Chapter 5
chapter 5
Club (1)
---
When I got home, my head, which had been heated from stress, finally began to cool down a little.
Only then did everything from earlier start to settle clearly in my mind.
— “...Hey, you bastard. I said I won’t tell.”
That included the memory of me swearing.
Drip— a bit of sweat ran down.
I might have gone a little overboard.
“Did you screw something up?”
It was my little sister, lying on the sofa.
She glanced at me and asked.
“No.”
It would hurt my pride to just admit it, so I calmly denied it.
“Doesn’t look like ‘no’ to me. Your face says otherwise.”
She tapped her foot while looking at her phone, yet still hit the mark perfectly with a casual expression.
‘…How does she figure things out so well when she can’t even read minds?’
She’s my sister, but the more I look at her, the harder she is to understand.
“Try to control that temper of yours sometimes.”
I couldn’t exactly deny that.
“…Yeah.”
I gave a short reply and went into my room.
I don’t know.
I’ll deal with tomorrow when it comes.
---
“…What’s going on this early in the morning.”
As soon as I arrived at class, I saw students busily moving around.
Everyone was dragging their desks, rearranging them in an orderly fashion.
“They changed seats by student number. The teacher posted it on the board.”
“Really?”
At the words of someone who looked like a future class president, I headed to the board.
Sure enough, there was a sheet showing the new seating arrangement.
“Let’s see… back by the window…”
As I turned in that direction, I saw some familiar silhouettes.
‘…You guys again?’
Shin Ayoung, Ji Nuri, Lee Sol.
The trio from my group project.
The seats were arranged by number, and coincidentally, numbers 16, 17, 18, and 19 were them and me.
Maybe it was because our surnames lined up alphabetically.
“……”
Well, nothing I can do.
I dragged my desk over there.
“Hi, Seungho.”
Seeing me, Shin Ayoung waved with her usual expression.
Meaning she was putting on that bright act again.
— “This seating arrangement isn’t bad.”
Her inner thoughts… weren’t insulting me, at least.
That was a relief.
“Yeah. Hey.”
I gave a brief response and sat down.
‘Still better than yesterday.’
She sat diagonally behind me, so I could feel her gaze occasionally, but it wasn’t excessive.
Just brief glances as she looked elsewhere.
“……”
On the other hand,
Ji Nuri, sitting next to me, was acting strange from the morning.
Her eyes darted around before she suddenly turned her head, pretending to look out the window.
— “Ah, damn… this is so awkward in the morning.”
What’s with her?
She was clearly very conscious of something.
She looked strong on the outside, but I guess she had this side too.
‘…Did something happen to her too?’
As I was thinking that,
Ji Nuri covered her mouth and whispered to me.
“…Hey.”
“…What?”
Why is she calling me like that?
Is something actually wrong?
“No… are you okay? Or do you want me to ask the teacher to change your seat?”
I scratched the back of my neck, confused.
“What?”
“Why’d you go and confess to Ayoung…”
“?”
Who? Me?
Since when did I become the guy confessing on the first day of school?
…Wait.
Is this because I called Shin Ayoung out yesterday?
If that’s the case, it’s a huge misunderstanding.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but that’s not it.”
“Ah.”
Ji Nuri let out a short sigh.
Her mini on the desk started chattering.
— “…Come to think of it, Ayoung always kept other people’s confessions secret too. So that’s how it is.”
So they treat confessions like they never happened.
‘That explains why rumors don’t spread.’
Everyone just assumes Shin Ayoung gets confessed to. There’s hardly ever talk about someone getting rejected.
“Alright, alright. I’ll buy you Chocomong later.”
She definitely thinks I got rejected.
“……”
Well, actually…
‘Free Chocomong is hard to pass up.’
If I let her misunderstand and get a free drink, that’s a win for me.
---
“Starting today, club activities will resume, so keep that in mind.”
Myeonghwa High was an arts school, so club activities were more active than usual.
They were also mandatory.
If anything, it felt similar to Japanese schools.
I, of course, was also part of a club.
[Counseling Club]
It might seem like it suits me, but I joined for a different reason.
