Chapter 63: The Crazy Party

Han Seoyoung was on the phone in her bedroom.

The other party was Lee Sojin’s mother.

“Thank you so much for helping out.”

“Not at all. I’m grateful that you invited our Sojin. It will be a wonderful experience for her, and she adores Jiwoo. Hoho.”

According to her, these days, Sojin only talked about two things at school.

One was Kang Jiwoo.

The other was politics.

It was puzzling to think what political concerns a 9-year-old girl could have, but apparently, she was quite serious about it.

“Sojin has been watching the news nonstop lately. She’s not running for president or anything, so I find it quite amusing.”

Even as she said this, Sojin’s mother sounded cheerful.

What parent would dislike their child being passionately interested in something?

Especially when Sojin wasn’t the type to be indifferent about everything to begin with.

“Sometimes, I worry that she might be growing up too fast, though.”

“But Sojin is diligent with her responsibilities, isn’t she? Our candidate here is still quite inexperienced in such matters…”

Suddenly, Han Seoyoung thought to herself,

‘This is such a mom-like conversation.’

Despite being unmarried, Han Seoyoung found herself connecting well with a mother.

“Alright, I’ll call you again tomorrow.”

Ending the call appropriately, she stepped out into the living room.

In the living room, two elementary school girls were drawing.

The problem? 

They weren’t drawing on paper but on each other’s bodies.

“What are you doing…?”

“Siljangping! Sojin drew this for me! It’s a wristwatch!”

A watch drawn on an arm.

Judging by the black marks on their fingers, they had also drawn rings.

Sojin’s wrist and fingers were similarly covered in scribbles.

“Candidate, this is permanent marker, you know.”

“Permanent…?”

“Yes, it doesn’t wash off.”

“Gasp…!”

At the realization that it wouldn’t come off, their expressions froze momentarily.

But soon, they were jumping for joy, unable to contain their excitement.

“Our friendship watch and rings will never fade!”

“Yay! This is so cool!”

Watching the two, Han Seoyoung couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The thought of scrubbing them clean later gave her a headache, but their joy and hugs were just too endearing.

‘Am I doing politics or raising kids? Well, as long as they’re happy, it’s fine.’

“Alright, no more drawing. If you want to draw, use paper instead of your hands.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Kang Jiwoo responded energetically.

Her usual tone was subdued, but today, thanks to Sojin, she seemed elated.

Seeing this, Han Seoyoung couldn’t bring herself to scold them further.

‘Fine. Let’s let them loose today. The candidate must have been having a hard time too.’

Feeling more generous, Han Seoyoung was about to let them play a bit longer.

But then, Sojin seemed to take notice and spoke up.

“We were about to start studying.”

“You can play more. It’s not even dinner time yet.”

“No, really. We were planning to study after this. Right, Jiwoo?”

“Um… yeah…”

Sojin began pulling books out of her bag.

One book, then two, then three… and even a bundle of papers.

“What should we start with? Math? Korean? English? Or maybe an impromptu debate?”

“……”

The smile on Kang Jiwoo’s face slowly faded.

Studying… while playing?

Sojin, Sojin, what are you talking about?

Thus began their full-fledged study session.

A hefty serving of math, Korean, and English served up by Sojin!

It was a massive portion, piled high like a mountain of rice.

“Multiplication is much stronger than addition. If you add two Heochuping toys to five, you get seven. But if you multiply by five, you get ten!”

“Ten Heochupings…!”

Even Han Seoyoung and Bong Soohee had helped with Jiwoo’s studies before.

But their methods were vastly different.

Sojin used examples like Heochuping and other things kids found interesting.

Adults had tried similar approaches, but no one did it as effectively as an actual elementary schooler.

“Now, let’s play a multiplication game. Here, take a card.”

Surprisingly, her teaching methods were quite advanced.

Was she just applying what she had learned herself?

Or was she inventing these methods on her own?

Either way, it was an impressive approach.

“It’s so fun learning from you, Sojin!”

It was genuinely easy to understand.

