Perfect Crown in Royal Academy of Korea - Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Student Council President Min Jungwoo

Belonging was not something that could be felt just by being affiliated somewhere.

 
Though 7th grade passed, 8th grade came, and then it became 9th grade, Heejoo was still spinning on the outside. Both in the classroom and in the dormitory.
 
Compared to the lower grades when blatant bullying was rampant, things were certainly getting better. Whatever they blabbered behind her back, it was none of her business if they couldn't say it to her face, and whether they cursed or poured hexes behind her back, it was even more none of her business.
 
However, occasionally a question arose. Is the fact that I am not an aristocrat, that I am not the child of the legal wife, such a reason to be ostracized? Neither of the two is my fault.
 
Of course, the reason for being ostracized might not be those two things. As is the case with any outsiders, if she had shown a intimidated appearance or even smiled subserviently, the situation might have been better. If she had made an admission that she lost. Therefore, if she had only given some sign that she would submit. They might have softened up too.
 
However—
 
"Hey, won't you open this?"
 
Sung Heejoo was not that kind of person. If they bullied her, she became as vicious as the bullying, and the more they ostracized her, the more her competitive spirit blazed up.
 
Is that why.
 
Today, on the day of the final exams, Heejoo found herself trapped in an elevator. No wonder there was no one in the hallway. Heejoo thought about who the culprit might be. Was it the Azure Dragon Palace guys she got into a fight with at the library yesterday? Or was it the Hyunmoo Palace senior she bumped shoulders with this morning? There were too many suspects to pinpoint.
 
"Is nobody outside? There's a person in here!!!"
 
Heejoo, who beat on the tightly closed elevator door for a long time, eventually sank to the floor. It was soon time for the exam. This time too, she had to claim the top spot. Showing them that 'I do not lose to you guys, so there is no way I will submit either' was the only method.
 
When it wasn't a fight with a fixed answer like an exam, it was difficult to beat the aristocrat guys. The aristocrat guys, whose families interacted with each other since childhood, had a firm belt of trust connecting one another. That didn't care about seniors or juniors, nor did it care about the relationship between teacher and disciple.
 
Therefore, she had to win everything that could be won. In order to endure the moments when she had no choice but to lose, absolutely.
 
At that moment, a presence of a person was heard outside the elevator. Rising as if she saw a single ray of hope, Heejoo listened closely.
 
"Teacher?"
 
Heejoo, who called out cautiously, waited for a response. When there were no words coming back, Heejoo, frowning, shouted once more.
 
"Hey, you're Ryu Minseok, aren't you. Open the door! I said open the door!"
 
Even so, when there was no word, Heejoo collected her breath in small gasps. It was a day she absolutely had to win, so it was infuriating to be placed in a situation where she had no choice but to lose like this again. Around the time the hand that rolled into a fist trembled, the closed door opened.
 
The one extending a hand from outside the half-descended elevator was not a teacher—
 
"Senior...."
 
Nor was it the guys who fought with her.
 
Clad in a red robe—
 
"Grab on."
 
It was Jungwoo, the student council president of the Royal Academy.
 
Unlike Heejoo, who was the shame of Vermilion Bird Palace and sometimes became its pride, he, who was the pride of Vermilion Bird Palace at every moment, was a person who was always an object of awe even at the Royal Academy where only brilliant people were gathered.
 
As the firstborn of the Min family, which is called a politically distinguished family, he drew attention wherever he went, but as people who draw attention always do, he didn't care much about such things. Perhaps because of that, he received evaluations that he was a bit cold, but that was never perceived as a flaw.
 
Despite having a handsome face, he showed not even a speck of curiosity toward the opposite sex, and while holding the title of student council president, he didn't put on a fake act pretending to be a model student, so it was inevitable for gazes to gather.
 
Whenever she saw such a Jungwoo, Heejoo thought. If there were ranks even among aristocrats, Jungwoo’s place would be at the highest spot. Not only had his father and that father's father served as Prime Minister, but Jungwoo also had deep ties with the Royal Family.
 
Since it was said that he was selected as the companion of the Grand Prince since childhood and went in and out of the palace, unless he sold out the country, his aura would never disappear.
 
Therefore, he was a person with no reason to be entangled with herself. He was an aristocrat among aristocrats, and she was a commoner and a child of a concubine.
 
"What are you doing, not grabbing on."
 
