Choosing a Club (2)
Yeoncheong followed President Seoyun to change her clothes. When Yeoncheong hesitated, Seoyun broke the ice for her.
"Tough going, huh? How'd those two end up in the same class as you?"
"It's fine. Better than being ignored completely, honestly."
"Well, I'm glad you can look at it that way."
With the conversation loosened up, Yeoncheong asked what had been on her mind.
"Why are you going out of your way to help me like this?"
"No reason. I was curious about the transfer student myself."
"Because transfer students are rare?"
As if the answer went without saying, Seoyun shrugged her shoulders.
"I hear plenty of people wish they could get in here, but I've never once seen a transfer myself. There hasn't been a single one in, what, seven or eight years."
It wasn't wrong to say that Chairwoman Yurim had pulled some strings. Yeoncheong made a mental note to thank her properly sometime.
The mysterious little building attached to the back of the warehouse turned out to belong to the tennis club. Seoyun pulled out some spare clothes and handed them over, and Yeoncheong tilted her head as she took them.
"These aren't gym clothes."
"Huh? Who on earth walks around carrying spare gym clothes?"
Come to think of it, no one had ever mentioned gym clothes. Yeoncheong had simply assumed there would be some.
"I'll have a racket ready, so change and come on out."
With those words, Seoyun left ahead of her. Yeoncheong's hand stretched out too late, flailing at empty air.
This is not what I was expecting.
A snug sleeveless top and a tennis skirt. After a brief moment of deliberation, Yeoncheong hurried into them. It beat dawdling around only to have her friends or Seoyun walk in on her.
"Looks like the size fits."
Seoyun smoothed down Yeoncheong's outfit as she emerged from changing.
Hasol and Suyeon closed in on the slightly flustered Yeoncheong. The two of them seemed to be enjoying this far more than Yeoncheong herself was.
"It really suits you."
"Let's take a photo to remember it by."
Yeoncheong's eyes went wide at the sight of the smartphone camera, and she frantically waved her hands. Despite her disappointment at the vehement refusal, Hasol tucked the phone away again.
Sensing the awkward turn in the mood, President Seoyun stepped in.
"All right, all right. You're here for club trials, aren't you? Here, take this."
Yeoncheong accepted the spare racket Seoyun had set aside and joined the first-years on the court.
"Oh."
The tennis club trial, run under the guidance of PE teacher Hayeong, turned out to be a stage for redemption.
Several factors came into play here.
Her athletic ability fell short of her days as a boy, but it was unquestionably above average. And she ran herself ragged trying to make up for the humiliation of the futsal match.
When the teacher's and Seoyun's praise piled on top of that, a fired-up Yeoncheong's movements practically crackled with energy.
In the end, Yeoncheong was kept at the court, half against her will, until club time ended. As she stood gasping for breath after her first proper workout in ages, Seoyun came over.
"Good work out there. Not bad for a first timer?"
"Thank you."
Yeoncheong gave a slight bow. The borrowed tennis clothes were soaked through with sweat.
"I'll wash them and return them."
"You don't have to... but I'd appreciate it if you did."
President Seoyun flashed a smile, then gazed steadily into Yeoncheong's blue eyes.
"What... is it?"
"So? Want to join the tennis club?"
At the blunt sales pitch, Yeoncheong gave it serious thought. It had been genuinely fun, and the atmosphere wasn't bad either. But right now, she wasn't alone.
"No way!"
Hasol appeared from behind and pulled Yeoncheong over to her side and Suyeon's.
"There are still lots of clubs you haven't even looked at!"
This was news to Yeoncheong too, and she blinked wide-eyed. Seoyun scratched her cheek and asked.
"Hasol, I'm asking just in case, but... you're planning to check out all of them?"
"Obviously, mmph—!"
Suyeon hastily clamped a hand over Hasol's mouth, cutting her off.
"Don't just say it out loud like that!"
But the two syllables that had already slipped out were more than enough. Yeoncheong could see the road of suffering stretching out before her.
When these two put their minds to something, it happened. Yeoncheong's judgment was swift and precise.
She shook off Hasol and Suyeon, snatched up the bag she'd left nearby, and bolted. Her exhausted body registered the danger and pushed past its limits.
Hasol scrambled after her, while Suyeon and Seoyun watched Yeoncheong's retreating figure vanish in an instant.
"You never told her, did you?"
"Of course not. I figured she'd hate it."
"Then shouldn't you just... not do it?"
Suyeon shook her head firmly. That was not an option.
"Our homeroom teacher asked me to look after her. So she wouldn't end up drifting away from everyone."
"Really?"
"She didn't say why, but she told me adjusting would probably be hard for her."
"She doesn't seem to be having all that much trouble, though..."
"No. Yeoncheong... she doesn't have a single classmate's phone number saved. Not one."
Seoyun asked if that was really true, and Suyeon nodded with certainty. She'd already quietly asked around and confirmed it with the others.
"She probably thinks she's doing fine... but there's this quiet distance there, isn't there?"
"So that's why you and Hasol cling to her like that. Makes sense now."
Seoyun had a rough picture of what was going on. Just then, Hasol returned alone, apparently having lost track of Yeoncheong. At Seoyun's ah of realization, Suyeon's head whipped around.
"Her uniform's still in the clubroom, isn't it?"
"I'll take it. I'll bring it to her."
Seoyun grinned, as if a great idea had just struck her.
"No need. Just tell her to come pick it up. Unlike the tennis clothes, she'll have a spare uniform at home."
