Chapter 98: Arts Festival (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 98: Arts Festival (2)
“Oh….”
Ji Nuri let out a soft whistle of admiration as she scanned the room. She was impressed that they had managed to snag a space much larger than she’d expected.
“Is this the club room?”
“Yes, we got permission to use a vacant practice room,” Ha Seo-rim replied, nodding as she followed her in.
She carefully set down the case she had brought and pulled out a sky-blue bass guitar. The other two members of the band also busied themselves with setting up their respective instruments.
Slurp, slurp.
Meanwhile, Ji Nuri seemed preoccupied with looking around while sipping on a carton of apple juice.
“Oh, the speakers aren’t bad.” She poked her head forward to inspect them.
“...Um.”
Ha Seo-rim finished tuning her bass and stole a quick glance at Nuri.
Should I wait?
“...Since this is our first time playing together, should we take it slow?”
At those words, Ji Nuri quickly sucked down the rest of her juice. Sluuuuurp—!
“No, no. Let’s get right into it.”
Ji Nuri promptly picked up her guitar.
Click-click-click-click—!
Following the drummer’s signal, the playful grin on her face gradually faded. Soon, a sharp, serious expression took its place.
….
Vrooooom——
“Whew….”
Ji Nuri exhaled a short breath and ran her long fingers down the strings.
The performance reached its end. The ensemble concluded with the volume gradually tapering off into silence.
She took a moment to catch her breath. Her dark brown hair was damp with sweat, clinging to her face.
“....”
Ha Seo-rim watched her and wiped her own sweat with a handkerchief.
She’s definitely good.
A pure sense of admiration welled up. Ji Nuri shone even brighter when she was playing an instrument.
Gulp, gulp—
“Phew...!”
“....”
Ha Seo-rim watched Ji Nuri chug from a water bottle to rehydrate. After a brief moment of tension, she finally spoke.
“Nuri Unni.”
“Yeah?”
Ji Nuri turned her head. She looked back with the same sharp, focused eyes she had while playing.
Ha Seo-rim’s shoulders flinched slightly. She still wasn't used to that look. Perhaps because of that, she felt even more nervous as she asked.
“Um... would you like to perform on stage for the Arts Festival with us?”
“Us?”
“Yes. I think one or two songs would be manageable.”
It was possible. Ha Seo-rim sincerely believed so. Even though they had only practiced together a few times, their chemistry with Ji Nuri’s playing was excellent. To be precise, it was likely because Nuri was doing a great job of matching their pace.
This was something she had already discussed with the other members—the idea of participating in the Arts Festival.
“That’s a bit….”
Ji Nuri fell into a brief moment of contemplation. Her expression suggested she wasn't particularly keen on the idea.
Ha Seo-rim quickly tried to appeal to her.
“For your information, I was thinking of these two songs.”
She tapped on her phone and showed the tracklist to Ji Nuri. They were songs she thought would suit Nuri’s taste—standard pop-rock tracks.
“...Ah, they’re pretty normal?” Nuri muttered softly upon seeing them.
Since she had only been playing anime songs lately, Ji Nuri had naturally assumed the ensemble pieces would be in that genre as well.
“Pardon?”
Not knowing that, Ha Seo-rim could only tilt her head in confusion.
Normal?
She wasn't sure what kind of "normal" Nuri meant. Did she mean the songs were too simple? Well, they weren't particularly difficult songs.
“Yes, they are quite standard,” Ha Seo-rim agreed.
“...Hmm.”
Ji Nuri’s eyes darted around as if she were weighing her options. Eventually, the corners of her mouth curled into a lopsided smirk. It was a smile tinged with a hint of mischief.
“Alright. Shall we give it a shot then?”
Ji Nuri accepted coolly. Unlike her hesitation just a moment ago, it was a refreshing "yes."
“Since we’re done with practice, want to go grab something to eat to celebrate our first session? My treat at the snack shop.”
““Oh—!””
The kids responded with excitement to Ji Nuri’s offer. Ha Seo-rim followed behind them silently.
She’s a good person, contrary to my first impression.
She often heard similar things about herself—that she looked prickly. However, Ji Nuri was slightly different in that regard. It felt like her exterior and interior were operating on completely different wavelengths.
“....”
That was why Ha Seo-rim found herself curious about Ji Nuri, especially now that they were in the same band. She cautiously opened her mouth.
“...Nuri Unni, how did you end up joining the Counseling Club?”
“Huh?” Nuri stopped eating and looked puzzled.
“Weren’t you originally in the Band Club?”
“Ah, that…?”
“If it’s uncomfortable to talk about—”
“No, it’s not exactly that. There were just some complicated issues.” Ji Nuri let out a chuckle, saying it was funny to think about now. “It’s all settled now. Hmm, as for why I left the Band Club and joined the Counseling Club….”
Ji Nuri continued as she twisted open a bottle cap.
“A close friend of mine is in the Counseling Club, so I just jumped in. I didn't really have anywhere else to go.”
A close friend?
“Do you mean Senior Lee Seung-ho…?”
“No?” Ji Nuri shrugged. “We weren't that close back then. We were just classmates.”
Did they get close that quickly, then?
“...Is there anything that makes you feel uncomfortable there?”
