Chapter 154

Chapter 154

Nothing much changed with the new year, but the joy of its greeting still made Maru smile .

“You’re going to school today too?”

“Yup . ”

“Is acting really that fun?”

“Try it if you get the chance . I know some middle schools have a club . ”

“Should I?”

His sister ate her cereal with a grin on her face . Her new year’s resolution was to wake up at 7am even during her vacation . Maru had to wonder how long this would continue . Probably just three days . She’d struggle to wake up tomorrow, he just knew it .

“I’m going to exercise as well tomorrow . Gonna run in the park . ”

Well, it looked like she set up grand plans for herself already .

“I hope you keep your resolution . ”

“What the heck, you think I won’t? I’m really good at this . Right, mom?”

All she got back was an empty smile . His sister pouted and told them to just watch .

“You’re going to be home late today as well?” His mom asked .

“Don’t know . I’ll text you if I’m gonna be late . ”

His mom yawned . Maru remembered her still talking to his dad by the time he went to sleep . It only made sense that she’d feel tired .

“You should sleep . ”

“Don’t be too late . ”

Mom walked into her room with yet another yawn .

“Bro . ”

“What?”

“Want me to check your horoscope?”

“Horoscope?”

His sister brought back a magazine from her room before he could ask what this was about . She was holding a woman’s magazine . She’s already reached that age, huh . The girl flipped through the pages before reaching ‘horoscopes for the new year’ .

“When was your birthday again?”

“July 25th . ”

“So you’re a Leo . ”

She stuttered out a few words as she started reading .

“Your long-awaited results will arrive at last . It might not necessarily be to your desire, so be extra careful . If you are lazy about it, great misfortune will befall upon you, but otherwise, things should go well . Hm, is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

Maru smiled lightly . Stock spiels . A type of writing that always turned out to be generally true . Of course, you might get results you don’t want when you do something . Of course, things might go wrong if you are lazy about it .

‘I guess that’s what makes it a magazine article . ’

He wasn’t about to get offended by what the magazine said or anything .

“Is that all?”

“Wait, there’s some more . ”

It was more detailed than he thought . His sister started reading energetically when he expressed his interest .

“Ah! There it is! It says you need to watch out for Aries . You guys won’t get along together . ”

“Aries?”

“Yeah . And you need to watch out for what you wear . That’s how good things would happen in your workp… Hm?”

“Does school count as work?”

“What the, they only have stuff about work here . ”

Bada closed the magazine disappointedly after flipping through a few more pages . Maru immediately understood what was up when he looked at the cover . The magazine was targeted towards women who were in their 20s . Of course, they wouldn’t have anything about school here .

“Ugh, this is why you shouldn’t trust horoscopes . ”

That didn’t seem like something a girl who got so excited about horoscopes just a few minutes ago should say . In any case, Maru thanked her and got up from the table .

“Brother,” his sister extended her hand out to him .

“What?”

“Allowance, please . ”

Oh, so that’s what she was after .

“What about the allowance I gave you last time? And the emergency money?”

“Um… I used it all . ”

“I thought I put around a hundred thou in there . ”

His sister nodded .

“What did you use it on?”

She fumbled a bit before reluctantly opening her mouth .

“It’s dad’s birthday . I tried to buy some gifts for him, but I was lacking in some cash . A lot of cash, actually . ”

Ah . Maru turned to look at the calendar . He completely forgot . January 8th . Their dad’s birthday wasn’t very far away anymore . What a good kid .

“What did you buy him?”

“I got dad a shirt, and I got mom a new wallet . She was still using that old wallet dad got her . ”

“Oh, the brown one?”

“Yeah . ”

“Yeah, it’s about time she got a replacement . ”

Maru told her to sit still and walked into his room . He opened the box where he hid the emergency money for his sister, he’d forgotten to check it recently because he was so busy . It looked like she’s consistently been taking money from it, judging by the number of logs she wrote down .

- Mom and dad’s gift

That was the latest one on the list . She was being pretty spontaneous with her money, but looking at how she used the money made Maru feel a little proud . This was probably why dads tended to favor daughters over sons most of the time .

‘ . . . I hope she’s living well . ’

He could barely remember his daughter’s face anymore, she was probably living in a world without him right now . His chest hurt a little . All he’s ever done for her was to scold her . It felt like his entire life with her passed before he could even make good memories with her .

Maru opened his wallet and took out his debit card . This was a little early for his sister, but you could never start too early when it came to money management . Maru walked back out to the kitchen and gave his sister a debit card he got from a different bank account than one of his own .

“What’s this?”

“A debit card . I’ll put money into it every month, so use it wisely . ”

“Really?”

She looked at the card curiously .

“But! Be sure to keep an account book . Write where you spend your money . ”

“ . . . Will you check?”

“No, just try to get a handle over how to manage your money . It’ll help you . It’s a debit card, so you can’t spend more than you have . Try to be strategic with your money . You can just save the rest for yourself . ”

“Wow . ”

His sister brought out a wallet from her room and put the card inside it . She looked incredibly proud of herself .

“Can I really use this?”

