A Genius Speaks with Money

Chapter 33

I, Lim Hyunjun, leaned against the window in the hallway and quietly looked down toward the playground.

From a distance, Jang Wooseok in his gym clothes was passing a basketball back and forth with his friends.

He was the type to move silently while focusing on what he had to do, just as he always did.

Seeing Wooseok like that, for some reason, I felt a sense of pity on one hand.

Wooseok had many talents.

He was good at sports, and the same went for studying.

His personality was also upright to the point of being stubborn.

However, he had a habit of making himself small.

It was probably due to his family environment.

They could barely make ends meet only if both parents worked, and private academies were out of the question for him.The reason he entered this school after studying hard must have been a desire to receive a scholarship and lessen the burden on his parents even a little.

In front of such reality, Wooseok did not try to bring out the potential he possessed.

Even if he was better than others, the habit of just taking a step back was ingrained in him.

In my eyes, that was always a shame.

He was a person who could fly high if only anyone would just hold his hand.

That was why I, Lim Hyunjun, hoped for him to become the student council president.

I hoped that using that position as a turning point, Wooseok would break something within himself.

It was because I hoped he would become a person who moves forward while believing in himself, not just a friend who is good at things.

“I would like it if Wooseok did it.”

That was the reason I brought those words out.

A friend who knows how to take care of people first.

A friend who tries to take responsibility beyond his own share.

I, Lim Hyunjun, believed that the world should give a person like that a chance at least once.

If Nam Ha-rin had not stepped forward, it would have been a matter of time before Jang Wooseok naturally became the student council president.

However, Lim Hyun-woo recommended her and craftily shook the atmosphere.

I had already noticed.

Her neat attitude, which had a good reputation even at school, and her good family background were cards that looked decent to anyone.

But in my view, Nam Ha-rin was not the material to become a student council president.

I walked toward the basketball court.

Just then, Wooseok, who had finished the game, stopped while panting.

“Hyunjun, what brings you here?”

I threw a towel to Wooseok.

Wooseok, who caught it, wiped his sweat.

The two of us sat on the bench for a moment.

When only silence was circulating, I opened my mouth.

“Do you know why I recommended you for student council president?”

Wooseok shook his head with a bewildered face.

In fact, Wooseok was also curious about the reason I recommended him.

“Even though you know you are good at things, you take a step back each time. It is like a habit.”

“…….”

“That is quite a shame to me.”

Wooseok only looked at me and said nothing.

I continued speaking.

“About the debate tomorrow. Just do as you usually do. Do not read anyone'

s mood. You can do well enough. Show everyone who you are.”

I left those words behind and stood up first to leave.

Wooseok remained in that spot and was lost in thought for a long time.

The student council president election curtain was officially raised.

As soon as the candidate registration ended and the campaigning schedule was announced, the entire school began to stir rapidly.

Posters with candidates'

names were hung throughout the school.

During every break, their names naturally rose and fell in the hallways and the cafeteria.

Around that time, Nam Ha-rin'

s mother, Choi Yoon-seo, personally appeared at the school.

At first, I thought it was a simple visit, but she visited the homeroom teacher and the faculty office, and then expressed her intention to actively support any events held by the school.

With a humble attitude and a sophisticated way of speaking, Choi Yoon-seo said.

“My child is running for the student council president election this time, and I wanted to at least say hello and ask you to look after her.”

Choi Yoon-seo grew up under a father who was a former Supreme Court justice and was currently the deputy representative of a giant law firm.

Perhaps because of that, dignity was exuded even from her single action.

Even the teachers and the principal were careful with their words in front of her.

Even before being the wife of the Daehan Group Vice Chairman, she was a famous person with the name Choi Yoon-seo.

After that day, the atmosphere regarding Nam Ha-rin changed noticeably.

Public opinion among the students also gradually tilted toward her.

Ha-rin, who had been moving quietly, began to gradually raise her voice, and Lim Hyun-woo was always behind that.

