# Chapter 58
Though it wasn’t particularly loud, the deep voice burrowed into my ears like an echo in a cave.
When I raised just my eyes to look toward the source of the sound, someone with an intense presence was glaring at me. Around him, other eye-catching figures were standing in formation. But the fierce gaze scanning me was so sharp that I felt rooted to the spot, unable to turn my head away.
His eyes seemed to burn as fiercely as his hair. Yet despite that, I felt a chill wrap around my entire body, making me shudder and fold my arms.
I lowered my face to avoid making eye contact with Byeon Seungha. I didn’t care how the other guys looked at me. Shit, I’m going to be misunderstood again.
I didn’t need to rack my brain to guess what they were thinking. My head was throbbing, and I was pressing hard on my temples when Son Gyucheon, who hadn’t even noticed Moon Seoheon and the main characters beside me, spoke up.
“So? Can you do it today?”
I lifted my bowed head. Knowing what he was asking about made me frown. Naturally, I also took the opportunity to observe the main characters.
Today, Kwak Junhee wasn’t present, so only three of them were there, and they looked quite natural sitting with Moon Seoheon in my seat. Only the unfortunate guys sitting in front of me had to give up their seats. I felt sorry for Ko Kyungsu, who was also quietly getting up from his seat behind me.
Sitting in a row, they started discussing trivial matters like where to go and hang out. Swallowing a sigh at their carefree conversation, I looked around at the guys in front of me.
Everyone seemed to have a positive expression about Son Gyucheon’s question, as if there wouldn’t be any problems. Before they could suggest we start practicing together today, I quickly spoke up.
“I can’t do it today.”
At my firm response, they all looked at me. Ignoring Ye Abin’s somehow displeased gaze, I looked directly at Son Gyucheon, who was twisting his lips as if he’d expected this, and added:
“I have an appointment.”
“What appointment?”
The question came from Ye Abin instead. I looked at him and said calmly:
“I was asked to be a drawing model, so I’m staying after school today.”
My words seemed unexpected, as their eyes widened. They might have thought I was deliberately trying to skip out since the first day the presentation was mentioned, but when I gave this reasonably clear excuse, their suspicious gazes softened.
“A drawing model… for whom?”
Still not completely convinced, Ye Abin asked with a frown. I deliberately turned my head toward the main characters. Following my gaze, they looked back. Then they quickly returned to their original positions after seeing the guys who instantly drew attention even when one didn’t want to look at them.
Meeting their skeptical gazes, I said quietly:
“For Jung Hyoin.”
The name seemed unexpected, as their expressions went blank. Although it wasn’t a situation I was thrilled about either, seeing their expressions made me feel strangely pleased. Especially when Son Gyucheon made a bizarre face as if he’d heard something absurd.
“Jung Hyoin? You mean Jung Hyoin from The Four?”
I momentarily covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Maybe it was because Ye Abin had asked the question, but I felt goosebumps rising, and my shoulders trembled slightly with cringe.
“What’s wrong?”
Ye Abin frowned, perhaps finding my reaction offensive. After finally calming my laughter, I cleared my throat and said:
“That’s right. Ahem, that Jung Hyoin.”
As I pretended to have something caught in my throat, Ye Abin’s expression lightened somewhat. Still, he seemed confused and kept glancing toward the main characters.
Suspecting this conversation wouldn’t end smoothly, I raised my right wrist wrapped in bandages. I hadn’t expected to use this here, but I held out my actually still painful wrist for them to see. As if to say I couldn’t play guitar with this hand.
“Anyway, with my wrist like this, I can’t play with you guys this week.”
“…Will it be okay after this week?”
“Probably. But I’ll have to see how it progresses.”
I’d need to be careful until next week to be safe, but I answered vaguely because I wanted to leave this place quickly. The guys, who knew how I’d injured my right wrist, soon nodded in understanding.
“Alright. Then, let’s decide on the song first and talk about practice dates later.”
At Ye Abin’s words, Jo Youngmin repeated his opinion about performing a pop song. He seemed to be telling Son Gyucheon, who hadn’t been present to hear it. Son Gyucheon smiled with satisfaction after hearing this.
“But who’s going to sing?”
Son Gyucheon asked while sucking on a candy. There was a crunching sound as he bit it, and Jo Youngmin, who had been rolling his eyes thoughtfully, looked at Ye Abin.
“Abin, you can’t, right?”
“If it was just vocals, maybe. But I’ll be playing the violin, so no.”
After his firm answer, Jo Youngmin nodded. Then Hong Hachan stretched out his arm and said:
“Why don’t you do it?”
“Well… okay.”
After hesitating for a moment and looking around at me and the others, Jo Youngmin answered awkwardly. Fortunately, they didn’t ask me at all.
Afterward, they mentioned songs they each wanted to perform or popular songs, but nothing was definitely decided. As lunchtime was ending, Ye Abin stood up.
“Let’s discuss the details on chat or when we meet later.”