“Do what you want . Just don’t spend all of it . ”

“I won’t . I’m not dumb . ”

“Look at how you’ve matured . Ah, don’t tell mom . ”

“Mm, got it . ”

The Bada in his memories wasn’t bad with money, she even held a smaller wedding to save money . She was definitely very resourceful with her finances . Come to think of it, he always heard from his mom that she was doing fine . Why did she divorce all of a sudden? Did it have something to do with their personality? Something else?

‘Man, I really didn’t care, did I . ’

He kind of felt sorry looking at Bada . He didn’t pay her any mind once he entered college .

“What, you have something to say?” Bada asked .

“I’ll keep in touch with you even after I get married . ”

“ . . . The heck does that mean?”

“No, sorry . It’s nothing . ”

He told her to rest as he stepped outside the house . He walked down the stairs and got ready to get out of the apartment building before stepping in front of a mirror .

“Be careful of how I dress, right?”

He didn’t believe in horoscopes, but it didn’t hurt to follow them regardless . He straightened out his shirt just a wee bit . There . He looked a lot better already . Here’s to hoping today’s a good day . “Phew, it’s cold . ”

He walked out into the streets with his hands in his pockets .

* * *

“You checked everything?”

“Yes . ”

“Any missing or broken props?”

“None . ”

Miso nodded . Maru took a look at the props and the costumes to the left of the auditorium, they were all well-cared for . All they needed to do now was to act well in them .

“Just rest at home today and don’t do anything else . Don’t you dare get sick by going out . Stay home, get home by 8pm . Got it?”

“Yes!”

“Good! Leave!”

Maru checked the time with his phone . It was 11am . The earliest the club disbanded ever . It just showed how much Miso cared about the condition of the club members . Then again, it would truly be infuriating if the club failed just because a few of the members were tired .

“I’m leaving first . See you guys tomorrow . ”

Miso ran out first . By the looks of it, she had some other arrangements she needed to attend to . The club members naturally turned to look at Yoonjung as a result .

“Let’s just end it here, yeah . Read your scripts one last time when you get back home and rest up . Don’t go anywhere weird . ”

“You’re the most problematic one here . ”

Yoonjung pouted at Danmi’s comment .

“Alright guys, good work . See you tomorrow . ”

As always, Joonghyuk was the one to end the club meeting .

“You guys leave first . We’ll have to drop by the clubroom for a bit . ”

The seniors all left, leaving only the first years around to socialize .

“Ah, right guys . It’s Yurim’s birthday soon . ”

Soyeon spoke as she pulled Yurim’s hand, Maru noticed Yurim let go with a slight glare . Soyeon smiled awkwardly and put her hand in her pocket .

“What, it was almost your birthday?” Geunseok said .

This time, Yurim responded with a noticeably brighter smile .

“Yeah . ”

“When?”

“January 5th . ”

“We only have a few days left . We should have a party . ”

“It’s okay . ”

“Should we have a party after the next competition?” Iseul butted in .

Dojin shouted his agreement almost immediately, they spoke almost too perfectly together . The boy avoided Maru’s gaze, Maru noticed .

‘Iseul must’ve said something . ’

It didn’t look like Dojin got rejected, but it didn’t look like they were going out either . Hm .

“We can’t just let a birthday pass right under our noses . ”

Taejoon seemed excited as well .

“Looking out for your girlfriend?” Dojin asked with a grin .

Taejoon nodded confidently in response .

“Why don’t we go to a karaoke after the prelims, then?”

“Sounds great . ”

Everyone was making plans already . In a flash, it was decided that they would hold the party shortly after the competition .

“I should bring money tomorrow then . ”

“Don’t bring too much . ”

“Now now, let’s go! Go rest up!”

They started coming out one by one with their bags and gathered at the school entrance .

“Wait, where’s Yurim?” Daemyung asked .

“Wasn’t she around here just a moment ago?” Iseul noted .

Where did the girl go? Maru turned to look back into the building, there was no one there . When they waited a few more minutes, the girl finally appeared with the seniors .

“Ah, she waited for them . That’s polite,” Iseul grinned .

“Guys, let’s go!” Yoonjung shouted from afar .

Everyone shook their heads as they started walking .

“Wait, let me get my bike . ”

“I’ll go with you . ”

Maru said his farewells early with the crew before walking back inside, Dojin and Daemyung decided to tag along with him .

“Biking still? It’s so cold . ”

“Just ride the bus . ”

“It’s fine, I developed resistance . ”

Maru realized something just when he unlocked his bike .

“Ah, I forgot my phone . ”

He’s left it next to the costumes, he remembered .

“Ugh, hurry up . ”

“Want me to come with you?”

Dojin told him to hurry, and Daemyung offered to come with .

“I’ll be back quick, so guard my bike for me . ”

He changed his shoes again after giving his bike to Dojin . Just thinking of running back upstairs made him tired already .

“Ugh, my hips . ”

He stood in front of the auditorium doors as he complained to himself, he grabbed the door handle and twisted . He could see a little red light slipping through the cracks .

Wait, red?

It was a cloudy day today . So what’s up with the lights? Maru slammed the door open as fast as he could .

“ . . . Damn it . ”

What greeted him was the sight of bright red flames licking the props . What an unlucky day .