Why Are You Here?
"Great job, everyone!"
The homeroom teacher stepped out of the classroom in sync with the students' voices. On the blackboard where he'd been standing was a huge scrawl:
[1st Quiz (Math) Error Notebook]
It was exactly what it sounded like—a class where you redo the mistakes from the quiz and make an error notebook. This one really split the class into haves and have-nots.
"Ughhh...!"
Park Ha-yoon over there groaning in agony? Obviously a have-not. She was paying the price for cramming wrong math formulas into her head. Still, her error notebook would be perfect. I'd drilled her nonstop at the karaoke place yesterday. Thanks to that, Ha-yoon's hand never once stopped as she wrote hers—even if her eyes looked dead.
'Tough luck. Should've aced the quiz.'
The one who bombs it is the one who loses out.
I naturally recalled what had gone down at the karaoke place yesterday.
—"Hey..."
—"No."
—"I haven't even said anything yet?"
—"Let's take a quick break singing a song. Right?"
Ha-yoon's eyes went wide at that. How'd he know? She looked up at me with those exact eyes.
—"Your eyes keep drifting to the machine."
I just told her what I'd seen. Even while I was teaching her, her gaze had unconsciously wandered to the karaoke machine. In the end, she studied straight through for four hours. Though when we parted, she grumbled, "I'm never learning from you again."
But—
"Somehow, I don't think this is the last time."
"Huh? Last time for what?"
Lee Seol-ah had snuck up behind me without a sound. At the same time, whispers from around us reached my ears.
"When'd those two get close?"
"They were in the same group for career prep."
"I'm still awkward around him, though."
I could hear everything. Every word. They were trying to keep their voices down—commendable effort, but nope, all crystal clear. Seol-ah must've caught it too, because...
"Hmm. Looks like your friends are pretty interested in Sung-hoon, huh?"
She scooted even closer to me.
...Shouldn't you be backing off a bit here?
I eyed Seol-ah's face up close. According to my big data, that was the face of someone itching for mischief. I put a little distance between us.
"They're probably more interested in you than me, though."
"You think? What about you?"
Seol-ah immediately turned to the guy next to her. He fumbled at the sudden question, stuttering.
"Uh, y-yeah, probably."
Seol-ah didn't care about the details.
"Guess that means I lose?"
"What contest are you even running by yourself?"
"Me versus Sung-hoon. Who's pulling more eyes from the class?"
She said it with such an innocent face. If I left her to it, she'd stir up the whole class asking around. And that could lead to more awkward stares like before. Look—even now, a few kids at their desks were sitting up tense. No more victims on my watch, so I raised both hands in surrender.
"Fine, you win."
"Huh?? You sure that's okay?"
"Whatever. It's trivial."
I smoothly changed the subject. But maybe that poked at Seol-ah's competitive side.
"Then what's your penalty gonna be?"
"...Penalty? There was one?"
"Every bet has a penalty!"
She declared it triumphantly, no hesitation that she might be wrong.
"Can I just buy you something?"
"Bzzzt! No dice—the match is over!"
I offered a compromise, but it got shot down. Meanwhile, the stares on us intensified. Envious looks. Amused glances. Even hushed murmurs. All that attention on us two. Seol-ah, oblivious, opened her mouth.
"Okay, then Sung-hoon's penalty is—"
"Penalty? You two having fun without me?"
Ah, now it's three. Park Ha-yoon, Lee Seol-ah, Kang Sung-hoon—spotlight on all of us. Ha-yoon, done with her notebook already, wedged herself between us. Face lit up like she'd struck gold. She'd clearly overheard "penalty" and bolted over.
"......"
Seol-ah shut her mouth. No idea what shifted in her, but I saw my chance.
"Club sign-up day's today, right? Let's move."
I bolted from the scene. The attention pouring on those two was too much for a fragile outcast like me. Experiences like this? Once a year was plenty.
"Bye-bye!!"
Seol-ah waved as we split. Like she said, no interest in theater club. Made me wonder—which club was she joining? I'd never heard.
"Which club you think Seol-ah's going for?"
"Board games... or counseling club?"
"What kinda extreme options are those?"
