NOVPUB‘Did you really want to pull an April Fool’s prank that badly?’
During last year’s April Fool’s incident, when the assassination attempt on the descendants happened, Hwang Ji-ho had cooperated, agreeing to the prank as part of a deal.
Without that "prank-like contract," the descendants and the Tojok clan would have been in grave danger.
Because of the incident, they couldn’t carry out the prank as planned and had to postpone it to the following year, yet Hwang Ji-ho still remembered it.
Not only had he remembered it, but even the proposal at that time was still fresh in his mind. Did the old tiger envy the younger humans playing pranks at school?
Regardless, a promise is a promise, and cooperation was decided.
"This prank will be done by me. It shouldn’t end as just a prank."
"......."
Kim Shin-rok, as a teacher yet holding the position of a descendant, couldn’t say much and kept silent.
Instead of his son, Jeok-ho spoke up.
"Hwang-ho, my son has been suffering. Please, take it easy."
"Then you, Jeok-ho, help smooth things out so that Kim Shin-rok doesn’t suffer."
Seeing the chairman with such a mindset, it seemed like this year’s April Fool’s would be chaotic as well.
Hwang Ji-ho, having already made some plans, enthusiastically chattered on with a plethora of ideas, many of which seemed quite outlandish.
There was one idea from Hwang Ji-ho’s plans that particularly appealed to me.
‘If he goes through with this, Hwang Ji-ho’s money and abilities will certainly be drained, but a lot of people will be pleased.’
After all, the old tiger’s constant showing off of his wealth and power wasn’t something new, so it would be fine.
If we were going ahead with his plans, I had a suggestion of my own.
I added a few words to Hwang Ji-ho’s proposal, and he immediately agreed.
"Hahahaha! Jo Yi-shin, I’m glad to see your enthusiasm. I’m impressed that you didn’t forget our promise."
Once the main outline of the plan was set, everything else followed smoothly.
Hwang Ji-ho, satisfied, spoke.
"I’ve said enough. Everyone should go and rest now."
It felt as though he was talking to a child.
Since the old man was indeed much older, I decided to humbly accept his request.
Leaving the reception room and heading to the living room, I found Eun-ho’s descendants, who I thought had gone to bed early.
They were surrounded by holograms, all of which seemed to be pictures taken at the theme park.
It seemed they were showing San-ryeong the pictures taken today.
"That’s great... I wish I could go too..."
San-ryeong muttered, staring at the holograms intently.
Now more tangible than before, San-ryeong had the silhouette of a child.
It looked pitiful seeing him, resembling the youngest, Eun Jae-ho, acting like that.
Originally, I had wanted to take San-ryeong along, but due to his position, it wasn’t possible.
"You can’t maintain your form if you move too far from Cheon-ik Mountain, can you? If you want to go, you should start gaining strength."
"Next time, let’s go together, San-ryeong!"
San-ryeong, unlike Baek-ho-gun, can move more freely.
He couldn’t accompany this time because his strength hadn’t fully recovered yet.
Baek-ho-gun, who had been quietly observing, spoke coldly.
"You seem to want to do a lot, but you’re neglecting your training. I’ll increase the number of training sessions so you can join next time."
"Ugh! No!"
Even though Baek-ho-gun made time for training, San-ryeong protested.
At this rate, I wasn’t sure when he would build his strength.
Grrooo.
The Angel also seemed exasperated, shaking its head in disapproval.
San-ryeong, as if making an excuse, spoke in a faint voice.
"I feel like gaining strength is dangerous..."
What did he mean by "dangerous"?
Was he implying that fighting with Baek-ho-gun would be dangerous for him?
But there’s always some risk when training.
If one is afraid of pain or minor injuries, they’ll never improve their skills.
‘Or is there another reason?’
San-ryeong muttered something more, but his words were unclear, as if he couldn’t properly organize his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Hwang Ji-ho hurriedly urged everyone to go to bed, and the group dispersed.
San-ryeong was the last to remain in the living room, staring at the theme park photos.
"What did you talk about in the reception room?"
"I tried to listen, but I wanted to talk about the theme park with San-ryeong first, so I couldn’t."
On the way to the guest room, the descendants asked.
I thought San-ryeong could have just joined later in the reception room, but the thoughtfulness in the descendants was endearing.
Over the course of feeding San-ryeong some food-like substance, I had grown attached to him.
