I Returned as a High School Girl

Chapter 30: Bodyguard (1)

Kang Ra-Eun had come to the new fitness center like Chief Jung had suggested.

‘It... certainly is way better than my neighborhood fitness center.’

The facility itself was on a whole nother level. Ra-Eun had seen a few rusted equipment in the fitness center that she used to go to. She had gone there because it was cheap, but she had never thought that it was a good fitness center.

On the other hand, the place that Chief Jung had suggested was completely different. It could have been because it had only opened three months ago, but everything from the equipment to the interior just screamed ‘cleanliness’.

After changing her clothes, Ra-Eun greeted the female trainer who would be in charge of managing her figure from now on.

“Hello, my name is Song Ji-Ah.”

“I’m Kang Ra-Eun, I’ll be in your care.”

“Same here. By the way...”

Trainer Song quickly scanned Ra-Eun’s entire body. The lines of her body could be clearly seen because she was wearing tight clothes.

Trainer Song asked Ra-Eun, “Would you be okay with me touching you?”

She was asking if Ra-Eun was okay with being touched in sensitive areas. Ra-Eun nodded.

“Yes, go ahead.”

Some women were sensitive to touching, even if the one who was touching was a fellow woman. Hence, Trainer Song asked for Ra-Eun’s permission.

.

Ra-Eun thought of Rita as she looked at Trainer Song.

‘If only that sunbae was as half as... no, as a quarter as understanding as her.’

Ra-Eun could only laugh at the thought.

After touching Ra-Eun’s pelvis, lower buttocks, thighs, stomach, sides, shoulders and arms, Trainer Song was filled with admiration.

“Wow, you must have taken great care of your figure. There’s not a single flab on your body. Not only that, but your figure is very well-balanced. Your body type is pleasing to the eye as well.”

Ra-Eun had a great hourglass figure, being slim in areas that should be slim and thick in areas that should be. From a trainer’s standpoint, there weren’t many flaws in Ra-Eun’s body. Trainer Song had been thinking about what sort of training schedule that she should put on Ra-Eun, but she purged all of her ideas from her mind. In its stead...

“We should set our course toward maintaining your current figure,” she suggested.

“Is my current state okay?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Yes! I am in charge of training quite a few female celebrities, but you’re a cut above them. I even manage figures of fashion models, but I honestly think your figure is better than theirs.”

An innately great figure coupled with Ra-Eun’s hard work had resulted in a masterpiece that even the trainer couldn’t help but admire. Ra-Eun had always liked to exercise, even in her previous life. Even back then, Park Geon-Woo had heard that he had a nice body, but Ra-Eun felt very strange to hear the same thing even after becoming a high school girl.

“What do you have for meals?” asked Trainer Song.

“I just... eat like the average person. I’m not on any particular diet,” Ra-Eun answered.

“Mm, at the state that your body is in, it’ll be fine as long as you keep greasy foods in moderation. Your body fat percentage is ideal as well. As for the rest, let’s discuss it during our periodic personal training sessions.”

“Okay.”

“Now then, I’m thinking of just going through a few simple stretches with you, and teaching you some weight training sets that I recommend. Would that be okay with you?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Trainer Song couldn’t stop smiling because of the exemplary fitness center member that was Ra-Eun.

***

Ra-Eun had worked out at her new fitness center for five days straight. Before heading back home after school, Ra-Eun stopped by the fitness center and warmed up through some simple stretches.

Ra-Eun caught the gazes of men every time she stretched. She stuck her butt backward as she stretched out her lower body muscles. As soon as she turned around, the men coughed and pretended to be engrossed in their workouts as if nothing had happened.

Ra-Eun clicked her tongue.

‘Bastards.’

Men could not easily go against their instincts in the fitness center.

After stretching, Ra-Eun sat on the pec deck machine to do chest flys to work out her chest muscles. It was an exercise where one fixed their elbows on the pads with their arms out to the side, and pulled them together forward.

“Huu...!”

After deeply breathing out, Ra-Eun repeatedly brought the pads together with the weight set at what she could handle with her current muscular strength.

‘I’d be able to set it heavier if I was a man.’

Ra-Eun felt frustrated by the limits of a high school girl’s muscular strength. A man approached her as she was focused on her workout.

“You’re working out pretty hard. I guess it was worth registering you to this fitness center.”

It was Chief Jung. After belatedly checking who it was, Ra-Eun answered, “Oh, I thought you were a man trying to flirt with me.”

It was a valid misunderstanding. Whenever Ra-Eun came to the fitness center, people’s gazes, especially those of men, kept shifting to her. She was sure that it was partly because she was a celebrity, but the major cause of the attention was her beauty and figure, as one would expect.

Her voluptuous body was unbefitting of a high schooler. Even a gym rat would not be able to resist staring at Ra-Eun’s body at least once.

Chief Jung naturally sat next to Ra-Eun while snickering.

“That’s what all celebrities go through,” Chief Jung expressed.