In front of whom and on what topic they should talk.

Sometimes he directly induced favorable reactions about her to the friends.

Gradually, Ha-rin'

s side became dominant.

However, contrary to that, Ha-rin'

s heart was quietly collapsing.

As her parents'

expectations grew, her heart became increasingly anxious.

Now, she even felt as if everything was rolling on its own even if she did not move.

That anxiety was amplified starting from the debate.

The debate was held in the school auditorium.

There were a total of four student council president candidates.

They were sitting side by side on the stage with microphones in front of them.

The first and second-year students gathered in the auditorium to see that scene directly, and the third-year students were watching through the screen in their classrooms.

The auditorium was filled with election fever.

When the moderator'

s questions began, each candidate talked about the leadership they thought of in turn.

Nam Ha-rin also spoke clearly just as she had memorized well, and the initial atmosphere seemed to tilt toward her side.

Then, finally, the time for free remarks came.

When the time for unprepared remarks was given and the candidates were flustered, Ha-rin was already repeating the lines she was instructed by Hyun-woo in her mind.

Nam Ha-rin grabbed the microphone and opened her mouth as she had memorized.

“The student council president is not a position that can be filled just by doing one'

s own work in the classroom. It is the school representative. It is a position that represents our school even when going outside. Then there should at least be something called prestige. Honestly, to a kid who survives for a year with one pair of sneakers, what kind of student council president duties would you entrust? If such a friend is the representative, honestly, wouldn'

t it be embarrassing? If you entrust such a position to a kid who cannot even handle it, the school will look ridiculous.”

As soon as Ha-rin'

s words ended, the entire auditorium became quiet.

A silence flowed to the point where even the sound of breathing could not be heard.

Even though Ha-rin said it herself, her look of anxiety was clearly evident on her face.

In my eyes, Lim Hyunjun, it also appeared that those were not words she said because she wanted to.

At that time, Jang Wooseok quietly grabbed the microphone.

He slowly looked straight ahead and opened his mouth calmly.

“It is true that I have only one pair of sneakers.”

At his remark, the inside of the auditorium momentarily became a sea of laughter.

Once the sound of laughter died down to some extent, Wooseok continued his words.

“I have been wearing them for over a year even now. The soles are worn out a lot and the color has faded. Well, I am not in a position to attend private academies either. Since our school prohibits part-time jobs, I am helping with washing dishes at my father'

s restaurant during vacations.”

Jang Wooseok walked forward from his seat while holding the microphone.

His gaze quietly turned toward Nam Ha-rin.

“However. Why is that shameful? No matter how many pairs of sneakers I wear, or whether my home is rich or not, I do not think that becomes a reason why I cannot be a student council president who listens to the voices of school friends and speaks on their behalf. Is the student council president you think of a person with a lot of money?”

At Jang Wooseok'

s unwavering attitude, the attention of even the students and teachers gathered in the auditorium was focused.

Applause burst out at his voice.

And that applause continued gradually.

Someone said in a small voice.

“Cool….”

Wooseok said finally.

“I think a school representative should be a person who listens to the opinions of students and shows it through actions, not someone who does it with their appearance.”

He quietly put down the microphone.

A moment later, a definite change occurred in the auditorium.

Ha-rin sat in her seat and could not lift her head.

Even while knowing how foolish the words she just blurted out were, she was ashamed of herself for doing as she was told.

In fact, the night before the debate was held.

Nam Ha-rin was blankly looking at the notebook where the speech and expected questions were written.

While holding a pen in her hand, several hours passed without her being able to write a single character.

Not a single letter in front of her eyes entered her mind.

Her whole body was heavy and her heart was just continuously anxious.

At such a time, her cell phone rang.

[Lim Hyun-woo]

“Tomorrow, you must belittle Jang Wooseok no matter what. Since it will be unfavorable to you if you do it ambiguously. It is time to drive the point home this time.”

Ha-rin saw the speech draft that Hyun-woo sent.