"Beats me. She mentioned it, so I was like, 'oh, cool.'"
We chatted as we walked. Destination: theater club room. Not there yet, but in a hallway corner hung a small sign.
[Crowded with lots of people! Be careful!]
Along with a cartoon character waving caution. Probably the props team's handiwork. Ha-yoon relaxed a bit and pressed on, but...
"...A lot."
"Yeah, crazy crowded."
Quite the crowd. For a club, the turnout shocked me.
"...Fewer than last year?"
"Fewer? With this many? Looks like over 30 freshmen easy."
Ha-yoon stared at me like I'd lost it.
"Theater club's pretty famous here. You didn't know?"
Nope. No clue. I'd never planned on coming to this school anyway. My blank look must've shown, because...
"For real? Search Romeo and Snow White later."
She tossed me the weird title like a favor. Romeo and Snow White? Where'd Juliet go? What the hell? As I gawked at the title...
Pickets greeted us. Actor, script, directing, props—various labels. Nearby, first-years headed to their picks. Ha-yoon lined up naturally under actor.
"What're you doing? Get over here!"
She shot me an impatient look. Guess she figured I was aiming for actor. But I veered elsewhere. My feet took me to...
Script. Right next to actor, so Ha-yoon gaped.
"Script? Thought you were doing actor."
"Never said that to you once."
"Well... yeah, but. Doesn't suit you somehow...?"
Ha-yoon glanced at the script group. Every single one turned to stare—my looks drawing eyes.
"Whoa, running from actor?"
"Why script of all things?"
"He's tall, face is perfect..."
Now I was catching flak too. I ducked into the crowd quick.
"Hey! Kang Sung-hoon, where you running to!!"
Running? I was just strolling backward. Definitely not because the stares creeped me out. I ignored Ha-yoon's yell and blended in. Soon after...
With most freshmen there, a booming voice rang out.
"Freshmen! Follow the picket holders!"
Pickets shot up. Nearby staff must've yanked them high. I trailed the script one.
[Script]
First words I heard upon arriving:
"Isn't actor that way?"
"...I want script."
"Whaaat? Such a waste."
The script guy sized me up. Lips pursed like he had beef. But he shook his head.
"Fine. No rule saying pretty boys gotta act."
Not sure if that was encouragement or not, but whatever. I nodded and took my spot. But the world seemed dead set on screwing me today.
"Oh! Junior Sung-hoon?!"
Han So-ra sunbae was heading over from afar, face full of surprise.
"Why would a junior—"
"Script. Not lost on the way to actor."
"You got mind-reading powers or something?!"
No. Third time now. The retort rose in my throat, but I swallowed it. Felt like it'd spark an interrogation. Three repeats of the same setup? I'd get roasted. But—
"Saw something wild today. Wanna hear?"
So-ra sunbae wasn't dropping it. Across the way, script sunbae—who'd looked stunned—had his phone out, dialing.
"Yeah, prez? He's over there?"
I tuned it out and focused on So-ra right in front of me. She whispered just for me.
"Listen! Eun-seo's trying to sneak in here."
"Student council president? That's weird."
"Right?! So I shooed her off far away."
So-ra said it casually, like swatting a fly.
"Her showing up here was sus from the start! Trying to poach our people!"
Suddenly, the president was the villain stealing theater kids. I just watched.
"Pinecone! Told you to stay put!"
"Gyaah—!!"
Kim Do-kyung sunbae appeared and decked So-ra. Perfect punch—karaoke machine would've flashed PERFECT! He scooped the KO'd girl and bolted.
"Sorry for the interruption!"
Gone before anyone could react.
......
Anyway. Script sunbae calmed the chaos and spoke.
"Simple reason I gathered you: for a test."
First-years gulped. Theater script test? Had to be brutal. But shattering expectations—
"But me judging feels off, so I invited someone else."
He gestured dramatically. Then a girl shuffled in shyly.
"Introducing! Our school's one and only library committee member~~"
I blanked out. Library committee. Our school only has one...
"Yoo Na-ri!!"
I stared at Na-ri, dumbfounded.
'Why are you coming out from there?'