chapter 01
“Another rotten morning, Try-elle.”
The hallway lined with lockers on both sides was noisy, packed with students.
A white male student in a loosely worn striped shirt, tie, and navy uniform pants didn’t miss the moment his eyes met Isu’s and sneered.
“Try-elle” was a long-standing nickname derived from Isu’s English name, Danielle.
Try-Elle. Always trying and trying—Danielle.
At Elmir Westlake, one of the top-ranked private schools in all of California, Isu was as different from the other students as oil is from water. It wasn’t just because she was the only Korean student in the entire school, nor solely because she was on a full scholarship.
Among the swan-like students who leisurely enjoyed surfing, Isu was the “duck” scholarship student who would stubbornly challenge even a single quiz question to secure a perfect score. She was seen as an oddball and was given the strange nickname “Queen Nerd.”
The reason the boy didn’t just pass by but instead picked a fight with her was also because of Isu’s cold, un-California-like expression.
“What, did something go wrong with your Ivy League plans?”
“Hahaha.”
Unlike the other students who always laughed carefree, Isu rarely smiled. The boys sometimes went out of their way just to get on her nerves.
But Isu never reacted. Faced with her complete indifference, the boys would laugh among themselves and walk off, as if it were part of a routine.
Don’t those idiots ever get tired of this?
They should go read a book instead of wasting time talking nonsense.
Swallowing her bitter contempt, Isu pushed up her glasses with her fingertips.
To maintain a full scholarship at Elmir Westlake, students had to stay within the top 10% of their class. But since becoming a scholarship student, Isu had never once lost her rank as number one.
In other words, she had perfectly valid grounds for calling her classmates “idiots.”
Glancing at her wristwatch, Isu headed toward her locker. But the moment she reached it, she stopped short.
A male student she had never seen before—with braided hair—was rummaging through her locker as if it were his own.
“What are you doing right now? That’s my locker.”
“What?”
The boy looked her up and down.
When she stepped closer to check, all her belongings were gone, replaced with things she didn’t recognize.
Flustered, Isu checked the locker number again. It was definitely hers.
“Yours? I heard no one was using it, so I decided to take it starting today.”
“What do you mean? I’m the owner!”
As Isu raised her voice—a rare occurrence—people nearby began to look over. But the boy, casually slinging his bag over one shoulder, responded with shameless indifference.
“So what? That’s not my problem. I heard it didn’t belong to anyone, so I’m using it. You can go find another one.”
Ignoring his outrageous attitude for a moment, Isu’s thoughts shifted elsewhere.
“Then what about the stuff inside?! What happened to everything that was in there?”
Her books, notes, and project materials—each one was extremely important to her.
“No idea. Try digging through the trash.”
The boy brushed past her, nearly bumping her shoulder.
“Ha.”
Isu let out a hollow laugh and looked up at the empty air.
Dark brown horn-rimmed glasses. Long straight hair she roughly trimmed herself. A neat yet loose-fitting uniform. A grade-obsessed “poor Asian.”
There were endless reasons for people to ignore her, but Danielle Ryu, the top student of Elmir Westlake, was anything but easy to mess with.
The reason she wore the crown of “Queen Nerd” was because she never let absurd situations like this slide or let herself be made a fool of.
But instead of grabbing the boy by the arm, Isu turned and hurried toward the trash area.
Right now, what mattered more than teaching that jerk a lesson was finding her materials and belongings.
“Sorry I’m late.”
All eyes turned to Isu as she appeared at the open door. Miranda, the teacher standing at the front, frowned.
“How can a class assistant be late?”
“I’m sorry.”
Some students snickered, amused at the rare sight of the “Queen Nerd” backing down.
She had rushed to the trash area despite being late for class, but in the end, Isu couldn’t find her things.
Sitting down in her empty seat, she bit the inside of her cheek hard.
It was locked—who would think that locker was unused?
Her thoughts spiraled, and she couldn’t focus on the lesson.
She snapped back to attention when Miranda brought up the most important topic.
“And the results for the capstone program internship are out. The student selected for the UCLA internship is—”
This internship opportunity was exactly why Isu had taken this AP class and even volunteered as a class assistant.
Unlike other students who could easily secure recommendation letters through family connections and extracurriculars, Isu had few options. The UCLA internship was practically her only lifeline.
She had spent countless nights in the library preparing for the capstone program.
“Emily Holt.”
Isu’s heart dropped.
As Emily stood up at the sound of her name, everyone’s gaze shifted between her and Isu.
After a brief silence, the students’ smiles created a strange atmosphere. The sound of applause pounded in Isu’s ears.
“I can’t accept this.”
Instead of interrupting the announcement, Isu chose to speak to Miranda privately after the classroom emptied.
“That tone is quite arrogant, Danielle. This isn’t something for you to accept or not.”
“While Emily Holt was out drinking boba and tanning in a bikini, I was practically living in the library. I even worked as a class assistant.”
“UCLA and I can’t evaluate every step of how hard someone worked.”
“I know Emily Holt submitted her work late.”
Miranda, who had been organizing papers on her desk, looked up at Isu.
“I don’t know how amazing her paper was. But I do know the process was unfair.”
“Danielle. I wasn’t going to say this, but—”
Despite being confronted directly and accused of favoritism, Miranda merely sighed through her nose, unfazed.
“Do you still not understand your position? That opportunity was never yours to have.”
“What?”
“Emily Holt has a relative who’s a trustee on the UCLA foundation board. The moment she submitted under the name ‘Holt’ and you submitted under ‘Ryu,’ the outcome was already decided.”
Isu’s lips trembled.
Is that something a teacher should say?
“And first, you should take care of your own responsibilities. A class assistant arriving late? Before pointing fingers at others, shouldn’t you show responsibility yourself?”
Under the title of class assistant, Isu had spent her time running Miranda’s errands, even enduring mockery as a “teacher’s pet.”
“This attitude won’t do. Unless you don’t need a recommendation letter.”
If she couldn’t get one from outside, she had no choice but to rely on school teachers. That was why Miranda wasn’t shaken by Isu’s stance.
Because in the end, Miranda held the power, and Isu did not.
Danielle Ryu was merely a scholarship student at the very bottom of the school’s hierarchy. No matter what she protested, it was laughable.
When Isu said nothing, Miranda smiled faintly and left the classroom.
Left alone, Isu gripped the edge of Miranda’s desk tightly with one hand.
Mother F….
A curse rose to her lips. A cold, dangerous aura flickered in her hazel eyes, as if she might hit someone.
Just then—
“Are you done?”
Startled by the unexpected presence, Isu turned toward the voice. From the partitioned lounge area, an overwhelming figure emerged.
“You… what are you? Since when were you there?”
Standing before her was none other than Frederick Bastiat. He looked drowsy, his expression languid, his loose navy tie and wrinkled white shirt suggesting he’d been lounging somewhere.
“Danielle.”
Instead of answering, he slowly called her name.
Then he walked toward her, cutting through the sunlight streaming from the window.
With every step, his blond hair shimmered brilliantly. His perfectly sculpted features often left girls speechless, yet he still looked half-asleep today.
Even so, his tall frame—well over six feet—was naturally intimidating. With just a few long strides, he closed the distance.
As Isu instinctively stepped back under his imposing presence, Frederick looked down at her and finally spoke.
