The Second Round Begins
Help, I went to the convenience store—the second round had begun. Once again, Hana was the only one thoroughly drunk. Gripping a beer can, she shot up from the mat.
“I’ve got something to say!”
All eyes turned to her.
“Listen! I want to enter the band competition!”
It was a sudden, context-free declaration. Out of nowhere, yet the members were fairly used to this by now. Whenever alcohol hit her, Hana tended to spout nonsense.
“What competition? When?”
Seoeun perked up, interested.
“Summer break! The university student band competition!”
Hana fumbled her phone out of her pocket and shared the link she’d saved. As usual with external contests, the prize money was the first thing that caught everyone’s eye. Grand Prize: one team, 2 million won. Excellence Award: one team, 1 million won. Merit Awards: three teams, 500,000 won each. Lastly, a special prize of 500,000 won for the original song category.
“Hmm… but don’t these things usually have a lot of music majors entering?”
Since it was open to college students nationwide, students from art and music schools could all participate.
“Exactly! That’s why we’re betting everything on an original song!”
If they competed on how well they could play existing tracks, they had zero chance. It would be rude for amateurs to claim they could beat people who had honed their skills through entrance exams. To put it more dramatically, it would be like mocking the effort those students had poured their very bones into.
“But an original song won’t be easy either…”
Seoeun rubbed her chin, looking troubled. It wasn’t that she doubted Hana. Their first original, Dawn is Blue, was undeniably well-crafted and polished. But that was in the realm of appreciation. How it would be judged once it entered the evaluation stage was another matter entirely.
“Unni! If we can’t win on technique anyway, then the only way to compete is right here!”
“Suhyun can handle the technique, though.”
Suhyun, who had been reading the competition guidelines, looked up at the sudden mention of his name.
“…Me?”
“Yeah. That song you played at your first audition—the technique on that was seriously insane.”
“But I only played that one song for two straight years…”
“Whether you practiced it for years or not, being able to do it or not is a huge difference. To be blunt, how many hobbyists have messed around for five years and still can’t play it properly?”
Anything pursued to perfection came with pain. Perfection was usually born from repetition. How many failures must a master potter endure before producing one flawless piece? Repetition was tedious. Yet there were things that could only be obtained through repetition. Most physical acts were like that. Understanding the theory or watching countless videos of famous guitarists didn’t mean you could perform it. What was needed was hellish metronome practice and the patience to endure that time. And Suhyun was a master of endurance.
“Still, no! It has to be an original song!”
Hana was firm. Suhyun’s guitar skills were excellent, but the rest of the members’ technical abilities didn’t match his level. If everyone could play at Suhyun’s standard, entering with existing songs might not have been hopeless.
“So, does everyone have time? Are we doing this? Please, let’s do it! I really want to!”
Hana whined, hugging Juyeon and pleading. When Juyeon turned her head, their faces were close enough that their noses almost touched.
“I… I have time.”
Juyeon had no plans anyway, aside from streaming. If nothing special came up, she had even considered streaming five days a week.
“Me too! Sounds good! I’m in!”
Seoeun agreed readily as well. That left Kang and Suhyun. Kang pretended to be picky for a moment before finally agreeing.
“Hey, Lee Suhyun. You’re doing it too, right? Even after all this, you’re still not in?”
Hana understood Suhyun. If everyone else said yes, he was the type who would inevitably follow.
“…Let’s do it.”
Suhyun smiled and nodded. It was a friend’s request. There was no way he could refuse.
“Yes! Then I’ll apply right now? Submit the form?”
A bright smile bloomed on Hana’s face. The final page turning toward summer. The 23rd generation took their first step toward their next goal.
“What kind of effort does it take to give up on something you like?”
Inside the familiar studio apartment. Two people were talking.
“Hmm… You mean how to stop liking them?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re talking about a real person, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How about looking for their flaws or ugly sides?”
