Seniors Want to Look Cool
Lee Seoeun, who had been monitoring the group chat, immediately scolded Suhyun for his sudden action.
“Suhyun! What are you doing leaving like that!”
“I-I’ve never gotten this much attention in a group chat before…”
Suhyun felt like he was suffocating under the overwhelming social energy and interest. To him, group chats had always been nothing more than formal messengers used mostly for announcements. Of course he was technically in his high school friends’ chat too, but they almost never reached out to him there. Naturally, most of his time was spent just lurking. For someone who never knew what to say first—and who often got no replies even when he did speak up—this kind of attention was practically a lethal dose.
“No! The kids were deliberately doing that to welcome you when you joined~”
While Seoeun lectured on, Juyeon was completely absorbed in chewing on perfectly cooked fish cakes. Suhyun sat there agonizing over the group chat, while Juyeon simply basked in the happiness of tteokbokki’s texture. An invisible line seemed to be drawn across the center of the iron griddle on the table, sharply dividing joy from suffering.
Seoeun let out a sigh and pressed the invite button once again.
“Don’t leave. Just accept their greetings. They’re all curious about you, that’s why.”
Dragged back into the combined 1st and 2nd year group chat. This time, as if they had all agreed to do some kind of surprise event, no one sent a message first.
“Just greet them comfortably.”
Seoeun had already sternly warned the kids beforehand not to go wild and to treat Suhyun with care.
[Hello. I’m the new guitarist who just joined. Second year. My name is Lee Suhyun.]
It was a stiff greeting that could have been a report to seniors or a hello to juniors. The yellow numbers counting down like a timer meant at least five people had already read it. Still, determined to reply properly this time as Seoeun had instructed, Suhyun gripped his phone with both hands and stared hard at the screen.
[Hello! Hyungnim!]
[Hello~]
[I’m guitarist Park Taeho!]
[Nice to meet you!]
It felt like he was listening to the dialogue track from an English textbook listening comprehension test. Wondering how he could escape this situation while looking as cool as possible, Suhyun racked his brain and came up with a plan.
[I’ll properly introduce myself when we meet face-to-face at the next practice!]
Good. This should clearly convey that I don’t want to chat with them right now. Quite pleased with his own handling of the situation, Suhyun flipped his phone face-down on the table and picked up his chopsticks with a triumphant expression. He could just get nervous again when the actual first meeting happened later.
“Let’s eat!”
“Yeah! Dig in, dig in~ Wait, what the heck! Park Juyeon! How could you eat all the ramen noodles by yourself!”
Seoeun looked at the griddle and stared at Juyeon in shock. When she came to her senses, there were barely two chopsticks’ worth of noodles left.
“...Huh?”
Juyeon herself hadn’t been conscious of the distribution at all. She had simply been focused on making sure she ate the noodles at the exact moment when their chewiness was at its peak. Letting them get overcooked and mushy would practically be a crime, wouldn’t it?
“W-want to eat this instead?”
Juyeon lifted her own plate and held it out toward Seoeun.
“Ugh~ I can’t with you… No, it’s fine… Suhyun, you like the ramen noodles too, right?”
“Ah. Yeah.”
It would be pretty rare to find a Korean who disliked the sweet-and-spicy seasoned noodles.
“Ma’am! One more order of ramen noodles please!”
In the end they ordered one more serving. Of course, Juyeon paid the extra 1,000 won.
“Mmm~ So good~”
Seoeun rested her chin in one hand, wearing an ecstatic expression. She was the type of person who smiled a lot. Every time she grinned, the corners of her eyes curved up, giving her an almost cartoon-character-like impression. Maybe the world kept turning thanks to people like Seoeun. The things that were difficult for Suhyun seemed to come so naturally to her that he could only look on in awe.
“Juyeon, were you that hungry? You’re eating so well.”
“...I didn’t eat breakfast.”
Her answer to Seoeun’s question was extremely casual, but the fact that she hadn’t eaten breakfast when it was almost eight in the evening…
“What! So you haven’t eaten anything today except this?”
“Yeah? Unnie said we’d eat dinner together.”
Suhyun and Seoeun found Juyeon’s way of thinking hard to understand. The two instinctively glanced at each other and gave slight nods.
“Uh… Yeah! That makes sense! Let’s fry some rice now! Ma’am! Two orders of fried rice please!”
Sigh… How is this the same year group? It feels like I’m raising two kids…
“Waaaait! Suhyun! You have to wait until it gets a little more crispy like this to make it even tastier!”
Even as she confiscated the spatula from Suhyun, pressed down firmly on the fried rice to coat it, and continued cooking, Seoeun couldn’t shake the feeling that this semester was going to be even more exhausting.
