Chapter 55 - 55: His Love Is What I Needed
Marie drove the Bentley going to the Academic District of the City. Three prestigious Universities were neighbors in this district.
She could not recall if she did submit an application in this University. She could still remember that she had not received an acceptance letter from this school. Therefore, she was sure that she didn't submit any application in this university.
But if she will like this school, she will do submit an application if the need arise in the future.
They had passed by a series of shoping malls before they reached the Academic District.
"Are you looking for Universities to teach, Mistress?" Marie curiously asked her. All she knew was that she's a freelance photographer.
Don't get the wrong idea. EL was very famous among the modeling companies and big magazine companies in Hollywood who frequently hired her for photoshoots. They loved her shots and her work. But Kim Eunji was not hungry for fame. She didn't want to be on the spotlight and even asked those companies to hide her identity and make her team to take all the credits instead.
It was when she was invited to be in a fashion week that she got the chance to work in public. That was like her debut in public. And she was praised by her work. She was wearing her eyepatch because her eye turned red and she got a cold back then so she was wearing a mask when she was interviewed by the media.
She then used that disguise when she's out in the public as EL ever since.
That's why no one had seen her bare face after that. Those who were lucky enough to see her face would say she should be a model and working on the spotlight than working behind the scenes.
But those models whom she had worked with especially women and happened to see her bare face would comment that they would lose their job should EL shifted her career into modeling.
"I would say that this is the first time that you started a conversation with me." Kim Eunji spoke calmly.
Marie was silent. She didn't expect Kim Eunji to be this straightforward.
"I'm just curious Mistress." Marie awkwardly replied.
"To answer your question, I'll be a student and not a teacher or professor. I could not remember what happened this past year that made me come up with this decision. I could say it's not a wrong decision either." Kim Eunji replied nonchalantly.
"I know you don't like me. And I'm not forcing you to like me either. But I like you because of your attitude." Kim Eunji added.
"Weird." Marie mumbled which was enough for her to hear but Kim Eunji could hear her too.
"I know." Kim Eunji replied that made Marie to be shocked and suddenly stepped into the accelerator and almost hit a pedestrian. Good thing she immediately pulled the hand pedal by reflex.
"That was close." Kim Eunji casually remarked.
"Yeah." Marie was still in shock. She then looked at Kim Eunji with a hateful gaze.
"Good. I don't need you to treat me as your Mistress while we're here."
"Eh?"
"Isn't this your University as well?"
"How did you know?"
"Your bracelet. Isn't it the same with the school's logo?" Kim Eunji then pointed her fingers at the big logo at the entrance of the building.
"And, you're on your senior year." Kim Eunji added which made Marie felt a chill down her spine.
"How did you know?" Her voice was almost shaking.
"You see...Nathan told me beforehand." Kim Eunji lied.
She did do some background check on the people who had been living with her in the house. It's not that she didn't trust Nathan. She just wanted to make sure.
Kim Eunji then tied her hair in a ponytail and arranged her fringe in accordingly. She then wore her eyeglasses and her mask. She then looked at her left hand and suddenly paused.
The ring would surely bring an unwanted attention if seen in public. She didn't mind wearing it earlier during her appointment with Dr. Lao since the latter knew the reason behind the ring. The situation was now different.
Getting a lot of attention would only bring trouble. And she had been trying her best to have a peaceful life since then. Therefore, she opened her bag and took a maroon pouch which she had been carrying wherever she go. The pouch contained two velvet box, one rectangular in shape and the other one was the familiar velvet box. She took the smaller velvet box and opened it. She then took the ring which was kept inside it.
Inside the box was the promise ring that Nathan had given her on the morning before he formally proposed that night.
Kim Eunji then decided to remove her engagement ring and swapped it with the promise ring. After all, though both had a stone on top, the other one had a simpler yet elegant design compared to the other one.
She hoped that Nathan would not be mad if he found out what she just did. She then kept the box and placed it back in the pouch then returned the pouch inside her bag.
Then as she felt like she's ready, Kim Eunji decided to open the door and walked out of the car.
On the other hand, Marie felt relieved. She looked at Kim Eunji and thought that she was not a simple woman. She was lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize Kim Eunji had already went out of the car.
She immediately looked for an empty slot in the open ground parking lot to park the car and immediately hurried to follow Kim Eunji.
"Mistress wait!" Marie called out but Kim Eunji did not listen. Good thing the entrance of the school was empty when Marie called her out. Kim Eunji thought it would be troublesome if someone heard her.
Marie was catching her breath when she finally caught up with Kim Eunji.
"That's not where the Registrar's Office is. This way!"
"So, are you going to give me a quick tour? Is it what this means?" Kim Eunji teased.
"It's my job."
"No. When we're at school, it won't be your job. You can continue your studies freely. I won't be a burden. I promise."
"But Master Bai will scold me if he'll find out I'm not watching over you."
"What can he do? I don't want to hinder your academic development or bring you trouble just because of me."
'At least she's sensitive enough to know my feelings.' Marie thought but still she still don't like Kim Eunji.
"And please don't address me as Mistress here. Can you do that for me?" Kim Eunji added.
Though she could not understand why, she subconsciously nodded her head in agreement.
Imperial University was considered as the school for the elite. Therefore it was not unusual to hear students calling other students formally given their family status and standings in the circle.
It was an unspoken rule that unless you belong in the same circle, you should address the person as Young Miss or Lady and Young Master. Only students who belong in the same circle could address each other by names.
