Ch.10010. The Senior Wants to Be Cool.

[Lee Suhyuk has left the chat.]

“Suhyuk! How could you just leave!”

Seo-eun, who had been monitoring the group chat, immediately scolded Suhyuk for his impulsive action.

“I-I’ve never received this much attention in a chat room before…”

Suhyuk felt suffocated by the excessive sociability and attention.

For him, group chats were mostly just formal messengers that existed for announcements. Of course, he was nominally part of his high school classmates’ chat room too, but he was rarely sought out there.

Naturally, most of his time was spent lurking.

He didn’t even know how to start a conversation.

For Suhyuk, who had experienced cases where no one replied even when he did speak up, this kind of attention was close to a lethal dose.

“No! The kids were just trying to welcome you when you joined~”

Unlike Seo-eun who was lecturing him, Juyeon was preoccupied with chewing on a perfectly cooked fish cake she had just put in her mouth.

Suhyuk agonizing over the group chat versus Juyeon simply enjoying the texture of tteokbokki.

An invisible line seemed to be drawn across the middle of the table, starkly dividing joy and sorrow.

Seo-eun sighed and pressed the invite button once more.

“Don’t leave, just accept their greetings. Everyone’s just curious about you.”

Once again, he was dragged into the combined 1st and 2nd year group chat.

This time, as if everyone had agreed to hold a surprise event, no one sent a message first.

“Just say hello casually.”

Seo-eun had firmly instructed everyone beforehand to please not go wild and to treat Suhyuk with care.

[Hello. I’m Lee Suhyuk, a sophomore guitarist who just joined.]

It was a stiff message that could have been either a report to seniors or a greeting to juniors.

The yellow number counting down like a countdown timer.

It meant that at least five people had read his message.

Still, this time, as Seo-eun had said, Suhyuk was determined to respond properly, gripping his phone with both hands and staring intensely at the screen.

[Hello! Senior!]

[Hi~]

[I’m Park Taeho, guitarist!]

This time, everyone was kindly introducing themselves one by one.

[Nice to meet you all!]

He felt like he was in an English textbook listening test.

Wondering how to escape this situation with minimal awkwardness, Suhyuk racked his brain and found his own solution.

[I’ll properly introduce myself in person at the next band practice!]

Good.

This should sufficiently express that I don’t want to chat with them right now.

Quite pleased with his handling of the situation, Suhyuk flipped his phone face down on the table and picked up his chopsticks with a triumphant expression.

He could worry about the face-to-face first meeting when the time came.

“Let’s eat!”

“Yes! Let’s eat~ Wait, what! Park Juyeon! How could you eat all the ramen noodles by yourself!”

Seo-eun looked at Juyeon in shock after checking the hot plate.

When they came to their senses, there were barely two strands of ramen noodles left.

“…Huh?”

Juyeon hadn’t been conscious of the distribution at all.

She had only been diligently thinking that the ramen should be eaten at its optimal state of doneness. Wasn’t it a crime to let the noodles get too soft and mushy?

“W-would you like some of this?”

Juyeon held up her plate and offered it to Seo-eun.

“Sigh~ I can’t with you… No, it’s okay… Suhyuk, you like ramen noodles too, right?”

“Ah. Yeah.”

It would be quite rare to find Koreans who didn’t like noodles in spicy, sweet sauce.

“Ma’am! One more order of ramen noodles please!”

In the end, they ordered one more.

Of course, Juyeon would pay the extra 1,000 won.

“Mmm~ Delicious~”

Seo-eun rested her chin on one hand with an expression of pure bliss.

She was fundamentally a person who smiled a lot.

Every time she grinned, her eyes curved upward, giving the impression of a cartoon character.

Perhaps the world keeps turning because of people like Seo-eun.

Things that were difficult for him, she accomplished so effortlessly—it seemed remarkable to Suhyuk.

“Juyeon, were you hungry? You’re eating so well?”

“…I didn’t eat breakfast.”

She answered Seo-eun’s question very calmly, but not eating breakfast when it was almost 8 PM meant…

“What! You mean you haven’t eaten anything else today?”

“Huh? You said we’d eat dinner together, unnie.”

Suhyuk and Seo-eun couldn’t quite understand Juyeon’s way of thinking.

The two instinctively caught each other’s glances and nodded slightly.

“Well… that’s fair! Let’s make fried rice now! Ma’am! Please make two portions of fried rice here!”

Sigh… somehow this doesn’t feel like we’re the same age.

It feels like I’m raising two kids…

“Wait a minute! Suhyuk! You have to wait until it gets a bit more golden brown for it to taste better!”

As she confiscated the ladle from Suhyuk and pressed down on the fried rice to coat it properly, Seo-eun couldn’t shake the feeling that this semester was going to be even more exhausting.

