Diamond Watches and Fox Hunting
by Muse Β· 2026-09-30
Kim Se-rin: Ugh, seriously! Baek Seol-ah, aren't you going to take that off?
As soon as the bell for break time rang, a sharp, high-pitched voice hit my eardrums.
Ugh, I'm tired.
I didn't even need to turn my head to know.
It was Kim Se-rin, our class's loudspeaker and self-proclaimed fashion leader.
Se-rin clicked her tongue as if she was dumbfounded.
Her appearance perfectly matched the description of a "fox-like" face.
Her eyes were slightly upturned at the corners, and her lips, tinted, resembled cherries.
Her school uniform skirt was shortened to the brink of violating regulations, and a designer hair clip sparkled in her hair.
She was certainly pretty.
The problem was the nagging and meddling that poured out of her mouth every time she opened it.
Seol-ah: Hey, Kim Se-rin. You should worry about yourself. What's with that skirt? Your safety shorts are showing.
When I replied indifferently, Se-rin's face flushed.
Kim Se-rin: W-what?! Hey! Can't you choose your words more elegantly? And this is fashion! Your legs are pretty, so why do you always cover them up? It's so frustrating, seriously!
She even sought agreement from Min-ji, who sat next to me.
Kim Se-rin: Min-ji, you say something too. Does it make sense for her to go around like this?
Lee Min-ji: Uh-huh... I mean, I prefer Seol-ah to be comfortable, but...
Min-ji hesitated while watching my reaction.
At that moment, Yu-ri, who had been pretending not to notice, turned around and casually said something.
Yu-ri: Hey, Kim Se-rin. Stop worrying about other people and be quiet, okay?
Se-rin is a child who hangs out with Hye-jin's group.
Ever since Yu-ri distanced herself from Hye-jin's group, the two have had a somewhat awkward relationship.
They used to hang out together, but now there is a line drawn between them.
Se-rin flinched at Yu-ri's words, but pretended not to hear and continued speaking.
Kim Se-rin: Ugh, why did I even say anything? Hey, you guys, don't go to the snack bar during lunch today. Don't go to the cafeteria either.
Seol-ah: Why? I'm hungry.
Kim Se-rin: The third-year seniors are going around 'disciplining' today. Especially noticeable kids like you, Seol-ah, are their number one target. Understand? Listen to your older sister, the informant.
Se-rin, pretending to be worried, leaked some information, then quickly turned and scurried towards the hallway where her group (Park Hye-jin's gang) was.
Her back, standing next to Park Hye-jin, laughing exaggeratedly and fawning, looked somehow precarious.
I tore open a bag of jelly and chuckled.
'Kid, your life must be tiring too.'
Kim Se-rin.
The informant who knows all the rumors in school. She's a member of Hye-jin's gang.
But I didn't entirely dislike her.
Her friends are all the type who categorize people by luxury brands and appearance.
Their relationships are like 'chaff' that blows away with the wind, devoid of loyalty.
Se-rin is struggling not to be pushed out of that center.
Just like Baek Yu-ri in the past, she's afraid of being alone.
But her precarious tightrope walk is none of my business.
My principle is to mind my own business and take care of myself.
I tried to remain a thorough bystander.
But fate always strikes on a tiring day.
It was on the day that a joint physical education class was scheduled with Hye-jin's class that trouble broke out.
The location was the changing room after class.
As an aside, seeing how Kim Cheol-su, an old man, naturally changed clothes in the girls' changing room, he must have become a full-fledged woman.
At first, he didn't know where to look, so he just looked at the ceiling while getting dressed, but now he doesn't care if someone changes clothes next to him or not.
Rather, he'd sit there checking muscle mass, thinking, 'That friend is a bit lacking in triceps,' or 'The latissimus dorsi line is a shame.' Human adaptability is truly frightening.
Anyway, I was sitting on a bench in the corner of the changing room, fumbling to change into my gym pants, when suddenly the changing room door burst open with a bang! A sharp scream erupted.
Park Hye-jin: Hey! Lock the door! No one leaves!
The atmosphere turned cold.
The owner of the voice was Park Hye-jin from the next class. She was the daughter of a law firm CEO and the leader of that 'popular group' that Se-rin was so obsessed with.
Class President: Hye-jin, what's wrong? What's going on?
Our class president asked in surprise.
Park Hye-jin fumed and shouted.