Her eyes grew large enough to be surprised.

In there, there were only words that explicitly belittled Jang Wooseok.

Seeing that, Ha-rin felt as if her breath was being choked.

Ha-rin thought of me, Lim Hyunjun, who had visited her before coming home.

“Ha-rin, since it is an election, I fully understand the heart that wants to win. However, it is better not to say words that you cannot handle. You will surely regret it.”

When Ha-rin tried to turn her head while looking away from me, I blurted out the final words.

“The moment words are brought out of the mouth. They eventually become your face. If you keep doing only as others tell you, those words will gnaw at you someday.”

I left those words behind and left Ha-rin.

At that time, she had not been able to leave the spot while dropping her head without a word.

Even now, Ha-rin already knew inside.

That this election did not start by her own will.

Even so, she did not want to disappoint her parents'

expectations.

She wanted to win somehow and be recognized.

Ha-rin was extremely anxious.

Fearing that Wooseok would take all of that away.

And Hyun-woo'

s words were embedded in her mind like thorns.

“You can never win alone. If you do not press him down clearly at this timing, it is over.”

While chewing over those words, Ha-rin eventually opened the drawer and wrote down as Hyun-woo told her.

Ha-rin'

s fingertips became cold as if they were frozen.

She could not sleep even a single wink that night.

***

The election result was, as expected, that Jang Wooseok became the student council president.

That too, as an overwhelming number one.

Students gathered in front of the notice posted on the hallway bulletin board.

In that, Nam Ha-rin'

s name was in a state of having quietly disappeared.

People'

s reactions when they won and when they lost were starkly different.

Even the friends who had been talking to her until now began to turn their heads while pretending not to know her.

Ha-rin gradually became isolated.

It was not that anyone was explicitly bullying her, but the sense of distance felt like air gradually crushed her.

The hardest thing to endure was home.

Her parents, who heard the results, became less interested than before.

Ha-rin'

s heart quietly collapsed.

Eventually, the anger was directed at one person.

The beginning of everything was because of Lim Hyun-woo'

s single word.

The result of moving according to his strategy, not her own, from candidate registration to the speech draft, was disastrous.

Ha-rin went to Hyun-woo and argued.

“It is all because of you. If it were not for you, I would not have said those words.”

Lim Hyun-woo snorted with an expression as if it were absurd.

“Why are you blaming me for that? Who told you to do it? You are the one who spoke. You just lost because you were bad. Why are you pinning that on me.”

Those words were embedded like a dagger in an instant.

Ha-rin tried to say something, but her lips would not open as if they were frozen.

Hyun-woo turned his back with a cold expression.

“In the future, if you have time to resent me, just look at your own mirror.”

Hyun-woo left after leaving those words.

After that, Ha-rin quietly went on a path to study abroad.

The desire for revenge made her strong.

After Ha-rin left, the school became quiet again.

Into my view as I sat in my seat, the image of Lim Hyun-woo laughing with friends entered as if passing by.

At that moment, my gaze sank chillingly.

For the first time, I set down the word family, which I had been holding onto in my heart for a long time.

'

That fellow has crossed the line.'

Hyun-woo was my cousin.

He had acted despicably since he was young, but still, there was a point where I condoned it to some extent under the name of family.

That was why I had left him alone all that time.

Even if he made me feel unpleasant sometimes, I left him be since there was no direct damage.

However, this time it was different.

I watched from the side the process of Ha-rin collapsing.

Ha-rin was ignored both at school and at home due to this incident.

Even while watching all of that, Hyun-woo was not sorry even once.

Rather, seeing him pass the responsibility to Ha-rin, I was certain.

'

This is not just a problem of personality. If a fellow who ruins a person without a second thought enters Taeseong….'

It was obvious that even bigger things would happen.

I quietly withdrew my gaze from him.

At that moment, even the last connection that was in my heart was quietly broken.

Lim Hyun-woo was not family to me, but now a danger factor.