Chapter 675

He realized that he had left his textbook at home. He opened his bag just in case but the only thing he saw was a script and a novel. He had forgotten to bring his textbook, which he had taken home over the summer holidays because of homework. Having no choice, he stood up. He was sitting right in front of the teacher’s desk, and the Korean teacher always checked for textbooks. There were two reasons he had to go borrow it.

He left through the back door and peeked his head through the front door of the next cla.s.s over. He was planning on borrowing it from Daemyung, who was sitting right in front of him.

“What are you doing here?”

Kang Sora, the junior from the film production club, was standing in front of Daemyung’s desk. When they met eyes, she waved her arms in the air in a flurry before hiding a notebook behind her back. Daemyung, who was sitting down, also feigned ignorance like he was caught stealing.

“That looks suspicious.”

“Wh-what is?”

“You’re even stuttering too.”

“That’s because you’re looking at us in a strange way, s...o...b..e. Why did you come to another person’s cla.s.s so suddenly? You startled me.”

“I can say the same thing to you. Why would a first year poke her head around a 3rd year cla.s.sroom, not to mention that it’s the electronic engineering cla.s.s[1]?”

He was now curious about the contents of the notebook she hid behind her. When he took a step close to Sora, Sora took a step back. He walked another step. She went back another step.

“Park Daemyung. Are you two-timing?”

“NO!” Daemyung shouted as he stood up.

Ever since he started exercising, ‘burly’ fit him better than ‘fatty’, so when he stood up, the desks, which had a short distance between each other, made loud noises and became disoriented, with Daemyung’s desk even falling over. They got the attention of everyone in the cla.s.s. Daemyung smiled awkwardly and quickly straightened up the desks.

“If they fight, I bet 500 won that Han Maru wins.”

“I bet a bread on Park Daemyung.”

Everyone giggled and gathered round, but when Daemyung said that it was nothing much, they soon lost interest and scattered. Dowook and Dojin also looked at them suspiciously before returning to their seats.

“I was startled because you acted like that. It’s not like there’s actually something going on between you two, right?”

“N-no, there isn’t. I wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Maru-s...o...b..e! Daemyung-s...o...b..e definitely might be kind, but he’s not my style, you know? You made me mad, sheesh.”

Daemyung sighed in relief after hearing those words.

“Fine, I’ll stop. But if it’s not like that, then what were you two really up to? It looks like it’s related to me since you’re so startled. If it’s something like a surprise party, it’s fine even if you tell me now.”

“Do you think we’re doing this because we want to have a party? Anyway, Maru-s...o...b..e, you should just stay out of it. We’ll tell you everything when the time comes.”

“When the time comes? So you two are preparing something, huh? I wonder what it is. If you’re planning ideas in a notebook, there’s not much you should be able to do. Ah, now that I think about it, you came looking for Daemyung last time during practice, didn’t you? Looks like it requires a lot of work, huh?”

“Stop there. Don’t think about it anymore and just wait. They say good things come to those who wait. It’s nothing harmful to you, okay?”

Sora spoke firmly and loudly as she looked straight at him. Maru felt like he would get scratched by her if he kept interfering. Maru looked towards Daemyung.

“Can’t you just trust us and wait for us?” Daemyung pleaded.

Maru nodded right away. It was the words of a friend he trusted. There was no reason to disagree.

“What the? You grinned deviously and tried to pry more when I asked you to wait.”

“Your credit rating is pretty low.”

“And Daemyung-s...o...b..e’s is high?”

“Higher than yours at least.”

“Daemyung-s...o...b..e! Is that something to laugh about? Your business partner just got disdained.”

“Ah, sorry. Maru, you should trust Sora as well. I’ll tell you everything once what we’re preparing is complete.”

Maru looked at the notebook that poked out of Sora’s waist. Sora frowned and hid it even further.

“I don’t know what it is, but if you’re doing it in secret, hide it well.”

“I get it, so get going already. We still have things to talk about.”

“Fine, fine. The hindrance will go now.”

He waved his hand, left the cla.s.s, and took two steps before he was reminded of the purpose of his visit.