The sign above the clubroom door was crooked.
“I’m here.”
As I stepped inside, I saw the members.
Two seniors who were now third-years.
The two had been sitting very close together, but quickly separated when they heard the door.
Seeing them flirting in the morning was… uncomfortable.
“Ahem! You’re here. Good timing, we had something to tell you.”
“What juice do you want?”
“…Orange.”
This was the reason I joined this club.
There was always food in the clubroom.
“Here.”
“Thanks.”
I took the cup and sat on the sofa. Then the club president spoke.
“There’s one good piece of news and one bad one. Which do you want first?”
What now, right after I got here?
“…Usually when people say that, the bad news is worse.”
“Still, which one?”
“If I had to choose, the bad news first.”
Better to hear bad news first and then be comforted by good news.
“Alright, the bad news is…”
— “Our club might get shut down.”
“What? Seriously?”
“…I didn’t even say it yet. Don’t react first.”
“Oh.”
I was too surprised and reacted immediately.
“Please continue.”
“Ahem.”
The president cleared his throat and spoke seriously again.
“Our club might get shut down.”
“…Wow, really?”
I tried to react, but that was all I could manage.
I had already been surprised once, so I couldn’t react more than that.
As I awkwardly stood there, both of them looked at me with annoyed expressions.
“I told you, this kind of thing won’t get a reaction out of him.”
“Yeah.”
“……”
I felt a bit sorry, but what can I do.
I had already heard it through their thoughts.
“Anyway, we’re in trouble from the start this year. The seniors graduated, so it’s just the three of us now.”
“Now that I think about it, yeah.”
The minimum number to maintain a club was four.
We were one short.
Still, that’s not too bad.
“Then the good news is we still have a chance to recruit first-years.”
“Exactly. Quick thinking.”
“Yeah, well.”
I just read his thoughts.
“So what’s the plan?”
The president handed me a stack of papers.
Flipping through them, I saw well-designed posters.
They made this already?
“Minji made them.”
The girl next to him.
They were also dating.
“As expected from an art student.”
Having someone capable on the team really helps.
“We’ll promote at the front gate. You just need to put these flyers on the bulletin boards on each floor.”
“Got it.”
“Make sure they’re in visible spots!”
“Alright~”
……
A week passed.
“We’re screwed.”
“……”
The clubroom was filled with gloom.
In the end, not a single first-year joined the Counseling Club.
I knew it wasn’t popular, but not this bad.
The only appeal here was snacks and board games.
And those were basically smuggled goods bought with the teacher’s and members’ money.
We couldn’t exactly advertise that openly.
‘I only joined because I already knew about it.’
First-years wouldn’t know.
“So what happens if the club shuts down?”
“We’ll have to join another club.”
That would be troublesome.
There’s no better place to slack off than here.
Isn’t there another way?
Like bringing in members from other clubs…
“There is one student left. Want to meet them?”
Our advisor, Ms. Min Haram, who had been listening, spoke up.
There’s someone left?
But…
“Haven’t all first-years already submitted applications?”
The recruitment period ended a week after the semester started.
Which was today.
“There’s no first-year left.”
At that,
“That’s because they’re not a first-year.”
She replied.
“They’re a second-year who was exempt because of modeling work, but has to join a club this year. I called them here for
counseling anyway, so do you want to meet them?”
“…Hmm?”
I frowned slightly.
There weren’t many models in our school.
This felt familiar somehow…
Knock knock—
A small knock echoed from inside the counseling room.
“Speak of the devil, they’re here. Come in~”
The teacher called them in.
Creak.
The door opened, and pale grayish hair peeked through.
“Oh.”
A sound slipped out of my mouth without thinking.
A familiar face.
I had a feeling it would be.
“…Hello.”
As she bowed slightly,
I quietly said her name.
“Lee Sol.”
“Hm?”
She lifted her head at her name.
Our eyes met.
“……”
Her eyes slowly narrowed.
She tilted her head.
After about three… four seconds…
“…Huh?”
Her eyes widened.
Her lips parted slightly in surprise.
Like she never expected to see me here.
“……”
…This girl really is slow at recognizing people.