Perfect Crown in Royal Academy of Korea - Chapter 4

Chapter Four: The Tiger Standing Behind the Fox

Heejoo, who had finished grading her own test, smiled. She had been anxious because she entered the exam room as much as 30 minutes late, but if the results of her self-grading were correct, the top spot was her share this time as well. It was news that would turn the stomachs of whoever the bastards were that trapped her in the elevator.
  
"Son of a bitches."
  
Heejoo, who muttered pleasantly, tidied up her exam papers. Since she had finished the exam well, it was time to repay the favor.
  
Snatching the robe she had thrown onto the bed, Heejoo left the room. Her steps toward the 12th-grade lounge were light.
  
Entering the 12th-grade lounge with a knock, Heejoo searched for Jungwoo while ignoring the gazes of the seniors staring at her. They said he was usually in either the library or the lounge, but not a single strand of that prominent hair of his was in sight. Just as she was wondering if she should go to the library.
  
"Taejoo's sister?"
  
A female student with a familiar face pretended to recognize her. Was her name Han Dayoung? They said she was Sung Taejoo's girlfriend, but she was a truly strange woman. Despite being the eldest daughter of a high-status family, she used an unhesitating way of speaking, and while hanging out with Sung Taejoo, her grades were quite good. Her appearance... wasn't bad either. No, her appearance was quite striking, so she was very popular too.
  
But why is she meeting Sung Taejoo? That was strange.
  
"What brings you here? Did you come to see me?"
  
"No. I came to find Senior Jungwoo."
  
"Why Jungwoo all of a sudden?"
  
"......"
  
When Heejoo stared back with a face that said 'why do I have to tell you that,' Dayoung chuckled and shook her head.
  
"Jungwoo is probably at the archery range right now. The friendly match is soon, after all."
  
"Ah, yes."
  
Heejoo, who substituted her answer with a nod that was half a greeting and half not, left the lounge while ignoring the gazes of the other seniors just like when she came in.
  
That friendly match, which happened once a year, was a match that Heejoo was scheduled to attend as well.
  
"Senior!"
  
"Sung Heejoo?"
  
Jungwoo, who was in the middle of focusing intently on traditional archery practice, turned around at the sound of someone calling him. Heejoo, who had tied her hair up high from its usual loose state, was running toward him. From wherever she had run from, by the time she arrived right in front of his nose, she was out of breath gasping roughly.
  
"Is someone chasing you?"
  
"It's going to be 9 o'clock in a bit. I have to go into the dormitory before then."
  
Heejoo, who checked her wristwatch, said while frowning. Students in the 10th grade and below could not come outside the dormitory after 9 o'clock.
  
Jungwoo handed a tumbler to such a Heejoo.
  
"Drink some water at least."
  
Heejoo, who snatched it, hesitated for a moment.
  
"Why?"
  
"Can I put my lips on it and drink?"
  
Jungwoo, who burst into laughter at the unexpected question, nodded his head. Only then starting to gulp down the water, Heejoo looked up at Jungwoo only after emptying the tumbler completely.
  
"I'll wash it and bring it back to you."
  
"You don't have to do that."
  
"...Thank you for helping me last time."
  
"Did you come to say that?"
  
"I told you I'd repay the favor."
  
Jungwoo's lips drew a graceful arc again. Although he hadn't forgotten her words that she would repay the favor, he couldn't have anticipated what form that would take.
  
"How are you going to repay it."
  
"That's for you to think of, Senior."
  
"Me?"
  
"Yes."
  
Jungwoo, who was knitting his brows at the brazen answer, smiled again. Usually in times like this, don't people buy a meal or buy coffee.
  
"And did you do well on the exam?"
  
"Yes."
  
"You seem confident."
  
"It will be worth your while for helping me."
  
Heejoo, who retorted slyly, glanced at Jungwoo's bow. Jungwoo, who did not miss that gaze, said.
  
"I see you're the 9th-grade representative."
  
"You're the 12th-grade representative, right, Senior?"
  
"We're on the same team anyway, do you want to practice together?"
  
Heejoo, who was moving her lips as if troubled, shook her head.
  
"I can't."
  
"You said you'd repay the favor."
  
"I told you. The 9th grade cannot use the archery range at this hour."
  
Ah, Jungwoo let out an exclamation and shrugged his shoulders.
  
"Then instead of a practice partner, just do some errands for me."
  
"Errands?"
  
"To come to the archery range after class finishes, there's too much luggage."
  
Pointing with a nod at the luggage placed next to the shooting stand, Jungwoo said. It was full of miscellaneous things like a school bag, a sports bag, a bow case, and a tumbler.
  