I briefly shared with the descendants the things from the reception room that seemed appropriate for them to hear or take interest in.
The descendants showed great interest in the April Fool’s Day topic.
"I heard Eungwang High's April Fool’s Day is pretty extravagant. Especially the 0-Class, who caused a lot of trouble. We definitely want to do something too."
Eun I-ho said eagerly.
Our class had spent last year’s April Fool’s quietly.
When I said our class hadn’t done anything, Eun Seo-ho apologetically responded.
"Yi-shin-hyung and Hwang-ho didn’t get to do the event because they were saving me last year... I hope we can have a good April Fool’s Day this year."
"It’s okay. Even if you hadn’t had your event, our class would have passed quietly."
Even after telling the truth, sincere Eun Seo-ho continued to apologize.
To change the mood, I asked what the 1st-year 0-Class was preparing for this year’s April Fool’s.
The descendants, with mischievous expressions, replied.
"For us? We’re still in meetings, but it seems like it’s almost decided!"
"Really? Eun-ha seems to agree with the idea..."
Eun-ho agreed too?
I didn’t expect that Eun-ho would participate this time.
Since the class was looking forward to it, perhaps as vice-president, Eun-ho had joined in the event planning.
I wondered what they were planning to do, but since it seemed like a surprise event, I decided not to ask.
The day before April Fool’s Day, a certain video was released.
The video was posted and quickly gained immense views, even becoming newsworthy.
The video turned out to be an advertisement for Hwang Myung Theme Park featuring Kwon Je-in.
The content of the advertisement was as follows:
In an empty, rundown theme park, Kwon Je-in walks through the desolate space. At the central castle, Kwon Je-in stops and begins to play an ethereal violin, causing fountains to rise, and the water droplets spread across the entire park.
And then, everything starts to change.
‘The theme park’s theme song was composed by Kwon Je-in himself, right?’
The whimsical melody, expressing the joy of visiting a theme park, filled with adventure and dreams, transformed the scenery.
The lights and colors of the park returned, and the attractions were revamped. The ground and blocks were replaced, and the silhouettes of the tiger mascots appeared in the distance. When the performance ended, the following phrase appeared:
[A Fantasia that Starts Like a Lie]
As that phrase disappeared, the grand opening of Hwang Myung Theme Park was announced for April 1st.
The advertisement, highlighting the park’s new owner and its new beginning, garnered significant attention.
Kwon Je-in’s performance and the park’s vibrant new attractions stood in stark contrast to when Namgoong Mun-sang managed it.
‘Kwon Je-in doesn’t usually appear in ads, so his rare appearance became a big talking point.’
The Eternal Lake had quite a debt to the Hojok clan, and Kwon Je-in accepted the ad offer after getting inspiration while visiting the park.
As Hwang Ji-ho explained the process, he jokingly said, "If you permit, Yi-shin, I might make you the next model..." but I didn’t engage with that.
If they want a high schooler as an ad model, they should go for it themselves.
Despite Kwon Je-in’s rare appearance, there were several noteworthy aspects.
April 1st wasn’t a weekend, yet they chose that date for the opening, which attracted further attention.
‘The Hojok clan probably realized Eun-ho had descendants, found them, and met them on April 1st. That’s probably why they chose this date for the opening.’
The love for their descendants from the Hojok clan was clear, starting from the date choice.
For now, the advertisement was well-received, but it was still uncertain if the theme park would succeed.
Many people still had trauma from the "Seokchon Lake tragedy" and felt uneasy about visiting theme parks.
Even if the park ran at a loss, Hwang Ji-ho wouldn’t go bankrupt, but the descendants seemed to want to see a bustling park. I hoped things went well for them.
As the school’s April Fool’s Day event and the theme park’s opening approached, cherry blossoms bloomed throughout Eungwang High.
‘I’d be able to enjoy the cherry blossoms without a care if I didn’t have so much to think about.’
But there were many students who couldn’t smile at the sight of cherry blossoms.
To high school students on the Korean peninsula, cherry blossoms weren’t just flowers.
They marked the beginning of a particular season.
“What do I do now? I’m done for.”
Sitting with his back to the window, where cherry petals were falling, Mang Hyo-don looked like he hadn’t slept well.
His desk was littered with broken pencil shavings and empty notebooks, with textbooks full of equations.