With Marie as her guide, she was brought to the Registrars office to inquire with their degree programs and was given an Exam to answer.
It was a pre-evaluation to test if she could pass the standard grade that the school had set for their aspiring students to reach or surpass on their entrance exam.
The exam had three sets. One consists of purely theories of the general subjects. The second was to test the student's language skills especially in Mandarin and English. There were a couple of items for foreign languages.
The third set was more on abstract, mechanical, computer languages and Mathematics.
Kim Eunji was given two hours to answer it all. There were a total of a hundred items per set. Therefore, Kim Eunji had to answer a total of three hundred items in two hours. She was given an answer sheet and a pen by the examiner.
She was not alone when she took the exam though. She had a few co-examinee with her whom just like Kim Eunji, decided to enroll on Imperial University in the last minute.
After an hour and forty-five minutes passed by, the examiner returned to the room to check on them. She thought that all of them had left the room but to her surprise, Kim Eunji was still inside.
Kim Eunji on the other hand was just looking at the sky by the window. It looked like she was in a deep thought.
The examiner felt pity for Kim Eunji and the rest who had taken the questions with her.
On a regular basis, students were given three hours to answer the three sets. But since they were late, it was reduced to two hours. As the person in-charged in the Registrar, she had seen students struggling in answering the exam. Therefore she thought Kim Eunji was having a hard time as well in answering the sets and had just given up just like the other applicants who were with her earlier.
As she entered the room, Kim Eunji stood up and submitted her answer sheet and the questionnaire.
Kim Eunji then walked out of the room as if nothing happened. She was told to come back at exactly one o'clock to have her results.
Kim Eunji decided to take her phone and looked at the time. It was already 12:30 noon time. Kim Eunji suddenly felt hungry. She sighed when she realized she left the smoothie that Mahordomo Lucy had prepared in the car.
She suddenly felt tired to go out and take it. She just decided to kill the time by checking on the Stock Market to see the trend. She smiled underneath the mask when she saw that it was promising. She made some clicks and nodded her head after she was satisfied with the outcome of her betting on the Stock Market.
Kim Eunji decided to look for a place to sit while she'd be waiting. Kim Eunji found the Waiting Lounge almost empty, therefore she decided to get inside.
The few students who were chatting with their friends who happened to be the same aspiring students who was with Kim Eunji inside the examination room earlier suddenly became quiet once Kim Eunji came in.
Since Kim Eunji's did not remove her eye glasses and mask even during answering the exam, her face was not really visible to them.
Kim Eunji looked for the perfect spot where she could rest for the mean time. She was unbothered by some of the students who were secretly looking at her. Though it's Summer break, there were a few students who decided to enroll in advanced lessons as preparation for the upcoming semester.
Imperial University was also a Boarding School and students must live in their dorms. They were only allowed to live outside the dormitories during Winter and Summer breaks. Taking advance lessons were not compulsory as long as the student could maintain a passing grade of eighty-five percent every subject.
Before she could even sit on the empty couch by the glass window, a panting Marie came in bringing the tumbler in her hand.
She then rushed towards Kim Eunji and gave the tumbler to her.
"Aunt called and reminded me to give your lunch."
"Thanks." Kim Eunji took the tumbler from Marie's hand and then removed the lid.
It's then that Kim Eunji realized that she was still wearing her mask. She then decided to remove her mask and decided to sip on the straw attached to the tumbler.
The students who were familiar and knew Marie was shock when they saw this interaction.
Marie was known to dislike someone from a rich background. And now, she's talking with the woman with the YSL bag that costs almost $2000.00. That was what on their thought.
"Maybe that woman was just like her and her bag was a fake. Or given by a rich relative. Who knows?" One student gossiped.
"It is possible. That woman's outfit looked simple, too." Her friend agreed.
"No. That bag is real. My mom had bought one just recently." The third person in their circle argued.
"Maybe, that bag was a gift by an ugly and old man for her. Look, she's very beautiful and I wouldn't be surprised if she's using that beauty to charm the rich and mature men." She added.
"Oh, do you mean she's a sugar baby? Ew! That's disgusting!"
While they were gossiping the subject of their gossips was enjoying her smoothie.
"Are you just going to let them be?" Marie asked her.
"Pardon?" Kim Eunji innocently asked back.
"They're deliberately gossiping about you in broad daylight. Aren't you going to defend yourself?" Marie explained.
"Tell me Marie, why should I be bothered by it when it's not true." Kim Eunji answered in a tone which was loid enough for everyone in the room to hear.
Knowing that they were already busted, the gossip girls turned it down a bit.
"Even if it's not true, their painting you a wrong image already."
"Marie. Why does it sound like your concerned with me?" Kim Eunji teased her.
"I'm...not. I'm worried that this would implicate Master." Marie said in a lower tone that only Kim Eunji and her could hear.
"Marie, if your thinking that I'm with Nathan because I am after his money, well I'm not." She answered in the same volume.
Kim Eunji had already expected this time to come in the future.
"I can support myself with my material needs. His love is all I need from him. Nothing more, nothing less." Kim Eunji added.
"Having a beautiful face does not mean one should go out and seduce men for materialistic benefits. It's not in my dictionary to rely on men for material things. I was given with a complete set of hands and feet, eyes, ears, nose and brain. Therefore, I can do what a man can." Kim Eunji this time addressed the gossip girls.
"I bought this bag after I received my first pay check." Kim Eunji added.