Chapter 690

You said the competition is today, right?

After hearing that question from the person next to her, Gaeul nodded her head.

Is it in the evening?

No, I have to go after 2nd period.

Really? Then are you going to skip classes?

Probably.

Sounds nice. On a day like this, Id love to ditch class and play outside, said her friend as she looked outside.

The weather definitely looked good today. There wasnt a single cloud in the sky outside. The sun that was high up in the blue sky looked like a ceiling light in a theater. Today, her juniors would also get to act under one of those lights.

Over there, if youre gonna chit chat, you might as well raise your hand and do it openly, said the history teacher as he smacked the chalk on the board.

Gaeul became quiet.

As soon as the period was over, her friends all rushed to her class. During nationals season, the school hung up huge banners above the school gates and on the walls of the school. Win the Grand Prize this year too! - thanks to this promotion line, everyone knew that today was the day of the competition.

Those of you going to cheer for the acting club, go downstairs and get on the bus, said her homeroom teacher who came in as soon as it was break time.

It seemed that the 3rd year students who had gained admission into college already were all going.

I wanna go too. I hate studying.

Cant you take me as well?

Gaeul told her friends to study since she obviously knew that they werent being serious.

Ill do well, dont worry.

Yeah. Win the grand prize while youre at it.

Good luck!

Gaeul picked up her bag and stood up. She waved the cheering cards that her classmates made for her. Gaeul gripped her fists and did a fighting pose.

-The vehicle for the supporters of the acting club has arrived. Would the faculty please lead the students and have them board the vehicle.

There was a school-wide announcement as well. Gaeul could see the 2nd year students go down in a line. When she went down to the 2nd floor, she saw the first-year students as well. She saw this every year, yet it excited her every single time.

She left the main building and ran towards another building. Having arrived at the acting club practice room, Gaeul took a deep breath before opening the door.

Seonbae-nim, youre here.

Hey, come quick! Even if youre a celebrity, we cannot forgive you for being late, said Choi Seol, the club president, with a smile.

Gaeul pinched Choi Seols waist before standing next to her colleagues.

Well then, the 3rd years are all here as well, so well depart after I say some things. Before that, instructor, do you have anything to say to us?

Hearing Choi Seols question, the instructor shook her head.

The instructor doesnt have anything to say, but I do. Lets reclaim the grand prize that we couldnt get last year!

The juniors all cheered out loud. The shout from nearly 100 people was sufficient to fill the acting clubs practice room which was as large as a small-scale hall.

Lets get results that match our practice. Those of you who didnt pass the audition, watch todays performance carefully, and put everything into the winter audition, okay? You know that skills are everything in Myunghwa High, right? This year, Im really proud to say that there was no room for the 3rd year students since you were all so good. Im done now so next, well have the mascot and the pride of our club who goes by the name of Han Gaeul, which now suits her more than her real name, say a word for us!

The microphone was suddenly tossed over to her, but Gaeul did not panic. There was something she wanted to say to them as well.

Go and have fun everyone. If you do, there will be great results.

Gaeul raised her hand that was holding the mic and shouted fighting. The juniors also followed suit. She then gave the mic back to Choi Seol.

The coach is waiting outside, so get on coaches 2 and 3. Coach 1 will be for the actors and the staff that will go on stage. There are things I want to tell you as we go. Okay?

Yes!

Good, lets go!

The juniors started moving when she clapped her hands. Gaeul also picked up her bag and started moving. As she did not go on stage, she had to support the actors that did as much as possible. When she got to the school field, she saw the coach with the cheering team leave. The first-year students, who saw this for the first time, were all gasping.

Good for you! You get to ditch classes!

Good luck this year!

Kim Soomyung, dont get nervous and do your best!

Park Minji, fighting!

Voices could be heard from the main school building. Students were poking their heads out the window and were cheering with envy. The juniors whose names were called out waved their hands in excitement or covered their faces with their bags before running over to the coach. This was the rowdy ceremony for Myunghwa Highs acting club.

Gaeul patted the juniors who were frozen stiff before getting on the 1st coach. She sat on the window side around the middle. The club president, Choi Seol, stood outside to check the members. The club members boarded the coach one by one. There was a hint of seriousness on some of the juniors faces.

Do your best, first-years. You are the main characters for this year, said her colleague.

This year, the audition to join the club and the audition to select the actors were extremely fierce, and due to that, a lot of hopes were placed on the 1st year students who managed to pass all that. Hearing the 1st year students reply in loud voices, Gaeul smiled faintly. At that moment, she saw a certain junior get on the coach with a script in her hand. Gaeul met eyes with her, who looked around looking for a seat, and that junior smiled and approached her.

Seonbae, can I sit next to you?

Yea, I left this seat for you.

Thanks.

Gaeul looked at Yuna who sat down next to her. She was originally going to play the main character, but she changed to playing a side character because of the reasons that she found herself lacking as well as the schedule for her drama shoot.

Seonbae, what do I do? I feel so nervous.

Its fine, its nothing much so dont worry about it.

Gaeul grabbed Yunas hand. Since she was a junior that Gaeul cherished, she hoped for her to bring out the best of her skills on stage.

Just as she was going to smile back at Yuna who was smiling at her, a memory that she had consciously been putting aside poked through her surface consciousness. She could picture Marus face next to Yunas.

Gaeul shook her head. That matter shouldnt be talked about right now.

