Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I Became the Academy Mafia, Chapter 18“P-President!”

The employee was startled by the sight of Lee Haru trailing off as she bowed to me and tried to raise her back up.

“W-why are you suddenly doing this? Why are you bowing to a freshman...”

“Ms. Park Ju-hyun.”

“Yes?”

“Shut up and bow right now. He is an important guest of our International Trade Club.”

“Th-this freshman?!”

“Now.”

“I-I apologize for my rudeness!”

The employee immediately grasped the situation and bowed toward me. I lightly patted both of their shoulders and said.

“For now, straighten up and let’s talk. There are a lot of eyes watching, aren’t there?”

“Yes. Then I’ll do as you command.”

Only after Lee Haru straightened up did the employee rise as well.

“Ms. Park Ju-hyun.”

“Y-yes!”

“I’ll guide our guests to the president’s office. Please bring us something to drink.”

“Yes!”

After sending the employee away, Lee Haru swept her gaze over us once before turning around.

“I’ll guide you.”

“Please do.”

Following behind Lee Haru, we arrived before an elegant black door. Lee Haru opened the door first and stepped inside, and when we followed her in, a president’s office decorated in a modern style spread out before us.

Unlike the very ordinary exterior, the president’s office was decorated with luxurious artwork and expensive goods.

As we stood there blankly looking around, Lee Haru gestured with both hands toward the sofa on one side of the room and said.

“Please make yourselves comfortable, Young Master.”

At her suggestion, I naturally sat in what looked like the seat of honor, and Jin-woo, Se-ah, and Young-je sat side by side to my right.

Meanwhile, Haru began placing snacks into a basket to prepare refreshments from inside the room.

“B-Boss. What the hell is going on here? That person is the president of this club, isn’t she?”

Apparently thinking the situation made no sense, Jin-woo leaned toward me and began whispering for an explanation.

The others seemed to agree, as they were also quietly staring at me.

So I gave them the explanation I had prepared in advance.

“My family is the largest shareholder in her family’s company. We’ve known each other since we were young.”

“L-largest shareholder?”

“Yeah, we also hold a significant stake in this International Trade Club, so it isn’t anything strange.”

Strictly speaking, it was possible because both this club and the family of its president, Lee Haru, had been established with support from the Calione Family.

While planning things regarding the club last night, a thought had suddenly occurred to me.‘Come to think of it, I remember there being a few clubs inside the Academy connected to Calione...?’So I immediately asked Parnello, and the result was.

-The daughter of the Inomiya Group was the president of a club called the International Trade Club. You probably saw her several times at family events in the past as well, Young Master. Her name was... Lee Haru, if I recall correctly.’As expected of the finest Mafia family in Asia, there were even clubs inside the Academy connected to the family.

Apparently, when she created the club, Father had even invested in it under my name.

No wonder I had wondered how they managed to obtain items in the game that even outside companies supposedly struggled to procure. So Calione’s influence had been involved.

“You even own shares in an Academy club? What exactly does your family do?”

Young-je asked in amazement, apparently having never imagined that my family had directly invested inside the Academy.

“We’re just a company involved in this and that. We were simply fortunate.”

Perhaps realizing I didn’t want to say anything more, Young-je stopped asking.

“Thank you for waiting. It truly has been a long time, Young Master.”

“Yeah, it has. I was fairly surprised when I heard you had created a club at the Academy.”

“It is still only a minor club, so I’m ashamed. And I never dreamed that you would make such a request of me, Young Master.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Lee Haru placed the basket of refreshments down in front of us and sat on an empty sofa. Despite saying she had never dreamed of it, her expression remained exceedingly cold.

“If my sudden contact inconvenienced you, I apologize. Were you uncomfortable?”

She shook her head at my words.

“Of course not. None of this would have been possible without your investment, Young Master. However... your atmosphere seems to have changed considerably since the last time I saw you.”

As expected, I was wondering when she would bring that up.

“I suppose I matured. I can’t remain protected beneath Father forever, can I?”

When I smiled and shrugged, she nodded.

“...

It does seem so. Ah, I recently heard that you have begun receiving successor training. Congratulations, Young Master.”

She glanced at the ring on my hand and immediately bowed her head to me. I grabbed her shoulder and stopped her from showing me deference.

“This is the Academy. Let’s leave discussion about the family at that.”

At my words, Lee Haru raised her head and looked at my name tag.

Apparently realizing at least roughly what the current situation was, she nodded and said, ‘My apologies.’

-President, we’ve brought the tea.

“Yes, come in.”

Hearing Lee Haru’s voice, the employee entered carrying five cups of tea on a tray.

At the same time, I could feel fear from her. Unlike when she first saw me, the fact that she now felt fear toward me was rather amusing.

The employee quietly placed the teacups before us, bowed, and silently left. After she was gone, I lifted my cup of coffee, wet my lips, and decided to get straight to the point.

“The Silver Club consent form I mentioned yesterday. Is it ready?”