It was only after she got home that Yeoncheong realized she'd left her uniform behind. She debated going back for it, but soon shook her head. The unusual exertion, combined with her tension finally draining away, had fatigue crashing down on her all at once.
I'll just get it back at school tomorrow.
Yeoncheong tossed the tennis clothes into the washing machine and called it a day.
***
Arriving at school as dangerously late as ever, Yeoncheong focused all her energy on dodging Hasol and Suyeon. Now that she knew exactly what would happen if they caught her, it was the only rational move.
The moment the final bell rang, Yeoncheong shot out of the classroom like an arrow. Hasol and Suyeon scrambled over each other in pursuit. Watching the chase unfold, Teacher Jisu began to wonder if she'd made a mistake with her little request.
A head of blue hair peeked out cautiously into the hallway of the back building, where the third-year classrooms were. It was Yeoncheong, come to retrieve her uniform from Seoyun.
Coast is clear.
After confirming Hasol and Suyeon were nowhere in sight, Yeoncheong went looking for Seoyun. At her inquiry about the president, the third-year seniors kindly pointed her to the right classroom.
"Seoyun... unnie?"
Once again, Yeoncheong poked only her head through the doorway to check inside, and spotted the president. At the sound of her voice, Seoyun turned and greeted her warmly.
"There you are. Your uniform's right here."
Seoyun held up the shopping bag. The instant Yeoncheong set foot in the classroom, the door slid shut. Hasol and Suyeon, who'd been hiding behind it, revealed themselves.
They both knew she needed to go pick up her uniform. And Hasol and Suyeon, who knew the shorter route, had lain in wait.
Shock, surprise, and a whole mess of other emotions washed over Yeoncheong in a wave. Watching her, Seoyun felt a flicker of guilt and smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry. But they mean well, I promise. Cut them some slack."
With both arms pinned, Yeoncheong was dragged away by Hasol and Suyeon.
***
With a plan already drawn up by the two of them—one conspicuously drafted without its subject—Yeoncheong resumed the club tour. Once she realized escape was impossible, she'd surrendered half her will to fight.
Basketball and volleyball, which used the gymnasium. Academic clubs focused on math or science, and then the standard ones every school has—broadcasting club, library committee, and the like.
Running into her own classmates along the way, Yeoncheong crossed clubs off the visit list one by one.
At some point, only Suyeon remained at her side. Hasol had introduced her own club—the cooking club—and gotten snagged by one of its seniors.
"Never would've guessed Hasol was in the cooking club."
"It is a little surprising, right? Doesn't really match her image."
The longer two people spent together, the easier things became between them. It showed in the ease of Yeoncheong's voice now.
"Honestly, you being in that kind of club surprised me too."
Before long, the after-school club tours reached their final stop.
The Free Inquiry Club.
No matter how much a school encouraged club activities, there were limits to how many it could actually keep running.
That was why the Free Inquiry Club had been created. With one such club per grade, it encouraged each student's free, self-directed activities.
"It's not just a place to goof off, though. You have to submit your activity records regularly."
After giving a quick rundown of the club, Suyeon added one more thing.
"Not that it's my place to say, but there are barely any members, which is honestly kind of a plus."
More freedom to do as she pleased than in any other club. This was why Teacher Jisu, their homeroom teacher, had entrusted the club introduction to Suyeon in the first place.
***
By convention, the building housing the third-year classrooms and study hall was casually called the back building, but there was one more structure behind it, about two stories tall. It was the old annex, once used in the school's earlier days; after renovations, it now served as the club building.
"Suyeon. This isn't 'barely any members.' This is one member."
Yeoncheong, standing in the classroom the Free Inquiry Club used, demanded an explanation.
One person. In that entire spacious classroom, there was exactly one soul. And that one soul was Seoha, from her own class.
"Well... first years make up the biggest share here. Most people switch out once they figure out what they actually want to do."
Come to think of it, it made perfect sense.
In first year, when you have no idea what you want, you join the Free Inquiry Club by default. Then, one by one, you transfer out as you find your calling. By second year, hardly any students are left.
In a sense, the Free Inquiry Club was less a club than a temporary waystation for students. As the truth dawned on her, Yeoncheong's expression hardened.
"Well then, I'll be going."
Suyeon, who had been wiggling her index finger, seized Yeoncheong before she could turn away.
"Yeoncheong, it's way too boring here by myself. Join the club with me."
Clutching the hem of Yeoncheong's skirt and hanging on, Suyeon dropped all pretense. Only then did Yeoncheong remember how Suyeon always whisked her away the moment she decided a club looked decent.
Suyeon hadn't merely done Teacher Jisu a favor, either. She'd had a plan of her own all along.
"If you're bored, go to a different club!"
"None of the others let me do what I actually want to do."
Flustered, Yeoncheong tried to pry Suyeon off her skirt.
"You can just follow my plan! I've got volunteer work and all sorts of things lined up, so you won't be bored!"
Yeoncheong tore her eyes from Suyeon and pointed at Seoha, who was watching the whole spectacle with evident amusement over her book.
"Alone? Don't be ridiculous! Seoha's right there!"
"Seoha's in the student council. She's running for president this year anyway. She's only here right now because I asked her to be. As far as I'm concerned, I'm all by myself!"
A clash of spear against shield—one trying to break through, the other holding the line.
Behind that formidable shield, Yeoncheong finally raised the white flag. She had, after all, spent several days already helping out after school, and she figured she could always think it over and commit properly in the second semester.
"We're not going to do anything weird, right?"
"Of course not! Obviously!"
Suyeon beamed and nodded her head.