That's why she couldn't grab his hand right away. But at Jungwoo’s prompting, Heejoo tightly clasped his hand together, and following the pulling force, she came out of the elevator. It was 20 minutes after the exam had started.
 
"Go with me."
 
Without room to think long, Heejoo took Jungwoo’s hand and began to run.
 
"Hey, where are we going!"
 
Jungwoo’s flustered voice was heard from behind, but Heejoo didn't care. She thought only about the exam. She thought of the teachers who wouldn't listen even if she pleaded that she was trapped in the elevator and that she was a victim.
 
"Senior, you tell them."
 
"What?"
 
"That I was trapped. That's why I'm late."
 
Even if they don't listen to her words—
 
"They'll listen to Senior's words!"
 
Because they will listen to Jungwoo’s words.
 
Jungwoo, who grasped the situation, began to run ahead of Heejoo. He tried to recall who today's exam proctor was. It didn't come to mind well, but it wasn't important. Because his role was just to resolve the injustice so that the girl holding his hand could take the exam safely. And that was not a very difficult thing.
 
Jungwoo, who returned to the dormitory lounge, sat on the sofa. Even when he opened the book he was reading because of an assignment, concentration didn't happen.
 
Did she do well on the exam.
 
The girl who, after running so hard, did nothing but bite her lower lip right in front of the exam room came to mind. When he knocked on the door instead of the girl, the ethics teacher with an annoyed face came out. The eyes looking at the girl were quite sharp, but he was a person capable of rational judgment.
 
Throughout the entire time explaining the circumstances, the girl held onto his hand and did not let go. As if it were a literal lifeline.
 
"Do you know Sung Heejoo?"
 
Jungwoo, who closed the pages of the book, asked casually. Sanghyun, who was wrestling alone in front of a chessboard, made a face as if it were strange.
 
"Sung Heejoo? Where is a kid who doesn't know that mad dog."
 
Shaking his head as if talking about a troublesome child, he laid out a few stories about Sung Heejoo. From the fact that she was an extramarital child of the Castle Group to the story that she had never once missed the top spot since admission.
 
"I know that much too."
 
Jungwoo retorted bluntly. No matter how uninterested Jungwoo was in his surroundings, there was no way he didn't know the existence of Sung Heejoo. Not only did she enter the school with an enormous donation, but how could one not know a girl who is fighting with someone every single day.
 
"Then what are you curious about."
 
Sanghyun, who was moving the queen on the chessboard, narrowed his eyes and asked.
 
"Don't tell me you...."
 
"What."
 
"Fell for her?"
 
"What are you talking about."
 
"She is pretty though. There must be a ton of kids who confessed to her and got rejected?"
 
A pretty mad dog. Jungwoo, who let out a smile as if it were amusing, recalled the back view of the mad dog. The appearance of her running with her long hair fluttering... was pretty, he agreed.
 
"How do you know so well. Are you interested too?"
 
"In Sung Heejoo? Ugh, no matter how pretty she is, not her."
 
"Why?"
 
At the question that was so indifferent that it didn't show any sign of fishing, Sanghyun shrugged his shoulders.
 
"I'm scared of her."
 
"Why?"
 
"Because I saw her pushing some boy before. On the stairs."
 
"On the stairs?"
 
"She didn't push him, she kicked him."
 
"And yet she didn't get expelled?"
 
"Her dad is the chairman of Castle Group. He must have smeared it with money."
 
The more he heard, the more Jungwoo became curious about that girl. The girl who had a lot of money but whose background was humble, who was small and thin but had no method of losing.
 
It was also amusing that there were many guys who confessed to such a girl and got rejected. To think that those who were anxious to tear her apart on the outside were rubbing against her behind the scenes, wanting to get involved.
 
"Should I set you up? I know a lot of kids in the 9th grade."
 
"Forget it."
 
Jungwoo, who plugged earphones into his ears, shook his head.
 
'I'll repay the favor.'
 
Recalling the words the girl had said before entering the exam room.
 
 
From the Inaugural Oath of the 64th Student Council President of the Royal Academy
 
"I, Min Jungwoo, as the 64th student council president of the Royal Academy, solemnly swear to protect the honor and tradition of the school.
 
I promise to look ahead with the ideal of the Azure Dragon, act with the will of the Vermilion Bird, judge with the reason of the White Tiger, and be prudent with the patience of the Hyunmoo.
 
I will not light-mindedly regard honor, and I will think of responsibility before authority.
 
Hereby, I, Min Jungwoo, stake my name and swear.”