“Uhm, can I borrow your textbook?”

“Ah, s...o...b..e, please!” Sora shouted.

* * *

“The preliminaries, especially your first performance, will be the hardest. However, you guys managed to pa.s.s that. Now, the only thing left is for you to go up on the stage, which you have gotten used to, and play around to your heart’s content. 1st of September. That’s the date of the regional finals. Once you pa.s.s that as well, you’ll go to Seoul.”

“Yes!”

Miso clapped to signal the end.

“You worked hard today, everyone. Until the finals, Aram will lead the practice. From now on, don’t do useless things like trying to change up your acting. Focus on bringing out the details. Check your movement paths as well. It’s not good to push yourself in practice just because the compet.i.tion is coming up, but it’s even worse to just let go of it completely. Just do what you have always done. You get what I mean, right?”

At Miso’s ‘that’s it for today’, Maru picked up the indigo-colored jersey that he had taken off during practice. The juniors, who had been standing nervously, all sat down as though they had lost their tension. They had been practicing for five hours, from five to ten, without rest in order to get back the tension they lost after the preliminaries. Those that weren’t partic.i.p.ating in the play this time were preparing for the winter compet.i.tion, so they were just as exhausted as well. Maru encouraged everyone before following Miso out of the hall.

“I heard you were gonna start shooting soon,” Miso said as she walked down the stairs.

She wasn’t looking back. Maru spoke as he looked at her back.

“Yes, there are two days left.”

“You should strike the iron while it’s still hot. If it’s someone Ganghwan introduced to you, then that person is pretty trustworthy. I can’t say for sure since I only met that producer a couple of times, but she definitely wasn’t the arrogant type who would get boasty just because she got to be at the helm. She’s worth trusting.”

“Of course I’ll place my trust in her. If I don’t trust the producer, who else would I trust?”

“That’s not always the case, but well, I guess you’ll be fine by yourself.”

He followed Miso all the way to the parking lot. Miso opened the trunk of her car and gave him a box. It was some snacks and drinks.

“Eat it with the others.”

“You should eat with us.”

“Hey, I’m still a newlywed. I don’t have time to play around with kids. Also, no matter how close we become, it’ll be uncomfortable to have a superior nearby. Console them well, especially the kid that made a mistake during the preliminaries. Give him some advice. At your age, it’s better for someone your age to tell them something rather than having an adult say it.”

“You should tell Aram that. She’s the president.”

“Aram is - well, how should I put it - good at controlling a group but is quite awkward when it comes to managing the individuals. She’s like me. She ditched any sort of the delicate side of women.”

“I wholly agree with that.”

“Do you wanna get hit after all this time?”

“I want to live a long life, so no thanks.”

“If you do, then watch that mouth.”

Miso smiled and got in the car. He was waiting for the car to depart when the door to the pa.s.senger seat suddenly opened.

“Han Maru.”

“Yes?”

“You look good these days.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I did like you when you were like a precise calculator, but it’s not bad to see your humane side like this. I don’t know what brought about that change of heart, but you should enjoy your emotions when you’re young so you won’t regret it when you’re older. I don’t need to explain, do I?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good luck with the shoot. Once you become used to the schedule, you should leave some time. Let’s drink together with my husband.”

“Isn’t that a little wrong? I mean, a teacher and his student drinking in the same spot.”

“Like h.e.l.l you care about that sort of stuff.”

“I guess that’s true. Watch out on your way home. I’ll get these to the others.”

“Alright, thanks.”

He looked at the car disappearing into the distance before returning to the hall. No one said anything until the guys resting by the wall and on the floor all suddenly shouted ‘food’ before rus.h.i.+ng over.

“Don’t forget to thank the instructor later.”

“Yes!”

“Also, Aram, see me for a sec.”

He called Aram and stood a little away from the rest.

“The instructor seemed worried about Jincheol. Daemyung and I will see him, but you should give him some care as well. You should probably tell him not to get traumatized since anyone becomes nervous if they go up on stage.”

“I was planning to do more practice today anyway.”