Seonbae?

No, its nothing.

You must be tired, right? Looking after all of us.

I said its not like that. I have great stamina, you know? Rather than that, you memorized the script perfectly, right?

Of course! I woke up early in the morning and read it over and over again. I dont want to make a mistake.

Nice to see you all fired up.

Yuna smiled.

Its all thanks to you, you know?

Me?

Yes, Gaeul-seonbae. You were the. Ah, sorry. That name is stuck to my tongue now.

Its okay. Everyone calls me Han Gaeul now, so I even wonder what my real name is sometimes. Actually, its better to call me that. My agencys president told me that being called by my stage name will bring me more luck.

Then Ill keep calling you Gaeul-seonbae in the future so that you get more and more luck.

Thanks. But what did you mean when you said its thanks to me?

Yuna spoke while folding the script in half,

Do you remember back then?

Back then?

When you bought me strawberry milk at the convenience store in front of the school.

I do. I also remember what we talked about back then.

Yuna nodded.

Actually, I was having a bit of a hard time back then. No, I didnt even know that I was having a hard time. I just practiced every day before going home, and I thought that acting was something fun but never truly enjoyed it. Back then, I never was truly acting. You noticed that first and talked to me about it. The strawberry milk I had back then was the most delicious one I ever had.

Its just strawberry milk you can find anywhere.

No. It was a special one that you bought for me. You dont know that I became a fan of strawberry milk after that, do you?

Really?

Yes!

Gaeul covered her mouth and chuckled. The term strawberry milk friends suddenly popped up in her head. While it might sound strange, she quite liked that term. However, the more she enjoyed her conversation with Yuna, the

thicker the steam of unease that arose from the depths of her consciousness became. It was an emotion that she couldnt fully grasp.

The words you told me back then helped me out a lot.

...I see.

Yes. And thanks to you, I got to know Maru-seonbae as well.

Gaeul turned her head away. She didnt know what kind of face she had on right now. Would her lips be twitching? Or would she be expressionless? She had heard everything from Yuna already; that she had confessed to Maru. At first, she just found it funny. She thought that it was a cute mistake by a cute junior. Things wrapped up well, and Yuna told her that she didnt have any feelings for Maru anymore and that she would be careful in the future. Gaeul even told her that it was okay.

She thought that she took it smoothly without any negative thoughts about it. Had she not seen Yunas expression a few nights ago, she would still be feeling at ease.

Gaeul calmed her expression and looked at Yuna. Yuna was looking at her, curious as to why she turned her face away so suddenly.

The weathers really good.

Yes, it really is. Perhaps thanks to that, my body feels really light today. I feel like Ill do great on todays stage.

I hope so.

It must be a mistake - she tried consoling herself, but whenever she saw Yunas face, she couldnt help but be reminded of what happened back then. Maru didnt look affected. In fact, he even looked annoyed somewhat. However, Yuna was different. Her eyes contained feelings that she could notice from miles away. It was a gaze that she could understand clearly because she was a girl as well.

Gaeul tried to understand it in her head. She consoled herself by thinking that she liked him as an admirable seonbae. It must be a relationship between a senior and junior instead of a man and a woman.

Just then, her phone started ringing in her bag. Gaeul picked up the call without even checking who the caller was. Her eyes were fixed on Yunas face, so she didnt even have the room to check.

-That was quick.

It was Maru. Yuna had turned her eyes to her script just as she picked up the phone. Gaeul looked at the side of Yunas face before speaking,

Yeah, Maru.

She felt her eyes tense as she said those words. It felt like her optic nerves were on edge in order to capture something. She was disappointed in herself for suspecting a junior, but on one hand, she wanted concrete evidence that would put her at ease. It was her heart that ordered her to say Marus name out loud before her head could decide otherwise. And the following events made Gaeuls eyes hurt.

Yuna looked her way. If she was just looking, she wouldnt have felt anything. Yuna had the eyes of a startled rabbit. It looked like she was caught while doing something wrong. Yunas following gaze was that of probing and even a hint of guilt. It was for a brief moment, but Gaeul was able to read all that. Just as she was about to deny that, she heard a voice.

-Is it really not? In my eyes, I think that girl still likes Maru. No wait, loves Maru, maybe?

Gaeul turned her head around to the window. She could feel a vibration from the seat next to her. Yuna was definitely shaking. She probably read something from Gaeuls eyes as well.

Gaeul shouted at the one inside her heart,

Theres no way thats the case.

-No, you know better than that.

No, Yuna is a junior I cherish.

-Theres no reason why the junior you cherish cant be the one that likes Han Maru, is there? Can your juniors not like Maru?

Thats not what Im talking about.

-How is it not? You know, youre a bad girl. Is Han Maru yours or something?

Shut up.

-Greedy girl.

Im not.

-I think you are. If you arent, then look at Yuna right now. Look at her and tell her properly. If you dont feel afraid that is.

Gaeul clenched her teeth as she listened to the voice of the one in her heart.

-Thats why youre no good. You were always like that. You tried to have everything. Every little thing.

What do you know about me?

-Oh, I do know you. I know you really well. But Ill stop here for now. We are partners after all, arent we? Without my help, your acting will never be complete.

Her voice became faint.

U-uhm, seonbae.

Yeah?

Gaeul smiled and turned her head around.

She turned off the phone without being able to greet back.