"Are you telling me to be a porter?"
  
"Do you dislike it?"
  
Heejoo, who contemplated for a moment, shook her head. It was a bit annoying, but it was an easier repayment of favor than she had expected.
  
"Alright. Do I start from tomorrow?"
  
"See you in front of the lecture building at 7 o'clock."
  
Jungwoo, who nodded as if satisfied, said. Unlike his cold-looking face, he laughed easily, and he didn't even refuse to see her off to the front of the archery range.
  
"Thanks, go on."
  
It had been a week since she acted as Jungwoo's porter. Heejoo thought that her time with Jungwoo was not bad at all. In the first place, she didn't carry much luggage. Because out of Jungwoo's miscellaneous luggage, Heejoo's share was only one single bow. As long as she carried the bow well, she could do whatever she wanted with other things.
  
"Can I look at some English words?"
  
Even when she asked while pulling out a vocabulary book,
  
"Can I listen to some music?"
  
When she asked, Jungwoo readily nodded his head.
  
"Do as you wish."
  
Then on some days he would buy her a drink, and on other days he would solve her incorrect answer notes, acting as a good senior.
  
"Isn't that Sung Heejoo?"
  
"Why is she together with Min Jungwoo?"
  
Perhaps because the combination of those two was a combination that didn't suit each other at all, the surrounding gazes were quite noisy. To the extent that speculations were rampant, starting from 'I heard Sung Heejoo caught Min Jungwoo's weakness' to 'I heard Castle Group provided political funds to the Min family,' the story from the day of the exam also went around with meat added to it.
  
Sung Heejoo, who never knew what it was to be late, and Min Jungwoo, who was running while holding the hand of such a Sung Heejoo, or something like that.
  
Heejoo also was not unaware of the growing rumors, but she didn't exactly step forward to correct them. There was no guy with a liver swollen enough to ask her directly, and the rumor with Jungwoo was quite useful.
  
Just like fearing a tiger standing behind a fox, people could not openly despise her like before.
  
"Senior, did you hear that story?"
  
One day, she had asked Jungwoo. Whether he was pretending not to know even while knowing the rumor. Or whether he was staying quiet because he didn't know.
  
"I know. Someone asked me today too. Whether I'm close with you."
  
"And?"
  
"I said we're close?"
  
"......"
  
"Is that not allowed?"
  
At Jungwoo asking indifferently, Heejoo hesitated a bit. The words 'we're close' felt awkward. At most, carrying his luggage was the whole of it, can that be called being close? When her contemplation grew long, Jungwoo laughed easily again.
  
"Do you dislike being close with me?"
  
"It's not that... why?"
  
"Do I need a reason?"
  
Somehow at the feeling that he was clinging to her, Heejoo became a little proud. Because it was awkward and good that Min Jungwoo, whom the entire school year longed for, wanted to become close with her.
  
"Then can I drop the honorifics?"
  
So she playfully tried to act up for no reason,
  
"Do as you wish."
  
Jungwoo accepted it easily once more.
  
"Why are you practicing so hard lately?"
  
Sanghyun asked Jungwoo, who was coming out after finishing practice.
  
"The friendly match is soon, after all."
  
"Since when did you care about that kind of thing."
  
Looking at Jungwoo, who didn't snap back even when given a snub, Sanghyun was certain there was something. Although Sanghyun was someone who had been together with Jungwoo for a quite long time under the name of a friend, he had rarely seen Jungwoo do something 'hard.' Because he did well even without trying particularly hard.
  
For such a Min Jungwoo to practice traditional archery two hours a day. And every day at that.
  
"To beat the Grand Prince, Your Highness?"
  
"What?"
  
"I see the Grand Prince, Your Highness, is there as the Azure Dragon Palace representative?"
  
Throughout the entire 12th grade, the only one who could match skills with Jungwoo was Grand Prince Leean. Not only in traditional archery, but in almost all fields. As that was the case, the showdown between the two people always aroused the interest of many.
  
But Jungwoo knew clearly who the winner of that heated showdown would be. Since the Grand Prince was an existence that must neither shine nor make a sound, he would moderately lose for him.
  
What he could do for such a Wan was to do his best to win. So that he would not be a shameful loser.
  
  
From the Royal Academy School Regulations
  
Article 27, Paragraph 3: Students in the 10th grade and below are prohibited from entering or exiting outside the dormitory after the Hour of the Boar (21:00–23:00). In the case of violating this school regulation, 20 demerit points shall be given to the student in question.