“Even more?”

“Yes. Just today, though. Practice is the best method for overcoming your nervousness. I told everyone about it.”

“You should spare the ones who are tired.”

“Maru-s...o...b..e, it’s them who told me that we should do more practice. It looks like they felt good pa.s.sing the preliminaries in 1st place. They’re rearing to take the grand prize, so I can’t exactly not help them as their senior.”

Aram laughed reliably. Maru nodded.

“Alright then, work hard.”

“Are you going to go, s...o...b..e?”

“Do you want me to stay behind?”

“I just tried saying it. I heard that your shoot starts soon. You should look after yourself then. You should become big and shoot commercials.”

“You’re going way too far with that.”

“I thought that’s how it went though?” Aram said in a prankster manner.

* * *

When he was dusting off the water from his hair after a shower, he got a call. He put the towel around his neck and picked up his phone.

“What nice timing. I just left the bathroom.”

Gaeul’s laughter could be heard over the phone.

-Really? That’s good. Are you home right now? Didn’t you say you were gonna be late because you’re looking after their practice?

“That’s just until yesterday. I should look after myself now. I don’t wanna be all powerless from the first shoot.”

-Ah, right. You had a shoot, didn’t you? Looks like you must be busy if you’re going to do it alongside New Semester.

“It’s okay since I don’t have a lot of scenes in New Semester anymore. It’d be a pain if the schedules overlap on the weekend though. How’s practice these days? Is it going well?”

-I’m doing it to the death. Oh, right. I had a reason for calling you.

“What is it?”

-I’m shooting a commercial.

“Really?”

Maru threw the wet towel into the laundry basket. As the towel entered the basket, Gaeul spoke.

-It’s a commercial for a company, and I’m a running girl.

“Wow, you’re doing much better than me. Is it solo?”

-Of course not. I think a lot of people are partic.i.p.ating in it. I’m one of them.

“Still, that’s a good thing. Did you take an audition or something?”

-I’m doing it on the introduction of my teacher.

“Looks like the one teaching you looks at you in a good light. Is it gonna be on TV?”

-It’s an internet ad apparently. The ones you see before each video.

“Tell me about it if you shoot it. I’ll look it up.”

-I feel like I’ll be running all day but not even appear for a single second though. I mean, ads are short, aren’t they? But still, I’m quite excited since this is the first time I’m doing something for money. Though, it’s not much.

“It’s not the money that’s important, it’s the experience. Make yourself known to everyone there. Who knows? The advertisers might look for you again.”

-No way.

“I can hear the excitement in your words.”

-Was it obvious?

Maru laughed. Bada peeked out the door asking what it was. He waved his hand as though he was chasing away a fly.

“When’s the shoot?”

-This weekend.

“So it"s good news and bad news.”

-Sorry. It’s been a while since we met too.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Right now, work is what’s important. Also, both you and I are busy because of acting club.”

-How’s next week?

“Well, I’ll have to get there to be sure, but right now I’m okay with Wednesday and Thursday.”

-I have lessons then.

“Ah, right. So our time is crossing again. If I knew it would be like this, I should’ve seen you more during the holidays.”

-You were held up with the acting club throughout the whole vacation. You pa.s.sed the preliminaries, so you should do your best there too.

“You don’t wanna see me?”

-Not that much.

“How disappointing. Bye.”

After a bit of silence, Gaeul started giggling first.

-We should go on a date sometime. It’s been a while since we last watched a play together.

“Alright. You must be tired, so get some rest. You should’ve gone to Seoul today too, right?”

-Yeah, thanks. Thank you for your work too. Also, good luck with the shoot.

“Good night.”

After hanging up, Maru stretched his arms out before standing up. When he had a look at the time, he saw that it hadn’t even been 3 minutes since they started the call.

“Well, both of us are busy after all.”

Maru yawned before going inside his room.

[1] The engineering cla.s.s doesn’t have any girls.

KTLChamber"s Thoughts

Sooo... what happened to the film festival?

Editor"s Note:

Yikes. Sub 3 minute call between ppl dating. I smell a break up.