budget into it.

It used to be a film appreciation club, though...

The drama club president had come meekly asking for support, eyes sparkling, and I just couldn’t say no.

Jung Seon-woo, the film club president, was staring blankly at the film camera provided by the school. It was so high-end that he sometimes wondered how much he could get if he sold it.

“Seon-woo! Hehe, I’m here!”

Tada.

A beaming girl waved her hand. She was Seon-woo’s childhood friend—a small but lively girl.

Thanks to her, who was more passionate about the film club than anyone, the club managed to stay afloat.

Because, to be honest, filmmaking was ridiculously hard.

Not digital film, but actual film reels—producing that as a second-year middle school student was unrealistic. The tech of the time didn’t even allow for something like user-generated content.

Sure, Steven Spielberg had made a short film at around the same age back in the ’60s...

But that was a story of a genius among geniuses.

“Phew, the club’s gotten big... but I don’t really know anything, so I’m kind of worried.”

“Hehe, don’t worry! I’ll teach you, Seon-woo!”

His puppy-like childhood friend comforted him.

Yeah, someone believes in me. I’ve got to give it my all.

“So, with the film, you do it like this...”

Thanks to her—

Jung Seon-woo, who had more talent for acting than directing, relied on his childhood friend, who had been interested in film since they were kids.

Smile.

“When you hold the camera, you grip it like this. Here, give me your hand... yup, hehe.”

Her warm, small hands guided his larger ones. She smiled gently, patiently teaching him the basics.

It must be annoying to teach a total beginner from scratch... She’s really kind.

While Seon-woo was diligently studying film with no other thoughts—

—Click.

“Who’s th—oh?”

A younger student with a gentle face... the de facto ruler of the school, Daehwa Middle School’s romance destroyer, a self-proclaimed genius girl.

Yoo Ha-yeon appeared.

***

At Daehwa Middle School, Yoo Ha-yeon was infamous as a crazy girl.

Well, it couldn’t be helped.

She was the third-generation heiress of one of Korea’s top chaebol families, had beauty and a genius intellect, and yet she constantly caused mayhem.

“...You want to join our club, Miss?”

Yoo Ha-yeon joining a club was nothing new... and that’s what made it worrying.

Every club she joined ended in chaos. Legendary incidents from Class 1-1 were already spreading through the school even though it was still early in the semester.

She once wore a barely-there bikini to swimming class, leaving the boys flustered, read a love letter aloud during homeroom, or got into a shouting match with a science teacher teaching false information and got him kicked out...

Those stories swirled in Jung Seon-woo’s head.

And for Seon-woo’s childhood friend, that was especially alarming. Her handsome and kind childhood friend was spacing out in front of a beautiful girl.

“...Hey, Seon-woo?”

“Huh? Oh, what is it?”

“Isn’t it kind of hard for Miss to join our club?”

Hearing that, Yoo Ha-yeon smiled and whispered.

“Hm? Why do you think that?”

The girl bit her lip and stammered for a moment, then clenched her fists and answered.

“B-Because... our club’s still lacking in a lot of ways. You came because you want to make a movie, right? We’re not there yet...”

“Well... maybe I just came to watch movies? Or... maybe it’s the film club’s handsome president?”

Flinch.

She felt a burning glare beside her.

“Miss... please don’t do that. I used to really like you. Your... I mean, your mother was one of my favorite actresses...”

A well-known fact: Yoo Ha-yeon’s mother had once been a hugely popular actress.

Naturally, any student who liked movies had probably seen her.

—Rustle.

Hearing that, Yoo Ha-yeon paused, brushed back her long hair, and sighed.

“Phew... Yeah. That’s true. Right... this is a film club, isn’t it. Senpai? Sorry, I was just messing around a bit.”

“Huh... messing around?”

Jung Seon-woo had no idea why the club’s gender ratio was 1:2.

“Ahaha, you’re really having a hard time, huh, my cute senpai.”

Laughing as she clapped, Yoo Ha-yeon’s eyes sparkled.

—Tap.

Crossing her legs and sitting down, she pulled a crisp sheet of paper from her school bag and placed it on the desk.

“I’m actually serious about this. So I hope you won’t be too hard on me.”

“...What do you mean?”

“Making films is hard, right? None of the teachers know anything about it either... So I brought a director.”

Jung Seon-woo nodded naturally at her words.

“Oh wow, someone like you could probably get a director from Chungmuro. That’s impressive.”

But Yoo Ha-yeon shook her head.

“No, not really. I don’t like Korean films.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Seon-woo, don’t—” freёnovelkiss.com

His childhood friend nudged him with a whisper, but it was already too late.

“Sometimes I see my mom’s face in them, and it’s just... hard.”

Yoo Ha-yeon looked a bit downcast as she sighed.

“....”

A silence heavy as death settled over the room. It was the club’s first-ever win over Yoo Ha-yeon—but no one felt happy about it.

“Ugh, Jung Seon-woo, you jerk. How could you.”

“No tact at all, jeez.”

The other students muttered boos.

“Ahaha. Okay, okay, let’s stop there.”

“Uh... yeah.”

Miss Yoo smiled again and fluttered the paper. The girl beside her—who acted as the de facto director—tentatively raised her hand and asked,

“S-So... where’s the director from?”

“Hollywood.”

The document she proudly presented clearly said so.

—“W-Wait, I know that person! I saw them on the news!”

—“Isn’t that the famous director who came to Korea recently for filming? The one who just won an award?”

“Yeah. They’ll only be with us for a few days while filming, but... I convinced them to do a special lecture.”

“...!”

The childhood friend, bouncing with excitement, stretched out her little arms.

“A-Accepted!”

“...Weren’t you against this just a moment ago?”

“T-That was that, and this is this!”

Yoo Ha-yeon smiled brightly at those words.

The truth—that she had commissioned the director to shoot in Korea just to create a plausible reason for them to appear at Daehwa Middle School—was known only to her.

There’s reckless spending... and then there’s this.