The Ghost Member
Bad exam scores were depressing. Getting to sit evening self-study with Soye, on the other hand, was a genuine pleasure.
But there was something more important. Something far too important.
"The first play meeting of the Cheongyeon High School Drama Club for 2022 will now begin."
The first play meeting of the first semester. It had officially started.
I may have transmigrated into this world, but honestly, I had no idea what this Drama Club had chosen. There was no way I could know. The novel I'd read, Your Wish, had never gone into any real depth about it.
There was one thing I did know, though.
That timid Soye sitting in the corner with her friend would quietly end up on staff. She had joined the club intending to work behind the scenes in the first place, but our club let even staff-track members try performing — even if it was just a bit part.
And Soye...
"Cha Jaeha, you don't have an opinion?"
"Huh? Me?"
Kim Haneul, who was running the meeting, tossed the question my way like he was trying to make sure I got a turn to speak. Thanks to that, my train of thought snapped clean off.
Aren't you supposed to leave a transmigrator alone when he's organizing information or having a flashback, you jerk?
Of course, Kim Haneul had no idea about any of that. He just stared at me, waiting. He was probably trying to look out for me somehow because I'd been a ghost member last year, and I did appreciate it. Even Haneul hadn't believed I'd actually put in the work until I told him I would.
Looking at the bigger picture, though, it was pointless meddling. There were bound to be kids who, like the old Kim Haneul, still had their doubts about whether I was actually going to take this seriously. Someone was probably going to give him grief just for asking me a question.
"Rep, why are you even asking him? What does he know about theater?"
See? And the one who said it was a third-year senior. The club president, no less.
"Haha, President. Jaeha's in the Drama Club too, so he might know something."
"Know something? He was a ghost member."
"Come on~ He knows the basics, at least. Probably?"
I did know the basics. Exactly the level of a general-education elective, but still.
The bigger problem, honestly, was something else. I'd been so busy thinking about Soye that I hadn't heard a single word of the meeting.
"So, what do you think? What kind of play should we do?"
What kind of play, what kind of play...
Ah, screw it. Just go for it.
"Writing something original wouldn't be bad, but since it's only the first semester, maybe we should go with a play we already have?"
The club president listened, clicked her tongue like the whole thing annoyed her, and looked straight at Kim Haneul.
"That's what he says."
"I agree. With that in mind, I plan to have us vote on one of the scripts our seniors have used over the years. We'll exclude anything performed in the last two years, and if anyone can get their hands on a script we don't already have, please upload it to the group chat. I'd appreciate it."
"I'll organize all the script files and upload them to the group chat myself. Anyone who doesn't vote dies."
She said that while glaring right at me. Apparently last year's "me" hadn't even bothered to vote.
My conscience twinged a little, and at the same time I felt a bit wronged. That wasn't me. Why did I have to take the heat for it? Nothing I could do about it, though. That was the fate of a transmigrator.
"That concludes today's meeting. Thank you all for making time despite how busy you are."
With Kim Haneul's closing remarks, the meeting ended, and he and the club president walked over to me together. I wondered if I'd done something wrong again, but that didn't seem to be it.
"...Jaeha. You're going to take this seriously this year, right?"
I gave a small nod at the club president's words.
"Yes. I'll work hard. I promise."
"That's all I needed to hear. Kim Haneul, keep your friend in line."
"Yes, noona. I'll keep him on a tight leash."
With that, the club president headed back to the other third-years. Kim Haneul watched her go, then turned to me and let out a long sigh.
"Hey, how are you that bad with words?"
"What 'bad with words' crap is this."
"I'm saying there are plenty of good lines! Like, 'I'll work myself to the bone!' or 'I'll throw myself into this completely differently from last year!' You've got options, you know?"
"So you're just taking the long way around to tell me I should pile on the flowery language."
"Do you have any idea how important flowery language is for getting along in society?"
If it was that important, I just wouldn't do society. I didn't particularly want to say things I didn't mean.
"Anyway, you actually put some thought into it, huh?"
"Into what."
"What you said back there. Honestly, even if you'd just blurted out something like The Little Mermaid, I was ready to dress it up for you. But you gave a pretty by-the-book answer."
By-the-book, huh...
"...Glad it was a decent answer, then."
"Not decent. It was really good. Good work in the meeting."
