# Chapter 21
I stared blankly as those guys approached, then told myself not to pay attention to them and focused on eating my food.
I was scooping rice with my head buried in the bowl when, surprisingly, those guys who I thought would just pass by came over to me.
I was in the middle of chewing my food and barely managed to hold back a curse. Slowly, I turned my head to the side. Kwak Junhee, who was at the front, greeted me.
“Hey, Taeho.”
“Hello.”
I quickly swallowed my food and lowered my head. Kwak Junhee smiled slightly and looked at my food tray.
“It was noisy earlier. Did something happen?”
I turned my head slightly to check on the guys sitting there. Jo Youngmin and Hong Hachan were sitting quietly, not giving even a glance to the main characters. Meanwhile, Ye Abin was looking at the main characters with a nonchalant expression. I swallowed dryly and spoke with an apologetic expression.
“We were just talking and I guess we got a bit loud. I’m sorry.”
At my words, Kwak Junhee chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.
“No, no. Is it because you’re brothers? You both apologize first. That’s not what I meant. I was just curious about what happened.”
“Ah, yes.”
Seeing Kwak Junhee’s expression asking what happened, I looked down at my food tray. Moon Seoheon, who was standing behind him, took a step forward. Byeon Seungha, who was standing behind, blurted out that they should hurry up and eat, but Moon Seoheon ignored him and stared at the tray in front of me, then asked.
“What’s that?”
“Huh?”
“Did you pour water into your rice?”
At Moon Seoheon’s words, I looked at the tray and then scratched my cheek while showing him the empty soda can.
“I poured this in.”
At my response, Moon Seoheon and the other main characters came closer and stared at my food tray. Among them, Byeon Seungha, who had been expressionless, was the first to frown and say:
“Fuck, are you kidding me?”
It was more like he muttered the curse rather than actually saying it, but Byeon Seungha, who had frowned deeply and was standing at a distance, immediately walked away toward their regular seats.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to eat that?”
“That’s what I was planning…”
Seeing Maeng Moa’s disbelieving expression, I wondered if I should show him by eating a spoonful. But when even those guys, who I thought wouldn’t care, showed surprised reactions, it felt both unexpected and refreshing.
Maeng Moa looked at my face for a moment and then asked with a subtle smile.
“Do you also like wrapping seaweed around ice cream?”
How did he know? I opened my eyes slightly wider in confirmation, and Maeng Moa laughed it off like he was taking a deep breath.
“Aren’t you coming?!”
At that moment, Byeon Seungha, who was already seated, shouted while looking in our direction.
“Ah, I’m coming. Well then, enjoy your meal. See you later.”
Kwak Junhee said that while patting one of my shoulders, and then walked away. Following him were Maeng Moa, who was still laughing, and Jung Hyoin, whose expressionless face still didn’t reveal what he was thinking. And when Moon Seoheon, whose eyes had met mine, also signaled with his eyes to enjoy my meal before leaving, my tense body finally relaxed.
“What the hell, did you actually become friends with The Four?”
A moment later, Hong Hachan asked in a lowered voice, and I gave him a look of disbelief.
“Stop talking nonsense and just eat.”
At my words, Hong Hachan pouted his lips and started scooping up his rice.
It was tiring to correct them and say we weren’t friends every time this happened out of curiosity. I was thinking about why those guys kept approaching and talking to me when I noticed Ye Abin staring at me with a displeased expression. I looked at him as if to ask what was wrong.
“…”
But Ye Abin didn’t say anything and focused on eating. It was the same on the way to the cafeteria earlier, and I wondered why he was acting like that, but I had some idea, so I focused on eating. He was clearly portrayed as having a crush on Kwak Junhee. He seemed to be in a bad mood because of how friendly Kwak Junhee was being with me.
After finishing our food, we returned to the classroom and gathered in Class 1 again. I had no intention of joining them, so I went back to my seat, but then realized that the main characters would come again, so I quickly stood up.
Thinking that next time I should just wander around after eating, I was heading out of the classroom when, with terrible timing, I saw the main characters and Moon Seoheon approaching from a distance.
“Oh? Taeho, where are you going?”
“My stomach is full, so I was thinking of taking a walk.”
Kwak Junhee, who stood blocking my path, raised his eyebrows and said:
“Don’t tell me… you’re trying to leave because of us? It feels like you’re constantly avoiding us.”
I was momentarily flustered and couldn’t say anything, then tried to smile as if nothing was wrong.
“Of course not. Why would I avoid you?”
Seeing me smile and deny it, Kwak Junhee grinned as if he’d caught an opportunity, then came up next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. Why is this guy, who supposedly has a cleanliness obsession, being so touchy? I couldn’t move because of his strong grip on my shoulder.
“Then today, instead of walking, talk with us a bit.”
“What?”
“I also had something I wanted to ask. Let’s go.”
Forced back into the classroom by Kwak Junhee who was leading me, I bit the inside of my lip to hide my rotting expression.
This guy wouldn’t make a good leader in society. He should show consideration by letting subordinates excuse themselves if they’re uncomfortable, but what’s with this lack of tact? If he was doing this on purpose, he was an even bigger asshole.
