A Favor
The phone slipped from her loosened fingers and dropped straight onto her head. With a loud thwack, Park Juyeon’s phone smacked her squarely on the forehead. But it wasn’t just her forehead that turned red.
“...You’re saying no again?” A faint irritation rose in her throat. She couldn’t understand it. No, this time it had really looked okay. She’d even watched Ruka’s stream and tried to copy it, thinking that would be a decent reference…
Juyeon puffed out one cheek, then blew the air out in a series of frustrated pops. Her fingers flew across the screen.
After already humiliating her, now he wanted to be honest? Juyeon typed back.
Juyeon stared at the screen with a sour expression. Seriously… when the reaction was like that, what was there even to say? If he’d pointed out specific problems—this part isn’t great, try changing it like this—there would have been room for discussion. But “it’s just not cute”?!
Insulted, Juyeon’s small body trembled with rage. She hurled the phone onto the bed.
My design sense really is that bad…? There were already so many things she couldn’t do; adding one more to the list wasn’t exactly shocking. It was a bitter thought, but not exactly wrong. She couldn’t speak properly in front of others, her below-average athletic ability only caused trouble during PE, she couldn’t even eat bell peppers properly. If she couldn’t design either, it wasn’t going to suddenly upend her entire life.
The real question was how she was supposed to improve.
If it had been anyone other than Suhyun, she definitely would have asked for advice again right then. But for some reason, she didn’t want to. When she thought about it, it made sense. Lee Suhyun. The guy who showed up every day in the same gray hoodie—did he really have any taste in design? If someone cute and stylish like Hana had said it, she would have accepted it a hundred times over. But Suhyun… she had her doubts.
The only person who knew she streamed was him, so she had no one else to ask. Still, if it was going to be like this, maybe she should just ask Seoeun unnie instead—
Thud.
Juyeon slammed her forehead against the wall.
“...Absolutely not.”
It was a crazy idea. Telling the other Spirit members that she streamed?! She could already picture exactly how that would go. Juyeon successfully talked her weak heart back into line.
She wriggled back under the blanket, picked up her phone again, and typed.
She thought to herself that chatting really was great—you didn’t have to stutter.
Wednesday. The midpoint of a grueling workweek. Some people might argue whether it felt like the week was already half over or only halfway done, but for Suhyun, it was definitely the former.
Once again, he had arrived at the practice room early and was deep into guitar practice. He felt anxious if he didn’t prepare enough. Most club or hobby bands suffered from a chronic lack of practice, but that had never been a problem for Suhyun. For two straight years, he had played nothing but a single song. Even practicing one song for a whole month still felt fresh to him.
With a creak, someone entered the room. Surprisingly, it was Choi Kang—early for once.
“Lee Suhyun!”
His wide grin flashed his bright white teeth.
“Oh. Hey?”
Things were more comfortable now, but Suhyun still found Kang intimidating—and a little scary.
“Perfect timing!”
Kang strode over on those long legs and bent at the waist like a soccer player about to take a free kick.
“I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Come to the gym with me.”
Suhyun had already turned that down once, so he figured he could just refuse again. But today Kang seemed to have more of a story.
“I need your help.”
“With what?”
“It’s because of Ji Sohye.”
The name of their junior came out rather abruptly. When Suhyun tilted his head in confusion, Kang continued.
“Ever since Ji Sohye asked me to work out with her, she’s been following me around all day like a damn shadow!”
“How do I do this? How do I do that?”
“Even when I’m actually working out, she’s yapping the whole time so I can’t even enjoy my sets properly!”
Suhyun, who had been listening quietly, could understand why Kang was stressed. He probably just wanted to enjoy his alone time. Kang must be the type who liked working out by himself, the same way Suhyun liked playing guitar alone in his room. If it was just simple complaining, Suhyun wouldn’t have cared, but why was he being dragged into this…
“What Ji Sohye needs is a beginner friend at about the same level.”
“She needs someone she can have fun exercising with.”
They had missed the mark completely, yet both of these clueless guys somehow thought the idea sounded strangely convincing. Kang’s hand landed heavily on Suhyun’s shoulder.
“For your junior. And for your own healthy body. How about trying something new, Lee Suhyun?”
Kang’s expression and posture somehow gave off the vibe of a doomed supporting character from a shonen manga.
“And if you seriously start, I’ll cover your gym fees for the first month.”
