Seoul Dragon - Chapter 43

Seoa began to feel her nerves standing on edge.

Did she think people wouldn't notice?

She felt the gazes directed toward her.

The constant stares since appearing in the photo spread. Well, she had anticipated this much when agreeing to the photoshoot.

Considering her blood relative was currently one of the most famous mutants, attention would inevitably be amplified.

Moreover, since the aura Seoa displayed in the photo spread was no different from that of any professional model... she had no choice but to live her school life under incomparably more attention and gazes than before.

And that brought her more stress than she had imagined.

If people would just stop paying attention, it might be manageable, but feeling those sidelong glances, knowingly or unknowingly, was eating away at her nerves in many ways.

Normally, she would have shrugged it off, thinking others wouldn't pay much attention to her, but this had already gone beyond that point.

The gazes of men trying to approach her and the envious gazes of women jealous of those men. Of course, there were also gazes with goodwill... but mostly it was those kinds of looks.

It's not that she hadn't received such gazes before.

According to her sister Seohyun, if you overlooked the fact that Seoa was her sister, she was nearly perfect.

But recently, those gazes had become increasingly blatant.

Enough to irritate even her relatively thick-skinned nature.

Well, fine. Let's say she's become a celebrity.

She'll get used to this attention eventually too.

That's what she thought, but...

Yes, Seoa had underestimated public interest.

She had to admit it herself.

People who would have just passed her by, people who would have simply glanced at her face and thought, "Oh, she's pretty," and moved on.

Now they looked at her and asked for autographs.

And not just autographs. There were many rude individuals asking for photos too.

She was being treated like a full-fledged celebrity.

Seoa found it extremely tiresome.

Please, just take it easy.

Even if they were from the same department it might be understandable, but somehow word had spread, and people from business-related departments frequently came looking for her.

That's the nature of people attracted to celebrities.

Seoa was on the verge of going crazy.

She just wanted to study at university, and now that she was finally catching up with her classes, there were too many people interfering.

With exams approaching, even when she tried to go to the library, there were people who spotted her and approached with autograph books, treating her like a celebrity.

Each time, unable to turn them away, she half-resignedly scribbled her name and sent them off.

'I should never have done that photoshoot.'

Who would have thought that something she did out of curiosity would become such a massive snowball engulfing her?

Seoa sighed.

Seeing her like this, her classmate Hyejin worriedly asked:

"Are you okay?"

"...No."

"Geez, look at all these people rushing toward you just because you've become famous..."

"I know, right?"

"Watching you, it seems like nothing's as troublesome as being vaguely famous."

"That's what I'm saying."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. For now... for now, I guess I can only wait. People's interest is like a pot—it boils up once but quickly settles down."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I'll just respond moderately."

That's what Seoa chose.

In situations like this, the moment you show irritation or anger, things get bothersome in many ways.

People's gazes were surveillance networks monitoring her, their mouths were amplifiers transmitting what they observed, and their hands were daggers tearing at her heart.

Though she was quite brave, she knew that the moment such attention turned malicious, life would become exhausting for her, who was ultimately just a university student.

The moment you reveal your true self and the dream you aspire to in front of others, this was something you had to be prepared for.

Thinking that, she endured.

Although the title changed from Director to Bureau Chief, what we did didn't change.

That is... I didn't have much to do. I just needed to return to my duties as a university student.

That should have been the case, but... what's with this zombie?

"Urghhhh..."

It's been a while since I heard Yoon Seoa make such a sound. This was a sound she used to make when studying intensely all day as a student preparing for college entrance exams.

"Did something happen?"

"...Yeah."

Since she wasn't avoiding the question, it seemed like she had something to talk about with me.

That kid, knowingly or unknowingly, gets like this sometimes. These times usually involve serious conversations, so I set aside my playfulness.

"What is it? Is it a continuation of that incident from before?"

"Continuation... is it? No, it's a bit strange to call it a continuation..."

"Tell me exactly what's going on."

"So..."

She then told me what had happened. The gist was this:

She's become famous and can't do anything.