With sounds of agreement, Hong Hachan followed him. Son Gyucheon, who had been surprisingly well-behaved, also followed them out of the classroom. Although our eyes briefly met in the middle, making me feel gross, that wasn’t the important thing.
Jo Youngmin gave me a look that said I could go now, and started doing his own thing. I didn’t want to disturb him as he picked up his phone to watch funny videos, but I had a lot to say since earlier, so I grabbed Jo Youngmin’s arm.
“What’s going on?”
“What?”
Jo Youngmin looked up from his phone.
“Why is Son Gyucheon in our group?”
“…”
Jo Youngmin pressed his lips into a line and didn’t say anything. Rather than being too surprised by my abrupt question to respond, it seemed like he was deliberately avoiding it. I moved closer to him and asked in a quiet voice:
“Did Son Gyucheon threaten you or something?”
“Whaaat?”
I had asked just in case, but it seemed that wasn’t the case, as Jo Youngmin looked at me with disbelief. If that wasn’t it, then why was Son Gyucheon here?!
From Jo Youngmin’s attitude toward Son Gyucheon, it was clear he was uncomfortable with him too. But when my gaze demanded an explanation for how this happened, Jo Youngmin paused the video he was watching and let out a small sigh.
“Abin recommended him.”
“What?”
“There aren’t many students who can play the piano, you know. Abin said it would be good to have him join, so I agreed. It would be nice to get a high score for the presentation, right?”
Ye Abin recommended him? What kind of relationship did he have with Son Gyucheon…? Then I recalled Ye Abin’s character—acting like a model student and attending school quietly, but actually doing all sorts of delinquent things behind the scenes.
I tried to recall the scene from the animation where he hung out with some bad guys who appeared briefly, but thinking about it now gave me a headache.
I couldn’t remember if Son Gyucheon had been among that group, and there was no way to know now.
As I stood there blankly, Jo Youngmin shook off my hand as if telling me to let go. Coming to my senses, instead of releasing Jo Youngmin’s arm, I rubbed my forehead. My lips trembled as I debated whether I should say something.
Finally, unable to suppress my uncomfortable feeling, I said:
“Are you really okay working with Son Gyucheon? Didn’t you dislike him too?”
I was about to mention the incident of being dragged to the convenience store but stopped myself. Instead, as someone who also found Son Gyucheon unpleasant, I decided to try building rapport and convincing him to replace Son Gyucheon with someone else.
Jo Youngmin seemed to agree with my words at first, rolling his eyes thoughtfully, but then frowned.
“It’s a presentation—how can we only work with people we’re close to? We should be thankful to work with someone skilled.”
“…That may be true, but will he actually participate properly?”
Jo Youngmin raised his eyebrows as if my question was ridiculous. Before I could express my confusion at his expression, he said:
“You’re the one who needs to do it properly. Don’t mess it up by skipping or saying you can’t do it.”
I was taken aback by his lack of trust in me. But since I would indeed be the most likely to hold everyone back or cause problems when we practiced together, I couldn’t argue. Still, I couldn’t just back down, so I continued standing there. Jo Youngmin frowned and turned his attention back to his phone.
“I get that you’re confident after doing well on the end-of-month evaluation, but don’t try to half-ass this. Even if it has a small impact on Class rankings, points are still points.”
Then he resumed watching the paused video. I looked at Jo Youngmin for a moment, then suppressed a sigh and lifted my bottom from where I’d been leaning on the windowsill.
I wondered why they cared so much about “Class,” but I wasn’t in a position to say anything.
As I headed back to my seat with my heavy thoughts, I couldn’t even take a step because the main characters still showed no signs of moving. Worried that Jo Youngmin might find it strange if I just stood there, I turned around and said:
“I’ll go when the bell rings, so I’m just going to get some fresh air here for a bit.”
At my words, Jo Youngmin glanced at me, then briefly looked behind him. Then after looking toward Moon Seoheon, he looked back at me, nodded as if telling me to do as I pleased, and started focusing on his phone again.
I stared intently at the gray clouds drifting above. Just as I was thinking how I wished time would pass as quickly as those clouds and the bell would ring, music began playing through the speakers throughout the classroom.
Thinking it should be fine now, I turned around, but my body flinched when I saw the main characters still sitting.
What the hell, the bell just rang, why aren’t they leaving?
As I slowly moved back to my seat, they finally got up and greeted Moon Seoheon.
Trying not to pay attention, I was waiting for Byeon Seungha, who was sitting in my seat, to leave. As Byeon Seungha, who had inevitably made eye contact with me, passed by, he said something. His voice was so quiet that only I could hear it.
“Seems like you thought I was joking.”
When I turned my head, I caught a glimpse of Byeon Seungha’s back before he disappeared. He walked so quickly that he left the classroom in an instant.
I stood there blankly, unable to close my parted lips, until Maeng Moa helped me come to my senses by closing them for me.
This was awkward, but I wasn’t sure if I felt afraid or just dumbfounded—it was a strange feeling. I couldn’t even laugh at how ridiculous it was, and in the end, all I could do was sigh.