What was even more impressive was the mock debate.

“Here, take this.”

“What’s this?”

“I made a summary of the opposing candidates.”

“!”

A document outlining the key pledges of minor candidates, their weaknesses, and anticipated rebuttals and counter-rebuttals.

‘This is really something else.’

The logic was surprisingly solid.

The quality was so good that it felt like it could be taken straight into a debate.

Lee Sojin.

A true talent.

Grow just like this, and you could become the debate gladiator of the new era.

“Wow… this is amazing…”

“It’s nothing. I made it while studying politics because I found it interesting. Want to try a mock debate?”

“A mock debate? What’s that?”

“It’s just what it sounds like, a ‘mock’ debate.”

With Sojin leading, the mock debate began.

She played the roles of opposing candidates while I read through the script and familiarized myself with the content.

Sojin’s lessons went beyond the content of the debate.

“When debating, you can’t slouch. Keep your shoulders and back straight. It makes you look trustworthy to the audience.”

“Straight…?”

“Yes. Straighter! Straighter!”

She already understood the importance of gestures and posture in addition to logic.

Admirable, Sojinping!

We debated for quite a while.

Unlike the second TV debate, Jiwooping  was particularly engaged in this one.

While it was thanks to Sojin, the primary reason lay in the content of the pledges.

‘The pledges are just so juvenile.’

Most minor candidates had put forth somewhat immature pledges.

That’s inevitable, as their strategies revolved more around shock value than seriousness to draw attention.

Even Jiwooping  could identify flaws in their approaches.

After some intense debate, we took a break.

I looked at Sojin with admiration.

“So jealous…”

“Of what?”

“You’re so good at debating… I want to be as good as you someday…”

Jiwooping  genuinely seemed envious of Sojin.

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

Yet, Sojin sat up even straighter, clearly proud.

She immediately returned the compliment.

“Your strength is charisma.”

“Charisma…?”

“Yes. The ability to capture people’s hearts—that’s what charisma is.”

Charisma.

It was an unfamiliar word for Jiwooping  and one that didn’t seem to fit.

You could say someone like Yoo Hangcheol had charisma, but for someone like me, who had TS’d into a girl, charisma seemed out of reach.

Even “gentle charisma” felt far removed from me.

Yet, it seemed Sojin saw me differently.

“Charisma is usually associated with strong leaders, like generals who command their troops.”

“I… I’m not like that…”

“True. But you have an even stronger kind of charisma.”

Sojin poked my cheek and smiled brightly.

“The purest charisma of a kind heart. You’re the only one who can captivate people with kindness.”

The charisma of a kind heart…

It felt insightful, and I nodded in agreement.

Politics is about meeting the diverse needs of the people.

But since children can’t vote, their voices are often ignored.

Perhaps that was a flaw in politics.

Especially when a child can have such wonderful thoughts.

Stretch!

Even my posture straightened up, thanks to Sojin’s praise.

We became like two growing bean sprouts, exchanging compliments.

Then the topic changed.

“By the way… I have a dilemma…”

“A dilemma? What is it?”

Jiwooping ’s dilemma.

Honestly, she’d been itching to bring it up for a while.

She was just waiting for the right timing.

“There’s a song I absolutely shouldn’t sing… but it keeps popping into my head…”

It was the song of Heo Kyungyeon floating around in her mind.

“I’m not supposed to sing it because Nappeuping sang it…”

“Really? Let me hear it.”

“What? No! I can’t!”

“Huh?”

“What if you get addicted too, Sojin?!”

“Haha. I’ll be fine.”

Sojin boldly decided to listen to the song.

However, worried Han Seoyoung might hear, she played it on her phone at the lowest volume and held it up to her ear.

Heo Kyungyeon’s song.

That highly addictive song.

I waited anxiously for Sojin’s reaction, and she finally spoke.

“It’s not that much, though.”

“Huh…?”

“I don’t think it’s that addictive.”

“Oh, r-really? It keeps playing in my head…”

Well, everyone feels differently about things, don’t they?

