I Want to Touch It
"...Suddenly?"
The unexpected offer to visit her house. Suhyun's eyes widened into perfect circles after hearing a flirtatious line straight out of a drama with his own ears. What was this about? Why was she inviting him over? A strange thought crossed his mind for a moment, but Suhyun quickly regained his senses and managed to steer his thoughts back in the right direction. Hana was clearly trying to assign him some task that would be impossible for her to handle with her own physical strength. Like moving an incredibly large box. Wasn't that it?
On the other hand, Hana immediately realized from his reaction that her words carried significant potential for misunderstanding and hurriedly launched into an explanation. Her face burned with embarrassment. She should have stated the reason first, but her impatience had caused her to completely forget to mention her actual business.
"Ah. Um. That movie! The one I promised to show you."
Her eyes blinked rapidly in an attempt to hide her tension.
"Galaxy of Guardians?"
"Yeah. If you're okay with it, come over to my place and watch it."
Even Hana, who was making the suggestion, knew this approach felt a little awkward, so unlike her usual self she hesitantly added an explanation.
"Of course! It's not just the two of us. Since Seoeun is coming too, I thought the three of us could marathon at least the first movie."
Hana's voice grew progressively smaller as she trailed off. The movies they needed to watch were a trilogy in total. Even if they went overboard and stayed until late, they would probably only get through two at most.
"Uh..."
As expected, Suhyun once again had no real excuse to refuse. The movie. It might sound rude to Hana, but it was something Suhyun hadn't cared about in the slightest. It was a film he never would have watched if not for the club bonding event.
"You wouldn't feel uncomfortable...?"
Inviting someone into his home was by no means an easy thing for Suhyun. It meant exposing his private life, and the labor of cleaning and organizing to a level fit to show others. At the very least, if Hana had said she was coming to his house right now, Suhyun would have used every ounce of strength he possessed to stop her.
"Yeah. Since I was the one who offered to show you, it's no big deal."
"In that case..."
His sunken heart began to beat again. To a twenty-one-year-old who had never once held a girl's hand, stepping into a female peer's apartment was nothing short of a massive adventure.
"Alright."
"Good. Then I'll let Seoeun know too?"
"Yeah."
An awkward silence, completely unlike the atmosphere during their lesson, settled inside the club room.
"Thanks for teaching me again today."
Surprisingly, it was Suhyun who spoke first. With his bangs drooping heavily over his eyes, he picked up his guitar bag with an unreadable expression.
"It's nothing. Don't mention it."
Bag slung over his shoulder, he walked past Hana with steps so brisk they bordered on cold.
"See you tomorrow."
Suhyun left the club room without once meeting Hana's eyes. She felt a faint flicker of anxiety at his behavior.
"...Did I force him to watch something he actually hates?"
I finally thought of something nice to say, and that's the reaction I get? That!
Hana had decided on her own that Suhyun was being ungrateful, but the reality was the complete opposite.
What... what should I even buy...!
What gift to bring when visiting a girl's house
Cold sweat trickled down Suhyun's forehead as he typed in the search.
Under the moonlight
Reaching for the starlight
As the song ended, the sound of the instruments also faded away.
"Hmm!"
Seoeun was quite satisfied with the quality of today's practice. Of course they hadn't even touched the final minute yet, but at this tempo and this level of completion, it felt like they would have more than enough time to prepare everything for the festival. The kids still needed to finish the guitar solo section and bring it in, but since they said their individual practice wasn't complete, that couldn't be helped. The very end was simply a key change from the chorus anyway, so the performance itself wouldn't be strained.
"It's good, right?"
When she smiled brightly and offered her short impression, Choi Kang thrust his thumb up in approval.
"That's it!"
"Yeah. I think we can really call it a day here."
It was 6:50. They had about ten minutes left, but judging by the level of completion, it seemed best to wrap up next time by running through the first verse again from the top.
"Is practice over?"
Juyeon, who had been debating whether to turn off the microphone, quietly asked Seoeun.
"Let's pack up~"
At Seoeun's order to withdraw, the members began gathering their things. Choi Kang dropped a heavy hand onto Suhyun's shoulder as he was tidying up.
"Ugh!"
When would he get used to this? Suhyun still hadn't built any resistance to Choi Kang's signature grip strength.
"Are you seriously planning to stand on stage with that pathetic excuse for a body, Lee Suhyun?"
"Uh...?"
"How do you expect to become a rocker with a skeleton like that!"
Although Seoeun had kept him in check for a while, it seemed Choi Kang still couldn't abandon his dream of a muscular rocker.
"I'll still do my best with the performance..."
On the verge of tears, Suhyun rolled his eyes in search of Seoeun. But unfortunately the president was in the corner on a phone call. Juyeon... didn't seem like an option... which left only Hana.