Ra-Eun knew from the moment that she became famous that such instances would become commonplace, but that did not reduce the inconveniences in her daily life.

“Were there really people who came up to you?” Chief Jung asked.

“No, none. I glare at them before they even try to approach me.”

“Makes sense. Most men wouldn’t be able to handle you.”

Ra-Eun momentarily paused her workout and scanned Chief Jung’s clothes. He was wearing the sportswear provided by the fitness center.

“Do you work out here as well?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Hm? Yeah.”

“Are you sure you’re working out properly?”

Ra-Eun’s gaze fixed itself on Chief Jung’s flabby stomach. He had a body that one wouldn’t believe that he was exercising if they looked at it.

Chief Jung laughed in embarrassment.

“You know the work schedule of the people in this industry, don’t you? Inconsistent working hours and constant drinking parties only added to my stomach fat.”

“Those are all just excuses. People can always make time for exercise. Also, you’ll lose that weight in no time as long as you stick to a proper diet.”

“Don’t hit me where it hurts.”

Chief Jung could not endure Ra-Eun’s merciless barrage of facts.

“Well... Exercising aside, this is also a good place to make connections,” Chief Jung remarked.

“Connections?” Ra-Eun asked.

“You probably don’t know since it hasn’t been long since you started coming here, but lots of people in our industry frequent this fitness center. Celebrities, officials of entertainment agencies, television crew, and... even announcers and reporters.”

Ra-Eun’s ears perked up as soon as Chief Jung mentioned reporters.

“Chief Jung.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you for a favor?”

“What kind of favor?”

It was very rare for Ra-Eun to ask for a favor.

“Do you know a reporter named Ahn Su-Jin?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Ahn Su-Jin? Ahn Su-Jin... I think I’ve heard the name before. What about her?”

Feeling relieved that it had worked out well, Ra-Eun said to Chief Jung, “Please introduce me to her.”

Reporter Ahn Su-Jin was absolutely imperative to Ra-Eun’s plan for revenge.

***

“...”

A certain young woman was staring at the entrance of a certain apartment while keeping her presence hidden. Her name was Ahn Su-Jin. She had been on a stakeout while fighting through drowsiness to wait for someone to come out of the apartment.

That certain someone was one of the suspects of the mystery case that she was gathering materials for, Park Jun-Heo.

‘I’m sure that Park Jun-Heo is the culprit!’

Early last month, someone had spoken out to expose the private life of one of the executives of a famous enterprise. However, they had passed away due to an ‘unfortunate’ accident before getting the chance to speak.

It was a drunk driving accident. The drunk driver was arrested and the police closed the case as a simple drunk driving incident, but...

‘That’s only the tip of the iceberg.’

In actuality, a plot to eliminate the whistleblower had been hidden deep within the shadows. Park Jun-Heo was a subordinate of the executive concerned, and was the culprit behind the instigation of the accident.

Su-Jin had gathered all the evidence, and all that she needed to do was to gather the final piece of the puzzle. Hence, she had been staking out near the apartment for one week straight while activating every nerve in her body to focus on surveying every single one of Park Jun-Heo’s actions.

Park Jun-Heo came out of the apartment right on schedule. Su-Jin followed the man while keeping her presence hidden. She went after him as he turned the corner, but...

“...!”

Su-Jin’s face stiffened.

‘Where... did he go?’

Park Jun-Heo, who had surely turned the corner into this road, was nowhere in sight. As Su-Jin was about to search her surroundings, she heard a chilling voice from behind her.

“Don’t move.”

She recognized the voice instantly. It was Park Jun-Heo.

“So you were the presence that I’d been feeling watching me since a few days ago.”

Park Jun-Heo’s creepy laugh harassed Su-Jin’s ears. Something was on her back. She could not tell whether it was a knife or something else. However, one thing that she knew for sure was that she was in great danger.

“You should’ve focused your attention elsewhere, Miss Reporter. Why did you have to go after our vice-chairman? Huh?” said Park Jun-Heo.

“...You were the one who ordered the death of Mr. Choi Na-Byeong, weren’t you?” Su-Jin asked.

“So what if I am?”

He had willingly admitted his crime. It was a bona-fide testimony. However, such a testimony was absolutely useless to her right now.

“You’ll follow that bastard Choi Na-Byeong soon enough,” he stated.

The fear of death engulfed Su-Jin. However, at that moment...

Smack!

She heard someone collapse behind her along with the sound of a strike. Park Jun-Heo had collapsed and lost consciousness.

Su-Jin stared at the blindingly beautiful young girl who had knocked out Park Jun-Heo. Coincidentally, it was someone whom Su-Jin knew.

“Miss... Kang Ra-Eun?” she asked.

Ra-Eun said to Su-Jin, “Mishaps like this might happen if you try to gather news material on your own like this, so please be careful from now on.”

Ahn Su-Jin was a very important individual for Ra-Eun, because...

She was the one who would expose all of the allegations surrounding Congressman Kim Han-Gyo.