I Don’t Want to be a Villainess

I slipped out of my seat during afternoon class.

But on the bright side, I no longer had to worry that Ha Neul would suffer physical harassment if I arrived a bit late. The classmates were slowly starting to be afraid of Ha Neul, especially with Sohee fanning the flames of that situation.

As I was about to step out of the classroom, Sohee got up from her seat and I quickly placed a hand on her arm.

“I can skip class several times without it affecting my grades, but you will be impacted.”

“It doesn’t really matter to me.”

She genuinely seemed to believe that, so I sighed lightly and said, “No, it does matter. You might end up not being able to advance to the next grade, or even get disciplined at school.”

Well, whether that would happen easily because of bribery remains to be seen, but regular people value money as much as their lives.

And usually, if someone is obsessed with money, they are also obsessed with their own life. That just means they have a strong attachment to life as a whole.

If I thought about turning to the Chairwoman’s side, who knows what measures might be taken to separate Sohee and me? If there’s a legitimate reason, we’d probably have to take a hit whether we bribed or not. And that ‘hit’ could lead to our class being divided, or even worse, splitting the entire year.

It’s best to be cautious for now.

Of course, I also hoped that none of the others would follow us. This conversation was one I wanted to have away from others, after all.

“……”

When I looked directly into Sohee’s eyes and spoke firmly, she pondered for a while before finally nodding.

As I turned my body toward the classroom door, I heard the sound of a chair _scraping_.

I thought for a moment, “Are you seriously thinking of following me into such danger?” I turned around to see Sohee bending deeply at the waist towards me.

“Goodbye, lady.”

“……”

Just to clarify since she came in and out so naturally, I was trying to leave the classroom during class time.

So, she was standing up and politely greeting me during class.

The attention of the students turned toward us. Even the teacher, who had been teaching, had stopped writing on the board and was staring at us blankly.

Seeing Sohee’s face lit up with a silly smile as she raised her head, I realized that it was her way of joking.

…She can’t be doing this every time I leave class just for fun, right?

*

“Oh, customer.”

Team Leader Han Garam, who was sitting on the bench as usual, spoke with a warm tone.

“……You really are always here, aren’t you?”

“Even if it looks that way, this is the best spot. I have to wait here since I never know when you might come out.”

The weather was slowly getting warmer, but it was still a bit chilly.

“Ah, did you think I was a full-time employee?”

“Erm…”

To be honest, yes. I mean, isn’t a banker supposed to be busy? More customers mean more business.

“Hey, which bank would keep a banker stuck at a school like this? Besides, I graduated from Hwayoung High School. There’s a reason why someone with connections is placed here instead of a bank.”

“……Really?”

“Of course.”

Han Garam nodded happily.

“Surprisingly, there are quite a few ways to get out during class time. Maybe a parent of a student called in with an urgent matter, or they suddenly needed to use the restroom or weren’t feeling well.”

Ah.

It’s true that there isn’t a rule stating that you can’t leave at all.

And since the faculty at this school has a rough idea of what kind of families the students come from, bribery probably isn’t just a Yujin Group thing.

I nodded and went to sit on the bench where Han Garam was. She shifted a bit to make room for me to sit.

“So, what opinion did you come to share this time?”

“……You seem to be quite happy?”

“Of course, I’m happy. Talking to you brings up amounts of money I wouldn’t think about normally.”

“I quite like money,” she said, and I looked at her with a bit of confusion. Seeing my reaction, Team Leader Han Garam added, “I really do like money.”

…Who doesn’t like money?

And besides, isn’t it someone else’s money?

“Like, you know how some people love cars and play racing games? In real life, you can’t buy all the supercars, and honestly, I might not even be able to afford one. But when you’re racing in the game, you get satisfaction. Even if you have a car in reality, you seldom get the chance to drive it fast. That’s why I like what I do.”

Is that the feeling?

Well, if we dismiss everything because it’s not real, then all games or movies in the world become useless.

“So, what can I help you with today, customer?”

Han Garam suddenly switched to a bank employee tone, and I immediately got down to business without any hesitation.

“I’d like to extend the 15 conditions we discussed before.”