Hana spotted Suhyun with his abandoned-puppy eyes. A deep sigh escaped her lips.
"Hey. Leave him alone today. We made plans to watch a movie."
"...A movie?"
Choi Kang tilted his head as though he had no idea what she was talking about.
"He hasn't seen Galaxy of Guardians, so I'm going to show it to him."
"You watched it in theaters though."
"He hasn't seen the earlier ones."
"Huh?"
Choi Kang let out a cartoonish exclamation and lifted Suhyun by the collar like a toy.
"Is that true?"
"Um... could you let go..."
"Is that true!"
"Yes! It's true!"
In the end, polite speech burst out of him.
"Then!"
From the atmosphere alone it looked like he might get punched, but surprisingly Choi Kang released him without incident.
"Make sure you enjoy it. It's seriously awesome."
Choi Kang crossed the club room and left.
Suhyun shuddered as if a typhoon had just blown through.
"Hana. Suhyun."
Seoeun, who had finished her call. One of her cheeks was puffed out like a chipmunk's.
"What is it, unnie?"
"I don't think I can make the movie today."
"Why?"
The only safety net they had was disappearing. What on earth was this?
"Well... the truth is... I completely forgot I already had plans with Jaejun oppa... I heard about it a whole month ago, but he even made the reservation..."
Disappointment and irritation surged up, but Hana found it hard to blame Seoeun. After all, she had been the one to ask first, and rewatching the movie wasn't exactly a crucial commitment.
Seoeun, noticing Hana's deflated mood, quickly moved to smooth things over.
"Then how about next Wednesday? The three of us?"
"Next week doesn't work for me."
Hana answered while sweeping her hair upward. She wanted to comfort her, but Seoeun had almost no time left. She needed to leave immediately. Though she felt sorry, she couldn't afford to be late, so Seoeun began gathering her bag.
"I really have to go now, so could you two set a date and let me know later?"
"Yeah. Got it. Go ahead, unnie."
What couldn't be helped couldn't be helped. As a last resort she had tried to invite Juyeon, but Juyeon said she had plans and left the club room with an apology. All that remained were Hana and Suhyun.
Suhyun, who had bought a cake to commemorate the invitation to her house, was now lost in the dilemma of having to eat it alone at home. If they pushed it to next week, would he have to buy another one...? What a wasteful creation...
"...Let's go."
Hana, who had been silent, finally spoke in a low voice.
"Huh?"
"Let's go. To my house."
"Is that really alright?"
"Seoeun unnie has already seen it anyway, and trying to line up schedules for three people would take forever, so let's just watch it quickly and be done."
No matter how you looked at it, this seemed like the right call.
"Ah. Okay."
Suhyun answered in a daze and followed Hana out of the school.
Still, Lee Suhyun isn't a weird guy...
Yeah. I'll just show the movie and send him home. Yeah. Just the first one and then he goes.
Agh... Seoeun unnie... I'll get you for this later...
Hana remained silent, lost in her internal muttering. Suhyun followed behind her, extremely tense.
Hana's house was a villa roughly a ten-minute walk from Suhyun's place. After she entered the passcode, Hana gestured for him to come inside.
"Excuse me."
Thinking it had been ages since he'd last visited a friend's house, Suhyun stepped into the entryway. After he neatly removed his shoes, Hana said she would wash her hands first and disappeared into the bathroom.
Left alone, Suhyun set his bag down in a corner and looked around. For what he had imagined a girl's room would look like, this was... A bookshelf packed with records. An amp positioned beside the bed. A pedalboard covered in effect pedals that clearly cost hundreds of thousands of won apiece. And finally, what Suhyun couldn't tear his eyes away from was a guitar radiating an almost ethereal glow. A body steeped in vivid cherry red. A dark rosewood fretboard. Upon seeing the Gibson SG model with its distinctive horned shape, an exclamation naturally slipped from Suhyun's lips. To think she owned such an amazing guitar...!
Suhyun's Telecaster was an excellent instrument as well, but the SG was one of those guitars that anyone with an interest in the instrument wanted to play at least once.
"Hana."
Hana, who had just come out of the bathroom, turned at Suhyun's call. His eyes looked somehow different from usual. He was giving off an atmosphere completely unlike the weak impression he had shown back in the club room. A faint anxiety began to bloom inside her chest. No way. No way, was Lee Suhyun...?
With eyes that seemed possessed by desire, Suhyun slowly approached her.
"W-why...!"
Hana realized she was instinctively backing away. Eventually Suhyun stopped right in front of her and spoke in a deeply serious voice.
"Can I touch your guitar?"
"Ah...?"
A dumbfounded sound escaped Hana's mouth.