Park Hye-jin: My watch! My diamond-studded watch is gone! My dad bought that limited edition for me in France!
The changing room buzzed with chatter.
Oh, for goodness sake, she's crazy.
A diamond watch, no less. It must be worth at least ten million won.
Is she in her right mind to wear something like that to school?
Her dad, who bought a high school student such a watch, doesn't seem to be in his right mind either.
Anyway, I ignored it all and went about my business.
Hye-jin screamed again.
Park Hye-jin: It was definitely there before I changed into my gym clothes. I put it in my locker! But it's not there now! One of you is a thief!
Park Hye-jin's eyes gleamed like a viper as she scanned the children.
I, who was folding my gym clothes in the corner, frowned.
'Ah, this is troublesome. I'm hungry.'
Park Hye-jin: From now on, I'm going to search all your bags and lockers. Anyone who complains will be considered the culprit.
Two of Park Hye-jin's cronies stepped forward and began forcibly opening the children's bags.
There was no such thing as human rights.
Because this was a private high school where power and money were the law.
"Hey, what are you guys doing!"
A few protested, but when Park Hye-jin snapped, "Shut up. Feeling guilty?" they quieted down.
Zzzip, clack. Zzzip, clack.
Only the sound of bag zippers opening echoed loudly.
My turn was approaching, but I remained still.
There was nothing to find but a bag of jelly and a jump rope anyway.
But then.
It was when the bag inspection stopped in front of Se-rin's locker.
"...Huh?"
Park Hye-jin's minion, who was rummaging through Se-rin's luxury backpack, paused.
Something shiny came out of an inner pocket of the bag.
It was a silver wristwatch, not with cubic zirconia, but real diamonds.
A hush fell. Everyone's gaze was fixed on Kim Se-rin.
Kim Se-rin: ...Why is that coming out of there?
Se-rin's face turned as white as a sheet.
She covered her mouth with a trembling hand.
Kim Se-rin: N-no! It's not me! Why would I steal that?!
Park Hye-jin slowly approached Se-rin.
They used to walk arm-in-arm, calling each other 'best friends'.
But Park Hye-jin's expression now was not one looking at a friend.
Slap!
A sharp crack echoed through the changing room.
Se-rin's head snapped to the side.
A red handprint clearly appeared on her pale cheek.
Park Hye-jin: Hey, Kim Se-rin. You've gotten pretty big, haven't you?
Park Hye-jin sneered coldly.
Park Hye-jin: You always coveted my things, and now your sticky fingers are showing? Is your family business struggling these days? Is that why you did this?
Kim Se-rin: No! It's really not! Hye-jin, you know me! Why would I be crazy enough to steal your stuff?
Se-rin sobbed and grabbed Hye-jin's arm, but Hye-jin shook her off as if she were a bug.
Park Hye-jin: Let go, you thief. Don't touch me, it's disgusting.
What was more cruel was the reaction of those around them.
The group who used to hang out with Se-rin, laughing and joking.
Even they were now looking at Se-rin with contempt.
"Wow... Se-rin is really disappointing."
"No wonder, she kept touching Hye-jin's things, saying they were pretty."
"I should have known when the rumors spread. She's always been shady."
It happened in an instant.
'Information Queen Kim Se-rin' fell from grace, becoming 'the thief with sticky fingers'.
Se-rin was cornered, trembling.
The confident and brazen fox-like demeanor was nowhere to be found, only a small animal caught in a trap, bleeding.
Park Hye-jin: Call the police. Or drag her to the student affairs office. She needs to eat some prison food to come to her senses.
At Park Hye-jin's words, the children murmured.
Se-rin collapsed to the floor and began to sob uncontrollably.
No one took her side.
But something felt off.
My brows furrowed as I watched.
'...Something's strange.'
My inner Kim Cheol-su whispered.
In my 36 years of life, half of which I spent surviving by my wits on rough gym floors, I had a knack for reading people.
The subtle muscle tremors when someone lies, the pupil dilation when they're flustered.
Kim Se-rin's eyes right now weren't those of a 'thief caught off guard'.
They were the eyes of 'someone on the verge of going crazy from injustice'.
On the other hand, Park Hye-jin, the supposed victim.
I didn't miss the subtle, fleeting upward twitch of her lips, a hint of a smirk, for about 0.1 seconds.
'Something smells fishy.'
Thinking back, the whole situation felt too contrived.
Normally, if something goes missing, the first step is to say, "Huh? Where did I put it?" and look for it.