“Sure.”

Team Leader Han Garam pulled out a notebook and a fancy pen from her bag. I think she had this out last time too, but… well, it’s not bad to be prepared.

“If the current Chairwoman of Yujin Group attacks another group, what would the best defense be?”

“Since you mentioned it relates to the 15 conditions, it seems connected to your friend.”

“Exactly.”

As I nodded, Han Garam immediately provided an answer.

“The best defense is to hold a significant amount of stocks in the companies attacking you. If possible, team up with someone who has a lot of that company’s stocks.”

It was a basic idea.

The issue is figuring out how to meet that basic requirement.

“But you should forget about handing over the Yujin Electronics stocks you own. Those stocks are your best countermeasure. Just holding onto them is a weapon; there’s no reason to weaken your power by sharing them with someone else. Plus, Yujin Electronics stocks are incredibly valuable. If you try to exchange them for stocks of a company of comparable value, the other company might have to give you way more stocks.”

“So what should I do?”

“There are many ways to hold onto stocks. You know, the National Pension Service is one of Yujin Group’s major shareholders.”

With a smile, Han Garam shared that tidbit.

“And Yujin Life has the most shares of Yujin Electronics as a single company. They hold about 13 percent on their own. As far as I know, you are also a major shareholder in Yujin Life.”

“……”

That was information I had no idea about.

Ah, I knew about holding stocks in the other companies within the Yujin Group. However, I wasn’t sure about their standing within the group.

“Of course, the current Chairwoman also holds shares in Yujin Life. However, compared to what you hold, it’s not even half. Your father went through great lengths to look out for you in the details. He distributed wealth strictly in terms of money. He ensured that you have a hidden power that is different from just what is visible.”

“……”

“And the stock price of Yujin Life… isn’t as high as you might think. It’s rather expensive among domestic stocks, but perhaps that stock could be worth about the same as any company you might consider exchanging it with. However, the person receiving those stocks has to definitely be on your side.”

Otherwise, that person could end up teaming up with the current Chairwoman. Well, if they held onto that company’s stocks, it would be difficult to ignore them even if you wanted to.

So, the most important thing is whether I can trust Sua’s father.

…It seems I should meet him face to face sometime.

Well, in any case, it would come to that. I’d have to cross that bridge if I want to send Sua back to her home.

“To be honest, I think that idea isn’t that great. There’s a saying that you can know ten rivers, but you can’t know one person.”

Yet, despite saying that, Team Leader Han Garam was still wearing a cheerful expression.

She really seems to love money. There’s a difference between someone who simply loves money to hoard it and someone who enjoys seeing it move, watching what actions people take because of it, and the incidents that occur because of it. At least, that’s how it appeared to me. This person would probably enjoy losing money in stocks as well.

…I mentally placed Han Garam’s name in the ‘might be a bit dangerous’ slot.

As a point of reference, Choi Na-kyung was in the ‘very serious threat’ category.

“The best case would be for the Chairwoman to constantly purchase stocks to ensure that you can’t be attacked at will. Of course, Yujin Electronics will keep buying back their own shares to maintain and raise the stock price, so it would cost a lot.”

That’s right. The dividend of barely 20 won per share seems way too stingy considering the operating profit and stock price.

Yujin Electronics offers low dividends in place of constantly buying back their own shares. By doing so, they create a situation where their stocks can always be sold, thus steadily increasing their stock price. Even if the dividends are low, it seems that investors are satisfied since their asset values go up.

“……Can I ask you to do that for me?”

Well, if the stock price goes up, that would be good for me.

But it’s not like I’m at a level where I can’t buy stocks. I can purchase them as long as it doesn’t significantly dent my wealth.

Han Garam’s eyes widened when she heard my words.

“Really? Are you asking me to do that?”

“I can’t manage to go to the bank directly. So, within the range of what I should receive from my trust assets, please purchase Yujin Electronics stocks without overdoing it.”

“That is a wise decision! It’s good to be able to look away.”

…She seems to be enjoying it a bit too much, which makes me a little nervous.

It seems she really does love money to the point of becoming a banker.

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