Chapter 11: Sugar and Surveillance
1275 Words
Chapter 11: Sugar and Surveillance
The dorm smelled like damp socks and broken promises, and Hana Kim loved it.
She wasn’t supposed to be here. That much had been made very clear by both Chairman Kang and Lee earlier that afternoon. After their little power play in the glass office, she was told her student status would be non-boarding. She was to live off-campus, under the "personal supervision" of Chairman Lee. Officially, for safety and stability. Unofficially? Because Wacko made a deal.
Too bad Hana didn’t care.
She'd walked straight out of the administration building and doubled back to the scholarship dorm like a criminal returning to the scene of the crime. Tossed her duffle on the top bunk, ignored Minji’s raised brows, and flopped down like nothing had happened.
This was the only place that didn’t pretend to be anything it wasn’t.
That was until the knocking started. No. Not knocking. Pounding.
It was nearly midnight.
Girls popped out of bunks like meerkats, whispering and clutching their phone screens.
“Is that security?”
“Did someone sneak out?”
“Maybe it’s a drug raid.”
Hana sat up, half-asleep, heart already sinking. She knew.
The voice that followed confirmed it.
“Hanaaaa! Darling brat of destiny! Open up!”
Her hands slapped over her face. “He did NOT.”
But yes. Yes, he did.
Chairman Lee was outside the dorms. In the middle of the night. Dressed in a ridiculous lemon-yellow bomber jacket and sunglasses. Holding a thermos and a megaphone.
It was so bright under the motion sensor lights, he might as well have been in a movie scene.
Gasps. Shrieks. Curtains twitched. Phones clicked.
Girls ran to the windows.
"Who's that?!"
"Wait... is that a Mercedes SLS AMG?"
"That's not just anyone. That guy looks like—wait—NO."
Hana stormed downstairs barefoot, dragging her hoodie behind her like a war banner.
"You. Absolute clown."
Chairman Lee grinned like he’d just won the lottery.
"I told you you're not a boarder anymore. Did you think I was joking?"
"YES! Because it's insane!"
He pointed to the car like a game show host. “Your ride awaits.”
“You came at midnight, you lunatic! You couldn't wait till morning?"
He looked genuinely shocked. "And let you fester in poverty, mildew longer? Perish the thought."
Her fingers twitched with barely-restrained violence.
"I'm going to kill you."
"Touch me and you're expelled."
The ride to his house was silent. Except for Chairman Lee humming to old-school Trot music and waving at absolutely no one.
The real problem wasn’t just the noise or the drama. It was the unknowns. The girls didn’t know who he was. Not exactly.
All they saw was a flashy car, a dramatic exit, and her.
The scholarship girl.
Being whisked away in the dead of night.
To a place unknown.
By a man who dressed like a K-pop villain and acted like her sugar daddy.
The whispers had already started:
"Sponsor."
"She's someone's mistress."
"Do you think she’s selling something?"
Hana could already feel the narrative tightening around her neck.
And that was before they even realized who her ride was.
Chairman Lee was not just rich.
He was famous.
Not just in Seoul. Not just in Korea.
All of Asia knew the name Lee Jisung, the golden Man who turned an idol career into a multimedia empire. CEO of Dreame Entertainment, a man whose endorsement could make or break stars, whose interviews made headlines, whose companies bred pop idols like roses in a greenhouse.
And he picked her up. At midnight. On day one.
If they knew? If even one person realized it was him?
The rumors wouldn’t just hurt. They’d explode.
Because half the elites in this academy? They dreamed of being exactly where she was sitting.
Not in the backseat of a Benz.
But in the orbit of someone like him.
They’d kill for the connections. They’d murder for a whisper of opportunity.
But Hana didn’t want the connection. She wanted distance.
And now, she had neither.
The house was nothing like the last.
Gone were the gothic ceilings and the eerie echo of wealth. This place was a fever dream of color and chaos.
There was a fountain shaped like a swan that sprayed orange soda.
A kitchen with a cereal dispenser the size of a vending machine.
Three corgis in matching hoodies.
A butler named Marshmallow who didn’t blink.
Hana stood at the door, soaked in LED lighting and confused opulence.
"This place looks like a billionaire's Pinterest board."
Chairman Lee tossed her a key. "You get the studio room. It has mood lighting and a punching bag. Seemed appropriate."
She caught the key but didn’t smile. Not even a twitch.
"I still wanted the dorms."
"I know. That's why I came myself. To make sure you didn’t sneak back again."
She narrowed her eyes. "You're enjoying this."
"Of course I am. You're my favorite problem."
The next morning, Hana walked back onto campus with a backpack slung low and her hoodie drawn tight.
No one said anything.
Not out loud.
But their eyes said plenty.
Their whispers chased her like shadows.
"So she did get picked up?"
"In the middle of the night. She didn’t even deny it."
"What kind of sponsor picks a girl even on her first day?"
"I feel bad for orphans. Selling her body to earn a living."
"She thinks she’s better than us now."
"Wow, such a shameless girl."
Minji gave her a look when they passed in the hallway. Not judgment. Just... distant.
Even the scholarship students were quiet. Not out of respect. Out of wariness.
She'd already become something else.
Something different.
Untouchable.
She sat through class like a ghost. Said nothing. Wrote everything. Let them whisper.
Because what could she say?
If she told them the truth, that it wasn’t a sponsor, just a manipulative mogul who couldn’t take no for an answer, who would believe her?
If she told them who he was?
It wouldn’t stop the rumors.
It would ignite them.
Back at Chairman Lee's house, things felt more like a twisted sitcom.
He offered her a bubble tea machine.
She unplugged it.
He invited her to karaoke night with his corgis.
She locked the door.
He left handmade "Hana's Welcome Survival Kit" baskets outside her room with neon notes:
"Rule #1: No crying. Or if you do, cry fashionably."
"Rule #2: Marshmallow can hear lies. Don’t lie."
"Rule #3: Just because you hate it doesn’t mean it's not fun."
She wanted to punch him.
But she didn’t.
Because the house was better.
It was stupid and loud and warm in a way the mansion never was.
But it wasn’t hers.
And it wasn’t what she signed up for.
That night, she lay in her oversized neon beanbag, watching the ceiling lights shift from blue to violet.
Marshmallow placed a mug of tea beside her with robotic precision.
"Thank you," she muttered.
He beeped once and left.
She stared at the tea for a long time.
This wasn’t hell.
But it wasn’t freedom either.
And if the price of survival was being misunderstood?
Then so be it.
She would play the sponsor girl. The troublemaker. The scandal.
And when do they let their guards down?
She’d show them exactly who they invited to the party.
Next: Will Hana take control of the rumor and weaponize it? Will the elite students dig deeper and find out who picked her up? And what happens when Chairman Lee's real identity gets leaked?
- Writer