Hmm… still… The thought that had been leaning toward refusal flipped to positive review at Kang’s final offer. After all, it wasn’t a bad deal for Suhyun. Free membership? That changed things.
“S-should I…?”
“Good. Then be at the school gym tomorrow morning at seven.”
“Morning?”
“Working out on an empty stomach is most effective.”
Lately it felt like Suhyun was getting asked for a lot of favors. Juyeon yesterday, Kang today. But these weren’t the kind of forceful requests that came from people he didn’t want to get close to, so deep down he felt like he was making progress.
Next to arrive was Hana. Today she wore her signature flowing blonde hair loose. She quietly watched Suhyun, who was shrinking beside the loud Kang. There was no particular reason. Her eyes had simply drifted that way. The two of them were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn’t even notice her come in.
“Hey. Move.”
Hana lightly kicked the toe of Kang’s shoe.
“Why?”
“I have something to say to Suhyun.”
“About what?”
“Guitar.”
Asking whether what Kang was talking about was more important than band practice was obviously a no. Kang glanced at her once, then turned and went back to his designated drum throne.
“Hi.”
Hana flashed a bright smile and greeted him.
“Hey.”
She dragged a chair over with one hand and plopped down beside him, then pulled out her phone.
“Look at this.”
What she showed him was the block toy he had given her as a gift.
“Do you know I stayed up until dawn building this yesterday?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I thought my eyes were gonna fall out.”
Suhyun felt a pang of guilt for no reason. Hana, as if she had predicted that reaction, added one more thing.
“But it was really fun to make.”
“Yeah?”
Suhyun’s face brightened considerably.
“Yeah. I never did stuff like this when I was little, but putting it together piece by piece actually makes time fly.”
“I’m glad.”
“So I put it up on my bookshelf like this.”
She swiped across the screen with her index finger. Among various band goods, a little red guitar model proudly occupied its own spot.
“But next time,” she continued—this was the real point—“don’t go asking Juyeon or anyone else. Just give me whatever you want to give.”
“It’ll probably only happen on birthdays anyway.”
She really hoped he wouldn’t ask why.
“Okay. Got it.”
Thankfully, Suhyun just smiled and nodded. Soon after, Seoeun and Juyeon came in together, each holding a drink from the café. The moment Juyeon spotted Suhyun, her eyes widened like a cartoon character with an exclamation mark popping over her head. She trotted over on her short legs and gave a small bow.
Without asking permission, she borrowed Suhyun’s ear. A tiny whisper tickled his earlobe.
“You remember… we’re going together later, right…?”
They were supposed to talk about the stream. It was a secret that absolutely could not leak to the other members. Suhyun, who still didn’t know Juyeon’s full plan, nodded as if he understood.
Across from them, Hana sat with her lips slowly pursing into a pout without even realizing it.
What on earth were they whispering about so much? Those two.
“Everyone! We’ve all brought our new songs, right?”
After checking the schedule on her phone, Seoeun immediately started practice. The song itself wasn’t particularly difficult. It had a strong classic alternative rock flavor, built entirely on common chords for both bass and guitar. Not every one of the ten songs they played had to be flashy and technically complex. Since they were mostly an amateur cover band rather than an original act, they also had to consider audience reaction.
A few songs they wanted to try themselves. A few songs the audience would enjoy and sing along to. Maintaining that balance was incredibly important for the group.
As expected, the first day was a bit sloppy, but it felt like they would have the song nailed by next week.
“Since the second verse is just a repeat of the first anyway, let’s focus on perfecting the first verse for now, okay?”
As soon as practice ended, Seoeun hurried off saying she had a date, and Kang left saying he had to watch a stream. As usual, the relaxed ones were the two guitarists and the vocalist.
“Want to grab dinner, just us?”
Hana asked the two remaining people in a cheerful voice. Suhyun glanced at Juyeon, sending her a silent question—is that okay? Juyeon shook her head from side to side. In other words, that was a clear that’s a no-no signal.
The signals flying between the two of them. To anyone watching, it was obvious that Hana was being left out. Contextually that was correct, but the person in question—Hana—felt strangely off about it. Like she had somehow become the loner while hanging out with loners. The universe’s most frustrating loner was getting ostracized by other loners! This!
The moment her thoughts reached that point, Hana couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Hey! What are you doing?! You guys!”
Juyeon snatched her bag and bolted first.