Kim Haneul gave my head a couple of pats, then headed toward the seniors.
"I've still got some stuff to talk about with the seniors, so you head out first."
"Yeah. Good luck."
I grabbed my bag, stood up, and walked straight out of the club room.
Given the nature of our club, a lot of the members were close, so people were heading home in little clusters of friends. Soye was on her way home too, with Lim Chorok, the friend she'd joined the club with.
Soye, smiling and chatting with Lim Chorok, was incredibly pretty. And watching her get along so well with a friend, she didn't seem all that painfully introverted or timid after all. That was what I thought, anyway — until I took in the way Lim Chorok was openly treating Soye like a little sister. Friend, yes, but there was a guardian vibe in there too.
Well, Soye did have that quality that triggered your protective instincts. I got it.
To keep from getting in the way of Soye's friendship-building project, I decided to go home alone today. Going home by yourself every now and then wasn't so bad.
But.
"Um, Jaeha sunbae..."
Before I knew it, Soye had come up beside me and was calling my name.
"...Soye?"
"Thank you for your hard work today...!"
Soye bowed her head. Lim Chorok, who'd followed her over, bowed to me as well.
When your juniors greet you, you can't exactly not answer.
"You worked hard too, Soye. You too, Lim Chorok."
At my reply, both of them lifted their heads. Lim Chorok looked ready to leave with Soye now that the greetings were done, but Soye still seemed to have something she wanted to say to me.
"Jaeha sunbae."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Um... are you okay?"
"About what?"
"You and the club president... it seemed like things weren't great between you..."
Soye said it so carefully, so hesitantly. The thought that hit me the moment I looked at her was, Soye really is an angel.
She could have just written it off as senior-to-senior stuff and moved on. The fact that she was worried about how I felt made her an angel, no question.
I had no choice but to tell her a truth that wasn't quite the whole truth — embarrassing as it was. I didn't want to lie to a girl like this, and I didn't want to badmouth anyone or dump my complaints on her either.
"The truth is, I was basically a ghost member last year. So when I suddenly decide to take it seriously this year, of course it's going to get on a senior's nerves. Right?"
"But... you're trying to work hard now..."
Soye looked at me with an expression like she was genuinely upset on my behalf, as if she felt every bit of what I was feeling.
Really. Being kind was one thing, but she wasn't supposed to be this kind. I wanted to reach out and pat her head right then and there, but if I did that I'd get branded a creep and cut off by Soye and the entire club. So I just shook my head.
"All I have to do now is actually work hard. Right?"
"You can do it, sunbae. I know you can."
Soye smiled softly and clenched that small hand of hers into a fist.
Kind, cute, and pretty on top of it. Soye seemed far too perfect. It was hard to imagine anyone being more perfect than this.
I wanted nothing more than to walk home with this perfect Soye, but Lim Chorok was standing behind her, shooting the two of us a distinctly pointed look, so that particular desire had to stay a desire.
"Soye, I think Lim Chorok is waiting for you."
"Ah...! Sorry, Chorok. Sunbae, I'll see you next time...!"
Soye bowed once more, then headed toward the central stairwell with Lim Chorok. I watched the two of them go, then started slowly toward home.
Or at least, that was the plan.
"Oh, you haven't left yet. Hey, c'mere."
Kim Haneul poked his face out of the club room and called me over.
"What."
"Sorry, but can you stick around and help with something real quick?"
"...With what."
"I know it's in the club room storage, but I have no idea exactly where the USB with the script files is."
"......You want me to find it?"
"See, this is why we get along."
This bastard.
Detaining a high schooler on his way home was classified as a crime under the Geneva Conventions. He'd just committed a war crime. A violation of international law.
Obviously no such law existed in the Geneva Conventions or anywhere else in international law. But that was how I felt about it.
"Haa... Fine. Let's look."
"Thank you...! You just saved my life!"
And so Kim Haneul and I turned the club room storage completely upside down hunting for that USB. For the record, the USB was jammed in the very back of the club room cabinet. By the time we found it, it was eight in the evening. That was a bonus.
"Hey. Buy me dinner."
"...Okay, okay. This one's on me."
Which is how I ended up getting a free meal out of Kim Haneul.
Yeah. If you're going to work someone like a dog, the least you can do is buy them dinner.