TOIGC 05

Chapter 5 …

Better the Head of a Snake Than the Tail of a Dragon

“I’m gonna be Snow White!” “No, I am!”

At the kindergarten, a massive fight had broken out among the girls over who would play Snow White in the upcoming play.

“I said I’m gonna do it!”

A slightly bigger girl shoved another girl to the ground, sending her instantly into a wailing fit.

“Okay, so now I’m Snow White, right?”

The bigger girl looked around triumphantly, though there was still an endless line of rivals to deal with.

“No way, I said I am!” “Nuh-uh, it’s me!” “I wanna act with Yoongi!”

The root cause of all this chaos was Yoongi himself. Because Yoongi—the most popular boy at Hana Kindergarten—had been cast as the Prince, every girl wanted the lead role.

“Director, see? This is why I said we shouldn’t make Yoongi the Prince!”

A teacher in her late twenties with a bob haircut stomped her feet, staring at the director in utter helplessness.

“Teacher Lee, don’t pin this on me. All the girls wanted Yoongi to be the Prince! What choice did we have? Fine, why don’t you tell them Yoongi isn’t playing the Prince anymore? Or should I tell them he’s out because of you?” “Well, I mean…”

While the girls were busy fighting each other, the teachers were equally busy shifting the blame. Amid the heated atmosphere, however, one group was deflated beyond belief.

“Yoongi is so lucky…”

A little boy with a perm that looked like an old lady’s sighed, resting his chin on his hands as he sat on the stairs.

“Then you be the Prince.”

Yoongi boasted a tall frame inherited from his father, along with a defined nose, big eyes, and a sleek build from his mother. Overflowing with love and nutrition, his looks didn’t even compare to his past life as Kim Chanyeol.

“Really?!”

The curly-haired boy—Kim Jinsu—looked up with shining eyes. He was basically Yoongi’s sidekick, following him everywhere around the kindergarten.

“Yeah.” “Awesome!”

The second Yoongi gave his permission, Jinsu scampered out and stood right in front of everyone.

“Hey guys! Yoongi said I can be the Prince! I’m the Prince now! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

In an instant, the warring girls found themselves a common enemy.

“Did you tell Yoongi not to be the Prince?!”

At one girl’s shout, a swarm of them rushed over, knocked Jinsu down, and started stomping on him.

“Aaaagh! Aaaaaaah! Waaaaaaah!”

As things spiraled out of control, Teacher Lee sprinted over and scooped Jinsu into her arms.

“Waaaaaaah!”

Patting the crying boy, Teacher Lee yelled at the group:

“If you girls keep fighting—!” [If we keep fighting, what?]

At their glaring, razor-sharp response, Teacher Lee broke into a cold sweat and glanced over at Yoongi, her eyes practically screaming for help. But Yoongi was thoroughly enjoying his current life. Finding the whole situation hilarious, he had zero intention of putting out the fire.

“—I’m making Yoongi play the Princess!”

As Teacher Lee squeezed her eyes shut and blurted it out, the girls were just about to erupt into another frenzy when Yoongi cut in first.

“Me?” “Huh? Uh… yeah…”

Teacher Lee nodded awkwardly at Yoongi. If he were a child from an ordinary family, she would have just forced it on him. But since his family handed out heavy envelopes of side money to academy tutors without blinking, she couldn’t push him around, leaving her with nothing but a stiff smile.

“Why?” “Well… because the girls are fighting…” “I don’t want to wear girl clothes.”

The moment Yoongi gave his answer, the girls lost their minds all over again.

[Yoongi said he doesn’t want to be the Princess!]

Out of the kindergarten’s pure chaos, a home newsletter was somehow scraped together and sent out to every family.

“Yoongi, what on earth is ‘Snow White Without a Prince’?”

After work, his father, Choi Cheolho, flipped through the newsletter over pork belly and a glass of soju. Yoongi simply shrugged.

“I don’t really know either.”

Yoongi was finally able to study openly around others once he turned six.

It started when he went to a bookstore with his mother and picked out an ABC learning book; from there, he gradually moved on to harder material. Still, picking books that were too advanced for his age risked raising expectations to a dangerous level, so by the time he was on the verge of entering elementary school, he had only mastered the elementary curriculum out in the open.

Behind the scenes, his English had effortlessly surpassed the middle school level, and his vocabulary alone outmatched most adults—since all he had to do was memorize the dictionary. His Korean was no different. He practically memorized the literary works of famous authors commonly featured on college entrance exams under the guise of “just reading,” giving him a massive upper hand for future school tests.

Of course, this remained his personal secret. To his grandfather Choi Gihyeon and his parents, Cheolho and Yeonji, he was simply seen as a “bright kid.”

“How do you think we should handle Yoongi’s schooling?” Gihyeon asked.

Cheolho answered without a second thought.

“I’ll follow your decision, Father.” “It’s not bad that you defer to me, but this is a choice that shapes the kid’s life. Have you really not thought about it at all?” “In that case, I’ll go with my wife’s opinion. I’m always busy with company work, so she knows Yoongi much better than I do.”

Gihyeon and Cheolho both turned their gazes toward Park Yeonji.

“Daughter-in-law, what are your thoughts?”

Though Yeonji was approaching her thirties, giving birth to such a smart grandson had elevated her status within the house.

“Hmm…”

As she pondered, Gihyeon offered a warm, gentle smile.

“If your mother-in-law were still alive, it would have been different, but you can go ahead and make the major household decisions now. External matters are for your husband and me to handle, but you should take charge of the home, shouldn’t you?” “I’m still so young…” “Nonsense! When I was young, women your age managed both the household and external affairs. Speak your mind openly.”

As the mood softened, Yeonji spoke up carefully.