Reluctantly returning to my seat, I glanced at Byeon Seungha before sitting down. It was my seat, but having to be considerate of others felt shitty. But once again, because of the guy who was comfortably sitting in my seat, I muttered “just as expected” to myself and had no choice but to stand there awkwardly.
“What are you doing? Sit here.”
Kwak Junhee pulled over a chair from somewhere else and made me sit down. Seated between Kwak Junhee and Maeng Moa, I looked around. Even though they were pretending not to, students in the class kept glancing in our direction. The original owner of the chair I’d been forced to take was standing far away, looking at me with resentful eyes, which made me feel self-conscious.
“You like pine leaf soda, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
Nodding at Kwak Junhee’s sudden question, I looked at him wondering what he was about to say. He smiled slightly and said:
“They’re going to stop selling it next semester, which must be really disappointing for you.”
“Ah, well… it’s a bit sad.”
Wondering if Moon Seoheon had told him, I glanced at him before responding to Kwak Junhee that it was fine.
“It can’t be helped. Unpopular items usually disappear quickly.”
Whenever new items came out, the ones I thought were good were often disliked by others and disappeared quickly. Since it was a familiar situation, I spoke calmly, and Kwak Junhee said:
“I’ll put in a request for you.”
“What? No, there’s no need for that.”
If it had been someone else, I would have readily accepted the offer, but because it was this guy offering to help, I wanted to refuse. But as expected of a main character, he was more stubborn than me. The guy who wouldn’t back down easily continued, saying I should think about it.
“Actually, there’s something I’d like to ask in return for helping you.”
Thinking “of course there was an ulterior motive,” I hid my disgruntled expression and asked what it was.
“I heard from Seoheon that you know how to play the guitar.”
“What? Ah, a little bit.”
I was wondering why the sudden mention of a guitar, but apparently Yoon Taeho knew how to play. Fortunately, I actually knew how to play too, so I nodded my head in a daze.
“Then you haven’t decided on a performance group yet?”
Performance? My brows automatically furrowed at the word that sounded extremely troublesome. Then, remembering I was in front of the main characters, I relaxed my expression and said:
“I… guess not.”
“What’s with ‘I guess not’? Haha. Are you still discussing it? Are you doing it with those guys you were eating lunch with?”
“There were only three of you, and if you haven’t decided yet, do it with us.”
At Maeng Moa’s interruption, I could only stare at them, unable to answer as I still wasn’t grasping the situation. Sensing that I needed time to process, Kwak Junhee tapped the desk with his hand and said:
“You know that our school requires both physical activities and playing an instrument, right?”
“…Yes.”
Of course I didn’t know, but I answered that I did.
“For the end-of-semester performance, we’re short on people. We need at least five members, and I’d like you to join us. It’s not really a request, more of an invitation to join us.”
I blinked for a moment and counted the people in front of me. The four main characters plus Moon Seoheon made five, so why were they short? Confused, I asked:
“Five people, isn’t that exactly right?”
“Huh? Ah, I have to exclude myself. Third-years don’t participate.”
Ah, I see. I awkwardly replied while trying to organize the situation in my head. So, there’s an end-of-semester performance that they need to participate in, and they’re short on people, so they’re asking me to join them? To be in the same group as those main characters and Moon Seoheon?
Feeling like the food I’d just eaten was giving me indigestion, I swallowed dryly and opened my mouth.
“Why me…? I really only know how to play the guitar a little bit. I’m not good at it.”
“Why? Don’t you want to do it with us?”
At Moon Seoheon’s words, who had been quiet the whole time, I habitually started to say no but stopped myself. Based on my experiences so far, if I answered like that, I would surely get entangled, so I pondered how to respond. In that brief moment, I tried to choose words that wouldn’t offend them or make them think strangely, and decided to go with the standard approach of being honest.
“To be honest, it’s a bit burdensome. I really appreciate the offer, but as you know, I’m not in good physical shape, and I feel like I’d only be a hindrance. If I were as energetic and lively as you, Sunbae, or everyone else, it might be different, but I often feel weak and lethargic. So I think it would be difficult for me to join you.”
Despite my rambling, what I was essentially saying was that unlike popular people like them, I was an outsider, which made it hard for me to hang out with them.
The guys looked at me intently as I smiled awkwardly, hoping they would understand. Even Jung Hyoin, who had been looking at his phone the whole time, was staring at me.
As my mouth trembled under their intense gazes, I barely managed to force a smile when—
“Alright. Then you can just come and rest.”
“What?”
I turned my head in surprise at Moon Seoheon’s words. Smiling gently at me, Moon Seoheon continued:
“It’s not like we meet every day, just once a week. And if you’re tired, you can rest and leave.”
“Huh? No, but it would be inconvenient because of me! I don’t want to be a burden.”
“It’s fine. The performance is just like a small festival anyway, so there’s no need to be perfect.”
What the hell is wrong with that guy? Did you really not understand that I meant you should hang out among yourselves? My face stiffened as I felt frustrated, but Kwak Junhee clapped his hands as if the matter was settled and grabbed my shoulder.
“Right. You don’t have to feel burdened. So it’s decided that Taeho will join us! That’s great, guys.”
“Indeed. It’ll be fun.”
Maeng Moa joined in, interlocking his fingers and placing them on his head while grinning.
With my head throbbing, I seriously considered: Fuck, should I drop out?