“Uncomfortable? Not really?” Ji Nuri tilted her head as if the question were strange. “A-young takes really good care of me, and Sol is just so cute.”
Ji Nuri grinned.
“And Seung-ho is really quick-witted. He takes care of things a step ahead of everyone else.”
“Ah….”
Ha Seo-rim nodded in understanding. She knew that feeling. There had been a few times at her part-time job where she felt something similar. Anyway, she was glad to hear everything was fine.
“...?”
Watching her, Ji Nuri tilted her head. She thought they were just acquaintances from the same middle school, but Seo-rim had empathized with her so naturally, as if she were quite familiar with him.
That struck Nuri as a bit odd.
The Counseling Club room.
Amidst the usual flow of time, Ji Nuri suddenly brought it up.
“A performance?” I questioned.
“Yeah.”
“You?” My eyes narrowed slightly.
During the last event, hadn't she made such a fuss because she was too embarrassed?
—‘No, that was different back then…!’
Realizing what my gaze implied, Ji Nuri whispered with a flushed face. She playfully thumped my shoulder.
“...What is it?”
Blink, blink. Lee Sol’s eyes shifted back and forth between the two of us. Ji Nuri let out an awkward laugh and changed the subject.
“...It’s nothing.”
“Hmm.”
“Right?” Ji Nuri nudged me with her elbow. It was a signal to agree quickly.
I just stood there, radiating an aura of complete ignorance.
“....”
At that, Lee Sol flopped back down onto the sofa.
—“Did something happen between those two…?”
Her Mini-Me collapsed face-down. Her suspicion clearly hadn't been dispelled.
“Ahem. Anyway, don't be too surprised when the time comes.” Ji Nuri cleared her throat.
—“I can’t wait to see the look on his face.”
Ji Nuri’s Mini-Me shook its shoulders. It seemed she was already looking forward to that moment. I watched her for a moment before asking.
“Do you even have time to practice?”
“It’s fine. If we just work on our coordination a bit more, I think we’ll be ready for the stage.”
“Is that so?”
Since I’m a complete amateur when it comes to music, I just took her word for it. It’s not like there’s an exam or a reward for participating; we’re just doing it for fun. Whether they were good or not didn't really matter that much.
“Right. We should get ready too.”
I stood up from my seat. I was talking about preparing for the Arts Festival. There wasn't much to prepare, but there’s a big difference between practicing once and not practicing at all.
“Let’s just try the board game once.”
Everyone moved to their positions. Shin A-young naturally took on the role of the customer, and I sat across from her.
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle—
I shuffled the cards. After dealing two cards each, I held one up against my forehead. And then—
—“A 5 came out.”
I could hear the Mini-Me’s voice in real-time, but for now, I had to use the trick. I shifted my gaze behind Shin A-young.
“What did we say the trick was again?”
At my question, Ji Nuri trotted over. She stopped a short distance behind Shin A-young’s back.
“Once the game starts, I’ll stand here naturally and sneak a peek at the cards from behind.” Ji Nuri poked her head out. She glanced at Shin A-young’s cards as if demonstrating. “And then I’ll give you a signal.”
“...And how are you going to give the signal?”
“If the card is a 1? Then, I blink my left eye once.” Ji Nuri moved her eyelids up and down. “Now.”
She gestured with her palm as if telling me to try it. The one playing the assistant role was Lee Sol.
“...Ugh.”
Lee Sol tried to blink one eye, but her eyelids just trembled because she couldn't do it well.
Squeeeeze—!
She tried her best, but she just ended up squeezing both eyes shut. Some people just can't wink.
“....”
Shin A-young stood up slightly from her seat and asked, “...Should I do it?”
“Yeah, that would be better.”
I gave a small nod. The assistants swapped. Now, the person sitting across from me was Lee Sol. She looked a bit sulky.
“If it’s a 2, twice.” Shin A-young blinked her eyes twice.
“Mhm.” I nodded.
Good. With this—
“...Wait, then what about the number 10?”
I stopped mid-action. I realized the flaw in this trick. I looked up. Shin A-young had her fists clenched, desperately rapid-firing winks with all her might.
—“Hwaaaah…!”
Her Mini-Me’s facial muscles were twitching uncontrollably. She did fine up to 5, but from then on, her eyelids were fluttering so much I couldn't even tell how many times she’d blinked. The higher the number, the harder it became.
“Hey, hey, this isn't going to work.” I put the cards back down.
“Hmm.” Ji Nuri let out a short groan as she watched.
“...Then, how about using hand signals like in baseball?” Shin A-young suggested as she rubbed her eyes.
I asked back while tidying the cards. “Baseball?”
“Yeah. Left ear for 1, right ear for 2... something like that?”
“Oh? That’s not bad.”
Seriously, it wasn't a bad idea. With that, we could convey the information while acting naturally, and even high numbers would be easy to represent.
—“Hehe.”
Shin A-young’s Mini-Me curled its lips into a proud smile.
—“...She’s only picky with me.”
Ji Nuri’s Mini-Me pouted its lips.
...Well, then you should have come up with a good idea.
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Ha Seo-rim
+ It's hard to get a medium size... there's no "just right."