“By any chance, Father, have you considered places like Cheongwon Elementary or Gyesung Elementary?” “I won’t say the thought hasn’t crossed my mind… Seeing how smart my grandson is, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get ambitious.”

Cheongwon and Gyesung were famous private elementary schools where wealthy families and political figures sent their children to build early connections.

“Can we definitely get him in there?” “If we push for it, I’m sure we can, but I’m just not sure if that’s the best path.”

Having avoided disaster thanks to Yoongi, Samwoo Trading had expanded into Samwoo Group, constantly hovering on the list of South Korea’s top 100 conglomerates. Pulling strings for a private school was well within their power.

“What about sending him to study in the United States? Yoongi seems quite talented in English…” “Hmm, that could be a good option too.”

Listening to their conversation, Cheolho suddenly had an idea.

“Why don’t we just ask Yoongi? He’s a smart kid, so he might have a preference.” “Ask Yoongi?” “Yes.”

It sounded random, but it seemed like a solid suggestion, so Yoongi was summoned to the study.

“Yoongi, you’ll be starting elementary school soon. Would you rather go to America to study or attend a famous private school?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Yoongi replied:

“Can’t I just go to a school nearby?”

When Yoongi said he wanted to go to a nearby school, Gihyeon tried to persuade him that a top private school would be better, while his maternal grandfather, Brigadier General Colson, pushed for him to study in the US. However, a single line from Yoongi—”I don’t wanna be far away from my grandfathers”—turned both old men into smiling messes, and they instantly granted his wish.

With both heads of the family on board, Cheolho and Yeonji had neither the reason nor the desire to object. They enrolled Yoongi in the nearby Jeongwon Elementary School.

Naturally, it wasn’t a standard enrollment. His class assignment had already been set long before the first day, so Yeonji took Yoongi to meet his future homeroom teacher in advance.

“Thank you so much for taking the time to meet us despite your busy schedule.”

Looking at Yeonji, who was dressed to the nines, the assigned teacher, Park Sunja, seemed slightly intimidated as she nodded.

“O-Oh, not at all! I’m honored that you came in person.”

Park Sunja’s words were far from empty politeness. A massive donation had already been made to Jeongwon Elementary in the name of Samwoo Group Chairman Choi Gihyeon, and the basic family background had been passed from the principal down to the rest of the staff. With the daughter-in-law of Samwoo Group visiting in person, not just Sunja, but every teacher in the office was on edge.

Then there was Yeonji’s appearance. Carrying Brigadier General Colson’s bloodline, her blue eyes and wavy black hair carried immense prestige in a South Korea that idolized Western looks. Even as an elder in her forties with the respectable status of a teacher, Sunja could hardly meet Yeonji’s eyes directly.

“Yoongi is so handsome, he takes right after you.”

Sunja opened with a compliment to break the ice, but Yoongi showed no sign of nervousness, quietly listening to the conversation with absolute composure. Had he acted timid, Sunja might have tried to leverage it for extra demands later, but his dignified demeanor shut down any such possibility before it could even cross her mind.

“He takes after his grandfather more than me. I’m sure he won’t cause any trouble, but if anything ever comes up at school, please contact me right away.”

With those words, Yeonji slid a remarkably thick envelope toward Sunja.

This was an era when a bowl of jajangmyeon cost 200 won. To Sunja, who earned barely over 40,000 won a month, an envelope containing an unfathomable sum had just appeared right before her eyes.

“T-Thank… Thank you…”

Unable to refuse, Sunja accepted the envelope with trembling hands. She couldn’t hide her grin at the heavy weight and the faint outline of 10,000-won bills glowing through the paper. Other teachers watching from nearby could be heard gulping audibly.

Watching this scene unfold, Yoongi couldn’t help but recall his childhood.

[Give this trashy piece of yam to your mother, will ya?]

Back then, he had spent an entire day searching the mountains for wild yam because he didn’t have money for a Teacher’s Day gift, only for the teacher to dump it straight into the classroom trash can. During fifth period that same day, he was slapped dozens of times under the pretext of not doing his homework.

Yet now, even though it was a different teacher, seeing one unable to even look his mother—or himself—in the eye filled him with a deeply surreal feeling.

<World’s About Isn’t It? Life, Nasty, Real Start Though. To Truly You’re Your>

At Deokbae’s words, one corner of Yoongi’s mouth turned up just enough for no one else to notice.

“Please drop me off here.”

When Yoongi spoke up from the backseat of the sedan, the driver replied with a troubled tone.

“But the Chairman said…” “If Grandfather asks, I’ll explain it to him. I don’t want the other kids spreading weird rumors about me being a rich kid from day one.” “Then let me take you just a bit further. It’s near the bridge over here, so delinquents tend to hang around. How about after we cross that bridge?”

Though the driver was in his late thirties, he spoke to eight-year-old Yoongi with utmost deference, and Yoongi accepted the treatment naturally.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

He didn’t bother making empty gestures like telling the driver to speak casually just because he was younger. Rather than acting the part of a chaebol grandson, he had learned through bitter experience in his past life that useless kindness was truly meaningless.

“This spot should be fine. If any trouble comes up, please run straight back to the car. I’ll be watching.”

Nodding, Yoongi got out and began walking toward the school as passersby looked at him with envious eyes.

A bowtie, white socks pulled up past his knees, black suspender shorts, and a crisp white shirt. It was an outfit that screamed rich young master to anyone with eyes, topped off with an imported American backpack. But the real crown jewel was Yoongi’s appearance, which practically radiated light all on its own.

Just as Yoongi reached the school gates, however, a luxury sedan that commanded everyone’s attention pulled up to a stop right in front of the entrance.