She feels pressured by the sharp gazes around her.

...I think I understand the feeling.

While I've become quite insensitive to such gazes since becoming a dragon, it must have put considerable pressure on her.

Even gazes she would normally have ignored, once she realized they were directed at her, would make her too self-conscious to function properly.

I sighed. I knew this would happen.

Fame is troublesome. It's troublesome, yet you can't even freely express annoyance.

I can accept it because I'm working to improve the perception of mutants, and I've been given a pretty substantial position...

But for someone who was suddenly dragged into this with me, it's bound to be a headache.

Of course, accepting the modeling offer was probably due to her small lingering desire, but... to attribute it to just that small desire seems harsh given the situation surrounding her.

"What do you do in this situation?"

"What can you do? You just have to endure it. Or get used to it."

"You say it so easily."

"Well, I've... become insensitive to such things because I'm a dragon. Or, you could just become shameless."

"Become shameless? Then all sorts of people will tear me apart? You might have the power, but..."

"Or you can just use me. Do you think there's anyone with guts big enough to mess with you when I'm around?"

"No, but that would only trouble you."

I snorted at her words. What's with her?

Since when did she worry about me like that?

"Hey, since when did you start worrying about me like that? That would just end with me making one statement to reporters."

"...Huh?"

"Don't bother her. The power isn't just with the public. Even if they shout with megaphones and stab with keyboard swords, it doesn't apply to you."

"Even so..."

"You're being evasive. Don't take your old stance. You're now the sister of a monster who can turn Seoul into a sea of flames with one breath. If you don't like something, say you don't like it. You always tell me you don't like things, why can't you say the same to others?"

"...Is it okay to do that?"

"It's okay. Shall I be honest? At first, I was unsure too. But now, I can say with certainty: human weapons don't work on me. I'm confident I'd survive even if they launched a nuclear bomb."

"Wait, why is the conversation suddenly going there?"

"Because you're foolishly just enduring. If you don't like something, say you don't like it. The public has enough sense to judge what would happen if they treat you carelessly, don't they? The focus would shift to those bothering you, right? Or, if necessary, should I speak to some higher-ups?"

At my words, my sister pressed her fingers against her temples as if she had a headache. I tell her all this, and that's her reaction?

"I'm enduring because I'm afraid it might escalate to that scale. I just want to go to school like before."

"From the moment you accepted Jin-ha's offer, the option of 'like before' disappeared. You should know that. I told you when the photo spread came out last time."

"I didn't take it seriously then..."

"That interest probably won't fade easily. Especially since you're my sister and you appeared quite impressively in the photo spread. People are naturally drawn to such things."

"Haah..."

"Or, just change your career path completely."

"Change my career path?"

"Yes. You haven't even decided what to do after graduating from business administration, have you? You just went there because it seemed good based on your grades."

"W-well, that's true..."

"If you're not really doing business because you want to do something in that field, don't you think it's better to use your talent?"

"So what are you suggesting?"

"You just said it yourself. You're vaguely famous and it's giving you a headache. So, you know..."

"So?"

"Why not become properly famous instead?"

"You mean, become a model?"

"Yes. Preferably, Jin-ha's exclusive model. From what I can tell, Jin-ha probably isn't entirely against the idea either."

"...What about university?"

"Drop out. You said guys in your department are starting to be extremely annoying, right? It's better not to be entangled with them anymore."

"Hey, you didn't want to drop out so you became a Bureau Chief, and yet..."

"University holds important value for me. But not for you, right?"

At my words, she seemed to ponder deeply.

"Dropping out seems a bit much, but what about transferring to the clothing and textiles department...?"

"That's fine too."

"I'll think about it."

"Okay. And in the meantime, let's go around together. That would be better."

"...Alright."

"Whether it's autograph requests or whatever, this experienced teaching assistant will handle it all, so you just stay by my side and slip away when you can."

"...Thank you."

"Wow, it's been a really long time since I heard you say thank you to me."

"Oh, come on. I finally express gratitude, and you..."