“Yes, I can give it to you immediately whenever you say.”

“You worked hard.”

“If I can repay my debt to you even in this way, then it is only natural.”

I looked at her face as she answered in an exceedingly businesslike tone.

Black eyes without the slightest wavering, long hair neatly arranged, and even a pitch-black cadet uniform reminiscent of a suit.

Her expressionless face was so unrealistic that it was difficult to tell whether I was dealing with a person or a doll.

A thoroughly businesslike attitude.

Was she really planning to end things just like this?

Well, considering Eugene’s original personality, this attitude was natural... but I had absolutely no intention of being satisfied with only this and leaving.

“Jin-woo.”

“Yeah, Boss?”

Jin-woo, who had been nibbling on snacks while looking at his smartphone, glanced up at me.

“Take the others outside and wait. I think I need to speak privately with the president of the International Trade Club.”

“Privately? What does that mean?”

“It means Eugene and the club president are going to talk alone! Hurry up and come out!”

“Huh? What?! Hey, hey! I’ll leave! I said I’m leaving!”

Apparently, after only hanging around with him for a short while, Se-ah had already figured out what kind of guy Jin-woo was. Though she had initially been afraid of him because he was a member of Calione, she now looked frustrated as she grabbed Jin-woo and Young-je by their sleeves and dragged them straight out of the room.

Kim Se-ah is actually more dependable...

After confirming that all three had left, I turned my head again and looked at Lee Haru, who was calmly sipping her coffee.

Even though everyone who had been sitting across from her had left, she continued wetting her throat with coffee as though nothing had happened.

“Lee Haru.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

At my call, Lee Haru set down her cup and looked at me.

“What kind of person was I in the past, when you knew me?”

“You mean... Young Master?”

“Yeah.”

After hearing me, she turned her eyes toward empty space and seemed to think deeply about something. Then, apparently finished thinking, she looked at me again and spoke very simply, as if introducing someone she knew.

“You were a brat who liked me.”

Huh?

“At family events, you would always run toward me and throw tantrums, asking me to play with you. If I refused, you would grab the hem of my skirt and refuse to let go.”

Wait.

“Once, you even threw a tantrum demanding that I become yours. When I politely refused, you immediately lay down on the floor, crying and screaming that you wouldn’t get up until I became your girlfriend.”

No.

“Young Master──── without the prestige of your family, you were nothing but a brat.”

Lee Haru mercilessly poured out those words. Yet even then, it was difficult to find the slightest change in her expression.

I never imagined I had done things like that to Lee Haru since childhood.

I didn’t know it had been this bad...

Apparently Eugene Han Calione had been an even greater idiot than I imagined.

“...

There’s no hope.”

“What do you mean?”

Apparently hearing me mutter to myself, Lee Haru looked at me and asked.

“Originally, there was something I wanted to propose, but after hearing what you just said, I’m starting to think it’s practically impossible.”

Haru tilted her head at my words.

“Then wouldn’t it simply be a matter of ordering me?”

“Hmm?”

“Couldn’t you simply command me not as Eugene Han Calione, but as the successor of the Calione Family? If you did that, I would not be able to disobey your order, Young Master. The Calione Family is the true owner of our group, after all.”

Her expression remained unchanged as she said that, but I could tell she was being sincere.

Because at the moment she told me I could simply command her, faint fear bloomed inside her.

However.

“I don’t want to do that to you.”

“What do you mean?”

Still seeming unable to understand, she asked.

“I don’t understand what you mean by saying you don’t want to do that to me.”

“Exactly what I said. I don’t want to create a situation where only I benefit.”

Lee Haru stared blankly at me. I didn’t avoid her gaze as I continued.

“I’m no longer that brat from the past, but a freshman at the Academy. I’ve barely been enrolled for any time at all, so I can’t simply order around someone like you, the president of a club. That’s why I’d like to make you an offer. An offer where all of us can benefit.”

“...

When you say an offer where everyone can benefit?”

“Judging by that reaction, does that mean you’re at least willing to hear me out?”

Lee Haru nodded at my question.

“Before I am a vassal of Calione, I am also the president of the International Trade Club and a merchant. You say you have something profitable to discuss. If I refused without even listening, would people not call me a merchant who cast aside profit because of emotion?”

So I will listen, Lee Haru said, and I barely managed to stop myself from bursting into laughter.

As expected, she was Lee Haru.

President of the International Trade Club.

A merchant who pursued realistic profit rather than her own emotions.

A vassal loyal to Calione because she believed staying attached to Calione was profitable.

A woman who, in the story to come, would eventually dominate Seoul’s commercial sphere and later be called the Golden Empress.

Toward such a woman, I slowly spoke aloud the desire she had carefully hidden beneath the mask of her expressionless face until now.

“The International Trade Club’s promotion to Gold rank.”

“...

Pardon?”

“I’ll make the Gold-rank promotion of the International Trade Club that you desire so much a reality.”

For the first time, her steel-like expressionless face shattered completely.