But to lock the door the moment the scream happens, and then immediately rummage through someone else's bag as if waiting for it?
Like a well-rehearsed script?
'...No way.'
A memory flashed through my mind.
The scene before gym class, when Hye-jin handed Se-rin her locker key, saying, "Can you hold my bag for a moment?"
The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.
This wasn't a theft. It was a setup.
The reason was obvious.
To establish hierarchy within the group? Or perhaps, there was something she resented.
The dirtiest, most petty form of bullying, disguised as friendship.
I sighed deeply.
Ah, I was going to let it go because I was hungry.
But seeing her suffer so unfairly, my righteous (read: meddlesome) ajusshi instinct stirred within me.
Seol-ah: Hey.
I pulled up my half-removed gym shorts, shoved my hands into my pockets, and walked forward, pushing through the students.
Between the sobbing Se-rin and the triumphant Hye-jin.
Seol-ah: It's too noisy, I can't change my clothes.
Everyone's gaze turned to me, Baek Seol-ah.
Park Hye-jin frowned.
Park Hye-jin: What is it, Baek Seol-ah? Stay out of this. I'm teaching this thief a lesson.
Seol-ah: Thief?
I picked up the watch that had fallen on the floor.
Then I held it right in front of Hye-jin's nose and chuckled.
Seol-ah: How about we get this fingerprinted?
Park Hye-jin: ...What?
Seol-ah: Unless you're an idiot, you wouldn't have left fingerprints on a stolen item and put it in the most visible front pocket of your own bag.
I glanced at Se-rin and then glared back at Hye-jin.
Seol-ah: Conversely, if someone wearing gloves secretly slipped it in, there would only be the owner's fingerprints on the watch. Wouldn't there?
Park Hye-jin's pupils trembled.
Bingo.
Seol-ah: And I saw you loitering near Kim Se-rin's locker before gym class. Should we check the CCTV for that too?
Of course, I didn't know if there was CCTV in the changing room hallway.
But a guilty conscience needs no accuser.
Park Hye-jin: N-no! That was because I was leaving my bag! What are you? Are you taking this thief's side? Are you in on it too?
Park Hye-jin shrieked, her voice filled with malice.
I watched Hye-jin's outburst and smirked, one corner of my mouth turning up.
'Good, you need to get agitated to create an opening.'
I spun the watch I was holding on my finger and slowly walked towards Hye-jin.
One step, two steps.
Each time I approached, Hye-jin instinctively backed away.
The aura emanating from me was not that of a high school girl.
It was the pressure of a fighter cornering an opponent in countless rings.
I leaned my face right next to Hye-jin's ear and whispered in a very low, chilling voice.
Seol-ah: Hey, Park Hye-jin. It's good to be cunning, but you made it too obvious.
Park Hye-jin: ...What?
Seol-ah: When you guys were rummaging through Se-rin's bag earlier, your hand went straight to the inner pocket before you even unzipped it. As if you knew it was there.
Park Hye-jin's pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
Park Hye-jin: Th-that was a coincidence...
Seol-ah: Coincidence? Don't make me laugh. Do you think everyone else is stupid? Should I call the police right now, get fingerprints analyzed, and secure testimonies from the kids who saw you touching Se-rin's bag? Do you know that false accusation carries a heavier sentence than theft?
Park Hye-jin: ...!
The color drained from Hye-jin's face.
I delivered the final blow.
Seol-ah: Choose. Are you going to tuck your tail between your legs and leave, saying, 'Oh, it was in my pocket? I must have been mistaken'? Or do you want to go to the police station and be utterly humiliated? You know Baeksan Group's legal team is good at their job, right?
Baeksan Group.
The weight of that name completely crushed Park Hye-jin.
No matter that she was the daughter of a law firm owner, her family's status was on a different level from my chaebol family.
Moreover, she had a guilty conscience, which made it even worse.
Park Hye-jin: ...Ah.
Hye-jin's lips trembled, then she snatched the watch from my hand.
And she squeezed out a shout.
Park Hye-jin: Oh, oh right! It, it was in my pants pocket! I must have put it there earlier and forgotten! I was mistaken!
Silence fell in the changing room.
A transparent lie.
Everyone knew the truth, but no one dared to object.
Hye-jin's face was beet red as she fled the changing room.
"Hye, Hye-jin! Let's go together!"
Hye-jin's cronies, who had been acting as her ladies-in-waiting, also scrambled after her.