* * *
It was unfortunate, but the ways an outsider could gather information about social life were extremely limited. You either learned naturally through experience, or you asked friends, seniors, or acquaintances for advice. Both were excellent methods, but for someone lacking social skills, either path felt like walking on thorns. That was because gaining experience required the courage to take on challenges, and asking questions required enough likability to talk about those things with others.
Therefore, the easiest and most convenient method they could choose was…
[Three Conditions for Becoming a Competent Senior!]
To Suhyun, the video he found by searching the internet was no different from a treasure map discovered on the ground. With earphones plugged in, his eyes sparkled like a student attending a star lecturer’s class.
[Everyone! Have you ever witnessed your juniors happily chatting and playing among themselves?]
[If so, what should you do as their senior?]
[Should you go over and try to join in with something like ‘Wow~ I know about that too~’?]
Well… obviously… approaching them in a friendly way and joining the conversation would be…
[No! Everyone! The moment you do that, you’re completely shattering your juniors’ enjoyment!]
—Crash!
The fixed notions embedded inside Suhyun collapsed without resistance.
[From the moment you butt into their conversation, your juniors can no longer fully enjoy it!]
[Be cool! You need to keep some distance!]
I-is that how it is! Suhyun felt infinite gratitude for being born in a world where he could obtain information so easily. He had almost gone overboard again and ended up becoming a disliked senior. Having woken up early in the morning to thoroughly study senior theory, Suhyun felt his confidence rise by about two percent.
Good. If I keep going like this and just get along well with the juniors…
“Stop.”
Even though it wasn’t said very loudly, the first-years all stopped playing at once. The one who had halted the practice with an expressionless face was staring directly at Taeho, who was in charge of guitar.
“Taeho. Can you play that part you just did by yourself?”
“...Yes?”
“Right before the chorus, the bridge. From where the drums drop out, play it by yourself.”
Watching the brutal scene unfold, Suhyun realized he was even more nervous than the junior. ‘So when we practiced together, she really was speaking nicely.’ It was scary. The atmosphere felt like being caught doing something wrong by a strict teacher. Taeho, singled out as the culprit, swallowed hard.
“By myself?”
“Yeah. Just you alone.”
Playing a solo and playing together in an ensemble were completely different categories. When dancing in a large formation, an individual’s mistakes could easily go unnoticed, but if you made one person dance alone, every flaw in their choreography became obvious. Naturally, the tension was multiplied several times over. Nevertheless, Taeho began playing alone according to the instruction.
—Diririririririri
Even Suhyun could immediately see why he had been called out. The previous part that had been sloppily glossed over— the notes weren’t clear, and the picking was subtly off.
“You felt where it went wrong just now, right?”
“Yes.”
“It looks like it’ll be hard to fix right away, doesn’t it? You’ll probably need to practice this a lot on your own. Especially when doing pull-offs, it seems like your pinky isn’t moving properly…”
To notice the mistakes on the first try and immediately offer solutions. Suhyun’s eyes were dazzled by the overwhelming senior energy radiating from her.
“Choi Kang. Do you have anything to say to them?”
Having finished her feedback on guitar, the squatting girl abruptly turned her head toward the back. Choi Kang, who had been silently standing with his arms crossed while watching the drums, opened his mouth in a solemn voice. Just his presence alone was overwhelming.
“Ji Sohye!!!”
The one called was Ji Sohye, the drummer of Spirit’s 24th generation and their visual representative. Her slender shoulders flinched at his call. It seemed each session member had more advice to give about their own instruments.
“Y-yes!”
Her voice was full of spirit. Her back straightened perfectly.
“Have you started working out?”
“I’ve been going to the gym since last week!”
Kang walked forward with heavy steps and held out his hand in front of her. The drumstick naturally ended up in his grip. Lifting his arm, Kang struck the cymbal as if trying to shatter it.
—Chiiiiiiiiiiing!
“You need to be able to hit at least this hard to play the drums.”
If Suhyun had been sitting in that drum chair, he probably would have foamed at the mouth and collapsed on the spot, but Sohye’s reaction was completely different.
‘S-so freaking cool and intense!’
“I’ll work hard!”
Neither her nor the rest of the 24th generation juniors could understand the expression on their faces. For some of them, it was also the starting point of a mistaken prejudice that drummers were originally like that.
“Lastly, Lee Suhyun. Don’t you have anything you want to say to the kids?”
Honestly, after the juniors had already heard such harsh words, he didn’t feel like nagging them. Even though he was their senior, he didn’t have a lot of experience or deep theoretical knowledge. But he had learned that being overly friendly was wrong. Having studied the need to maintain some distance, the first piece of feedback Suhyun gave them was…
Cold sweat trickled down her forehead.