Sojin, as if struck by a good idea, suggested, “Do you want me to teach you how to completely forget this song?”

Completely forget it?

Is that even possible?

No way such a method exists.

It’s probably just a cute, childish imagination.

I didn’t believe her words, but Jiwooping seemed intrigued.

“How?”

“It’s simple… just…”

The secret technique was shared.

Whether it would work or not, there was no harm in trying.

—

“It’s time to wash up and go to bed, everyone.”

“Yes!”

Before we knew it, night had fallen.

After a shower, brushing our teeth, and drying our hair, we were all ready for bed.

I lay down on the mat with Sojin, and for some reason, I couldn’t stop smiling.

While Han Seoyoung was still in the bathroom, I leaned close to Sojin’s ear and whispered.

“Let’s play a secret game later tonight.”

“A secret game? How?”

“Just pretend to fall asleep. Hold out for a little while… then we’ll start.”

So, we began pretending to sleep.

—

A few dozen minutes passed.

Han Seoyoung was fast asleep in no time.

Carefully, I got up and tried to wake Sojin.

“Sojin….”

“Hmm…”

But Sojin didn’t wake up.

Right, she must have been exhausted today.

Coming to a new place, teaching me non-stop without a single break.

Maybe she was so excited about coming here that she didn’t get enough sleep the night before.

Leaving her as she was, I quietly headed to the living room.

With practiced hands, I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of my usual drink.

One glass, on the rocks, with ice.

“Ah….”

Heochuping Milk, Strawberry.

The taste I was looking forward to.

I almost took out the cheesecake from the fridge but stopped myself.

“I was going to share this with Sojin… what a shame.”

My original plan was to have a secret midnight party with my friend.

The cheesecake, untouched, would have to wait for Sojin.

But then, I heard movement from the bedroom.

Sojin, rubbing her eyes, appeared in the living room.

“Sojinping…!”

“What time is it…?”

“It’s still night!”

“Ah, good. I accidentally dozed off.”

“Shh, come here.”

Whispering, I stifled a laugh and took out the cheesecake.

I also poured Sojin a glass of Heochuping Milk.

“Pfft.”

“Hehe…”

What was so funny?

Just seeing each other’s faces brought uncontrollable laughter.

“Let’s stay up all night talking about Heochuping!”

“Yeah! And I want to hear about school, too!”

And so, we spent the early hours chatting about Heochuping and school.

It was the day Jiwooping laughed the most.

—

That evening, a video was uploaded to Kang Jiwoo’s SNS account.

[“A candidate diligently practicing debate with a friend!”]

[“Please show lots of support for tomorrow’s minor candidates’ debate!”]

The video showed Kang Jiwoo and Lee Sojin practicing for a mock debate.

Some supporters recognized Sojin in the video.

A friend who’s great at debate, haha.

Who’s that kid?

Oh, you know, the one who helped during the debate last time was Kizunara.

Special tutoring, maybe? Haha.

The long years of contempt and oppression… It’s time to return as the “Debate Gladiator.”

I’ll become a debate master!

Ddu-dya…

Ddu-woo-dai, ddu-da-da woo-dya!!

Sojin and the Meeting.

That naturally led to a sense of anticipation for the debate.

The night with her friend passed quickly, and bright sunlight seeped in through the window.

Han Seoyoung, noticing the empty seat beside her, walked out to the living room with a messy look on her face.

“?”

In the middle of the living room, two elementary school kids were lying flat on their backs in perfect harmony.

The sunlight streaming in made them look even more adorable.

Spotting the drinks and cheesecake spread across the table, Han Seoyoung muttered,

“Seriously. I told them not to sneak snacks in the middle of the night…”

Click.

Still, first things first—a photo had to be taken.

This level of cuteness deserved to be shown off everywhere.

“Kids, wake up. The morning sun is up.”

“Mmm…”

Today was the day of the debate among minor candidates.

All the preparations were complete.

Now, all that was left was to show off her charisma, full of kindness and charm.