* * *

Unfortunately, the means by which a loner could obtain information about social life were limited.

Either learn naturally through experience.

Or ask friends, seniors, or acquaintances for advice.

Both were excellent methods, but for those lacking social skills, either path was like walking through a field of thorns.

To gain experience, one needed the courage to take on challenges, and to seek advice, one needed enough likability to talk about such things with others.

Thus, the easiest and most convenient method they could choose was…

[Three Conditions for Becoming a Competent Senior!]

For Suhyuk, videos found through internet searches were like treasure maps discovered on the ground.

With earphones plugged in, Suhyuk’s eyes sparkled like a student attending a star lecturer’s class.

[Everyone! You’ve witnessed juniors chatting and having fun among themselves.]

[What should you, as seniors, do in this situation?]

[Should you go over and try to join their conversation with something like “Oh~ I know about that too~”?]

Well… obviously…

It would be better to approach them in a friendly way and talk…

[No! Everyone! At that moment, you’re shattering your juniors’ enjoyment!]

-CRASH

The fixed notion inside Suhyuk crumbled without resistance.

[From the moment you butt into the conversation, your juniors can no longer fully enjoy that conversation!]

[Be cool! You need to keep some distance!]

I-is that really how it is?!

Suhyuk expressed infinite gratitude for being born in a world where he could obtain information so easily.

He might have otherwise overdone it again and become an unlikable senior.

Waking up early in the morning to perfectly master the theory of being a senior, Suhyuk could feel his confidence rise by about 2%.

Good. If I can just get along well with the juniors like this…

“Stop.”

Though she hadn’t spoken very loudly, all the freshmen stopped playing at once.

The expressionless face that had halted the practice fixed her gaze on Taeho, who was playing guitar.

“Taeho. Can you play that part alone just now?”

“…Pardon?”

“The bridge right before the chorus. From where the drums drop out, play it by yourself.”

Witnessing this intimidating scene, Suhyuk found himself more nervous than the junior.

‘So when she spoke to us, she was actually being really nice.’

It was scary.

The atmosphere felt like being caught making a mistake by a strict teacher.

Taeho, who had been singled out, gulped.

“Just me alone?”

“Yes. Just you.”

Playing a solo and playing in an ensemble were completely different categories.

It was like dancing in a large formation where individual mistakes might not be noticeable, versus being made to dance alone where any deviation from the choreography would be obvious. The same principle applied here.

Naturally, the pressure was multiplied.

Nevertheless, Taeho began to play alone as instructed by Hana.

-Diriririririri

But even Suhyuk could immediately see why he had been called out.

The part he had just skimmed through carelessly.

The notes weren’t coming through properly, and his picking was noticeably off.

“You felt where you messed up just now, right?”

“Yes.”

“Looking at it, I think it’ll be hard to fix right away. This needs a lot of separate individual practice. Especially when doing pull-offs, your pinky doesn’t seem to be moving well…”

To spot the mistakes at first glance and immediately suggest solutions.

Suhyuk was dazzled by the senior aura emanating from Hana.

“Choi Gang. Do you have anything else to say?”

Having finished her guitar critique, Hana crouched down and turned her head sharply toward the back.

Choi Gang stood with his arms crossed, silently staring at the drums.

Even just his appearance exuded an overwhelming presence as he opened his mouth with a solemn voice.

“Ji Sohye!!!”

The one called out was Ji Sohye, the drummer and visual icon of Spirit’s 24th generation.

Her delicate shoulders flinched at his call.

It seemed that the session members had more advice to give about their respective instruments.

“Y-yes! Yes sir!”

A voice full of determination.

Her back straightened like a rod.

“Have you started working out?”

“I’ve been going to the gym since last week!”

Choi Gang approached her with heavy steps and held out his hand.

Naturally, drum sticks were placed in his hand.

Taking the sticks, Choi Gang raised his arm and struck the cymbal with all his might as if to destroy it.

-CHAAAAANG!

“This is the minimum power you need to play drums.”

If Suhyuk had been sitting in that drum chair, he might have fainted on the spot, but Sohye’s reaction was different.

‘W-wow! That forceful style is so cool!’

“I’ll work hard!”

Hana and the rest of the 24th generation juniors wore expressions of incomprehension.

For some, this also became the starting point of a misguided prejudice that all drummers were naturally like this.

“Lastly, Lee Suhyuk. Do you have anything you want to say to the kids?”

Honestly, he didn’t want to nag the juniors who had already heard harsh words.

Even as a senior, he didn’t have much experience or theoretical knowledge.

But he knew he shouldn’t be overly friendly either.

Having learned that a certain distance was necessary, Suhyuk’s first feedback to them was…

Beads of cold sweat trickled down Hana’s forehead.