All that remained were the students from our class and Kim Se-rin, sitting blankly on the floor.
The atmosphere had subtly shifted.
The children who had just treated Se-rin as a 'thief' now cautiously began to approach her.
"Oh my, Se-rin. Thank goodness. It was a misunderstanding, wasn't it?"
"I knew from the start it wasn't you. Hye-jin went too far."
I let out a small laugh.
'Fickle things, aren't they.'
I grabbed Se-rin's arm and helped her up.
Then I coldly rebuked the fawning children.
Seol-ah: Move. The air's getting thick.
The children parted like the Red Sea, making way.
I took the sniffling Se-rin and left the changing room.
On a bench on the school rooftop.
Se-rin had been sniffling for 10 minutes.
I munched on the bread and milk I bought from the snack bar, waiting for her to calm down.
Kim Se-rin: *sniff*, *sniff*! Ugh...
Her makeup was smeared, making her look like a panda, and she was even sniffling, a truly pitiful sight.
To think the great Kim Se-rin would look like this.
Seol-ah: Hey, stop crying. You're ruining the taste of my bread.
When I offered her the milk, Se-rin took it with trembling hands and gulped it down.
She must have been thirsty.
After a while, Se-rin, somewhat composed, looked at me with swollen eyes.
Kim Se-rin: ...Why did you help me?
Seol-ah: Huh?
Kim Se-rin: You hate me, don't you? I also called you unfashionable. But why...
Se-rin looked bewildered.
The 'sophisticated and high-class' friends she trusted had all turned their backs on her, yet I, who had always been taciturn and never even spoken to her, had helped.
I crumpled the bread wrapper, tossed it into the trash can, and replied indifferently.
Seol-ah: No reason. Just because.
Kim Se-rin: ...Just because?
Seol-ah: Yeah. If I had to say, I just hate seeing people who pick on the weak. And you looked like you were about to die from injustice. I figured I'd save a life.
At my blunt words, Se-rin's eyes welled up again.
Kim Se-rin: Hmph... Baek Seol-ah, you really...
Seol-ah: Ah, crying again? Stop it. I'm leaving.
As I tried to get up, Se-rin urgently grabbed the hem of my school uniform.
Kim Se-rin: Wait a minute!
Seol-ah: What now?
Se-rin vigorously wiped away her tears with her uniform sleeve.
Then she lifted her head.
The tearful expression from moments ago was gone, replaced by her characteristic fierce, no, resolute gaze.
Kim Se-rin: I can't live with a debt. I'll definitely repay this kindness.
Seol-ah: I told you to just buy me food.
Kim Se-rin: No, not that kind of thing!
Se-rin sprang to her feet and stood in front of me.
Then, she neatly adjusted my loose tie and declared solemnly.
Kim Se-rin: From now on, all school information, rumors, high-level sources. I'll bring them to you first. If anyone talks trash about you, I'll go and mess them up.
Seol-ah: ...Pfft!
I burst out laughing.
What good would that be to a middle-aged man in his thirties?
But since my current life was that of a high school girl, school life might not be boring after all.
Kim Se-rin: And!
Se-rin narrowed her eyes, looking at my baggy uniform.
Kim Se-rin: Please, let's do something about that fashion. I'll be your stylist. I'll make you look like the daughter of Baeksan Group, no, the school goddess. My pride won't allow this.
I let out a hollow laugh.
Fashion criticism even in this situation. Typical Kim Se-rin.
But her eyes were sincere.
The eyes of a fox, tired of fake relationships, meeting her true owner for the first time.
Seol-ah: Alright. Well, not bad.
I chuckled and playfully ruffled her messy hair.
Seol-ah: I'm counting on you, Information Queen. But if you bring me any clothes with weird lace, you're dead.
Se-rin smiled brightly.
Her face was smeared with makeup, but she looked more beautiful than ever.
Kim Se-rin: Don't worry. Trust your unnie!
[System: Party member 'Kim Se-rin' (Dealer/Information Specialist) has joined.]
[Special Effect: School reputation management +100%, Information gathering ability: μ΅μ (Top-tier)]
And so, my second party member and the loudest speaker in school became my ally.
Now, whenever kids like Park Hye-jin talked behind my back, Se-rin's verbal missiles would fly.
School life is going to be more interesting than I thought, isn't it?
But one problem arose.
I had completely missed lunch because of the Se-rin incident.