What will happen when the principal's granddaughter has to disguise herself as a boy in an elite all-boys school and face a triple threat from three boys who quickly see through her mask?
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Sleep. That’s the only thing Hana could do while her parents were away. Dad was at work as always, forgetting his waiting family at home. Mom was just out to meet some friends this morning.
Hana hated it when they left her alone, but she couldn’t do anything about it. With her status, she needed to report to someone if she wanted to go out, triggering the presence of bodyguards.
If she didn’t and tried to hang outside like a normal person, mistakes of the past would be repeated.
The last time she did, thinking she was safe to buy ice cream down the street, her nanny died. The sight of her nanny slumping in front of her with a bullet hole in her forehead had never left her memory.
It was always the central figure in her recurring nightmares.
Hana, as a little girl, standing on the side of the street. Everything in slow motion. The ice cream melting in her hand, each drop mixing with the blood seeping into the soles of her pink shoes, and the screams of every single person in the vicinity.
The next thing she knew, one of her neighbors was ushering her inside their house. The cops came an hour later, bombarding her with questions about what she had witnessed.
She never answered them. How could a six-year-old explain the whole truth as if it were simple?
The case remained open, still pending, waiting for her to speak. She never did.
If she did, someone else would face the consequences.
A sudden doorbell pulled Hana out of her grim thoughts.
"Miss Hana, someone is asking for you," Mira, one of her closest maids, called out.
"Coming!" Hana answered from her room.
She dragged herself out of bed and trekked down the stairs. Last night, she had attended one of the obnoxious parties of the elites. It was not boring, to say the least, but keeping her eyes on her friend Isa had been difficult with him there.
His face was the only thing on her mind until Mira opened the door. A part of her wished she hadn’t.
The face of her happiness faded, replaced by trembling fear at the sight of who was asking for her.
"Can I help you?" Hana asked, facing the tall, strong-gaited police officer before her, trying to keep her composure. "My parents aren’t here—"
He shook his head. "I’m looking for you. It’s about your parents..."
Hana straightened her back, close to breaking at the mention of her parents. "What about them? What happened?"
He handed her a piece of paper. A coroner's report. "There’s been a shooting incident at their friend's house this morning."
She took it with shaking hands, dreading what she would read but unable to resist.
The evidence of her family's worst fear was there in black and white. Both her parents were dead, shot at close range along with their friends. They were all dead by the time a neighbor checked on them.
Hana could do nothing but say thank you and let Mira close the door. She heard Mira telling her to call her grandpa, saying he would know what to do.
As the police car drove away, Hana allowed herself to collapse to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Why? Why!?" she cried, tears blurring her vision, her breath ragged and her voice hoarse.
Something was wrong with the world. She thought they were safe from those after her family's money, but it seemed the danger had returned.
She cried not only for her parents but for herself, knowing she would be the next target.
As the next heir of the Bang business empire, a red bull's-eye was now on her back.
It was only a matter of time before her grandpa would take her away from here. Life would never be the same.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
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A few days later, Hana dragged herself out of her bedroom's corner and called Mira after closing her luggage, instructing her to send all her things to the limousine her grandpa had arranged.
Before anything else, the service drove her to the lawyer’s office to discuss her parents’ will. It felt awkward, humiliating even, to be stared at on her way inside with at least three guards surrounding her.
Her grandpa insisted on increased security, saying he couldn’t be too careless anymore. He also mentioned that her presence was required since her mother’s will stated that Hana would be transferring schools and placed under her grandpa’s care if anything happened to them.
Her grandpa, Mr. Bang Sihyuk, ran a prestigious all-boys academy an hour away from her town. Located in the middle of nowhere, he assured her it would be safe from any harm.
"How am I supposed to enroll in Belift Academy?" Hana asked her lawyer.
"Your grandpa will make an exception for you," the lawyer began, "though he mentioned plans for you that I’m not privy to." She rifled through the file that held the will and pulled out an enrollment form.
Hana froze, seeing a completed enrollment file. "Why was this prepared in advance? Did they know?"
The lawyer nodded. "Perhaps. After your mother’s brother was kidnapped and killed, they decided to prepare for tragic situations like this."
Why would her parents foresee being targeted this year? The premonition-like nature of their preparations felt strange.
The lawyer handed Hana the enrollment form and the will. "I’m sorry for your loss, Hana," she said, her eyes filled with sadness.
Hana didn’t respond. She walked out the door, almost forgetting about the guards until they gently guided her to the car.
By the time she got home, it was five pm. She neither ate nor slept, only preparing for her journey the next morning. She waited for dawn to arrive.
Truthfully, she had been wanting to move out of this house. It was never welcoming because her parents were always away. It used to be lively, but life in there was never the same after the first attempt on her life and her brother's.
Nothing was ever the same after his burial. She had faced a small coffin, wondering why he wasn’t getting out, but at seven years old, she didn’t understand what it meant.
S
he didn’t understand why her mom drank, why her dad got angry, or why her grandpa wasted his breath trying to make them listen. They disappeared for weeks, even months. She was always used to the maids around.
The next day, Hana, covered head to toe in disguise to hide her identity, packed the last of her things. By 8:30 am, she was ready to meet her grandpa at Belift Academy.
It was time to say goodbye to her empty house.
Time to say goodbye to her parents and everything familiar.
Time to say hello to something new, not knowing it might be the change she needed.
It comes with the triple threat of three boys, one of whom was painfully familiar.
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author's view: it may not be obvious but I've change something here too