At Juyeon’s answer, Suhyun gazed up at the ceiling. Hana’s flaws. Her flaws… Truthfully, Hana wasn’t some perfect saint. She sometimes scolded her juniors too harshly, and she got unreasonably angry at Kang’s pranks. She’d been late to appointments, and she’d even thrown up on her own clothes. If you looked at her with bad intentions, there were plenty of moments that could be twisted negatively. There were countless other episodes too, but even including all of them, Suhyun still liked her.
“What if I already know all her flaws and still like her?”
“Then it’s a sickness.”
Juyeon rested her hand on the plate on the table. Today’s snack was moist chocolate chip cookies. The soft, chewy dough was what kept her going.
“So unrequited love really is a disease.”
Suhyun gave up and slumped over with a sigh. Saturday afternoon. It was rare for Suhyun to be the one who came to Juyeon’s place first. Staying home alone, all he could think about was Hana’s face. He’d even sneaked into her Inbeogram and looked through her old photos. And he hated how pathetic and obsessive he looked.
Everyone had a first time. The first time love bloomed was like a vicious fever for Suhyun. He couldn’t handle it. He had no idea how to make it stop. The most extreme and certain method was to never see Hana again, but that was impossible in their current situation. Just next week, she’d already contacted him personally to start working on a new original song. And if he tried to tell himself he couldn’t see her starting tomorrow, his heart ached like it was being torn apart.
“…Is it hard?”
Juyeon stood up from the floor and looked down at him. Inside her eyes, Suhyun’s face was reflected clearly. Honestly, she found today’s version of him a little pitiful. He’d been the one to suggest meeting first, so she’d expected something different, but Suhyun had shown up at her place with dead-fish eyes, asking how to forget unrequited love. …It was different, all right. This too.
“Yeah. If I’m not even talking to you like this, I can’t think about anything else.”
What kind of girl was she, to do this to Suhyun? To drain someone’s soul that thoroughly, it had to be someone like Hana, right? Juyeon’s guess was slightly off the mark.
“Then whenever you think of her, just come here.”
No matter what Suhyun decided, Juyeon wanted to help him. She’d already received a lot of help from him, and she enjoyed the time they spent together in her room. The cozy nest that was home. She also liked the unique comfort that Suhyun himself gave off.
At her words, Suhyun let out a small laugh.
“Then can I sleep over here today?”
“…Should I lay out a blanket?”
“I was joking.”
Suhyun looked genuinely flustered when she actually offered to prepare a place for him to sleep.
“Still, how could I sleep in the same room as you?”
By social norms, Suhyun was probably right. But if he truly wanted to stay over, Juyeon was willing to provide bedding. As long as they didn’t share the same blanket, it should be fine, right? Suhyun had already come to this room late at night before. If Juyeon slept on the bed and Suhyun on the floor, there shouldn’t be any problem.
“If you change your mind, just say so.”
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah. If it helps you.”
Juyeon was… how to put it… surprisingly considerate when you got close to her. Very few people got to see this side of her—only when she opened her heart and showed genuine goodwill.
“Then…”
Suhyun felt bad about moping around all weekend, so he sat up.
“We don’t have anything else to do, so how about a round of games?”
“Games? What kind?”
“Just something simple we can play together. Mini-games or whatever.”
“The only thing I know how to play is what I did on stream…”
“It’s fine. This is something I played a lot in elementary school. No complicated controls either. You just press the arrow keys.”
Juyeon sat in front of the computer chair. Suhyun unfolded a folding chair and sat beside her like an assistant. What Suhyun pulled up on the mouse was a flash game site. He loaded a survival game where you shot down approaching zombies with a gun. The rules were simple: just shoot the zombies when you saw them.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap
His head, which had been aching with worry, cleared up. Suhyun was completely absorbed in grabbing the gun and blasting zombies.
“Aaaah!!!”
Juyeon, sitting next to him, let out a scream.
“What? Why did I die?”
“You stepped on the grenade I threw.”
“Wh-what do you mean the grenade hurts allies too!”
Juyeon’s dumbfounded face was filled with injustice.
“Uh… You should’ve watched and dodged it?”
“…I’m not playing with you anymore.”
Juyeon stuck out her lips in a pout.
…She hadn’t thought of Hana at all.