Ch.155155. Let’s Be Happy.

“Thank you!”

“We were Spirit’s 23rd generation!”

“We love you!”

The performance ended with “So I Played the Guitar.”

All the lights returned to the hall, and the first-years were already mingling with friends who had come to see them.

The 23rd generation members were organizing their equipment after coming down from the stage to greet the guests.

An awkward silence hung between them.

It was because of Juyeon’s song.

Lyrics that hadn’t been agreed upon with the other members beforehand.

The message was so clearly directed at someone specific that no one dared to bring it up.

Seo-eun sighed.

She was glad they had finished the performance impressively.

They had shown everything they wanted to show and performed without mistakes, she thought.

Juyeon’s improvised lyrics were surprising, but at this point, scolding her for it would be…

“Hey everyone! Let’s go downstairs!”

Once things were mostly organized, Seo-eun led the 23rd generation members to the waiting room.

“Let’s greet people outside first, then meet in front of the stage at 9:30.”

They could discuss their impressions at the after-party.

By then, the atmosphere would hopefully have softened a bit.

The members dispersed to meet friends who had come to see them.

Suhyeok hadn’t invited anyone, so he had no reason to wander outside.

Hana hadn’t said a word since the end of the final performance.

This silence extended to Suhyeok, her boyfriend.

Her tightly pressed lips clearly expressed that she wasn’t in a good mood.

“Lee Suhyeok.”

“…Yeah?”

“I’m going to say hi to my friends.”

“You are?”

“No, actually. Come with me. I’ll introduce you to them.”

Hana didn’t want to leave Suhyeok alone in the waiting room with Juyeon.

She was really upset.

She disliked how Juyeon had taken liberties with their final performance.

And she disliked even more that it had been directed at her boyfriend.

“Wow! Yoon Hana!”

As soon as they went outside, a group of girls who appeared to be Hana’s former classmates rushed toward her.

“Hey! What’s with you! You were so cool!”

“I got some amazing shots of you~ Look at my skills~”

“Wow, Hana. You really played the guitar well.”

“Thanks, everyone.”

Hana finally relaxed her expression and continued the conversation.

“This is my boyfriend!”

Hana slipped her arm through Suhyeok’s.

“Hello~”

“Ah, hello.”

Suhyeok absolutely hated this kind of thing.

It made his head spin!

“Oh, so that’s why you were wearing matching outfits earlier?”

“Of course~ How do we look? We match perfectly, right?”

“Such a rocker couple~”

“Hehehe. That’s right. Suhyeok, take some pictures of me with my friends.”

Hana was busy taking photos with everyone.

Suhyeok had to serve as her temporary photographer.

“I’ll take one of you two. Stand here.”

The couple stood modestly in front of the stage.

Hana rested her head on Suhyeok’s arm.

“Beautiful. Beautiful. Like a painting.”

“Thank you so much for coming today! Get home safely!”

“What are you talking about~ We’re going drinking first~ Hana, want to join?”

“No, no. I have the after-party, remember?”

“Ah, right! Then I’ll DM you later!”

After the other 23rd and 24th generation members left to find their friends, Juyeon remained alone in the waiting room.

She recalled Hana’s gaze when they passed each other on the stairs.

That look couldn’t be described as friendly, even as a polite lie.

Juyeon leaned back in her chair and covered her eyes, which felt heavy from crying.

“Juyeon.”

Seo-eun returned to the waiting room and grabbed Juyeon’s wrist.

“Yes?”

“Let’s take a picture. You and me.”

“Unni, did all your friends leave?”

“Yeah, they all left.”

The one who answered was Jaejun, Seo-eun’s boyfriend.

He held up a camera and took a photo of the two women together.

“Ugh~ Han Jaejun is terrible at taking photos.”

“If you talk like that, I’ll just delete all of these.”

“Ahhh~ Why are you like that~ I’m sorry! Oppa!”

When Seo-eun brought Juyeon outside, most of the visitors had already left.

“Hey! Juyeon noona! Take a picture with us too!”

“Juyeon unni, with me too!”

The juniors rushed over in a crowd.

Juyeon, though flustered, joined them for photos.

“Alright, everyone who performed, please come back up on stage.”

The owner of the live hall, Hana’s uncle, called the Spirit members back to the stage.

It was to take one final commemorative photo of them all.

The taller boys stood in the back row.

The girls were in the front.

Next to Suhyeok stood his direct junior, Taeho, who put his arm around Suhyeok’s shoulder.

“Hey, Suhyeok hyung. Was today good?”

“I’m glad it was.”

“If I just practice my solos a bit more, I’ll catch up to you soon, right?”

Though he found it a bit ridiculous, Suhyeok nodded pleasantly.

“Fighting.”

“Everyone look here!”

Hana’s uncle, holding her phone, started counting.

“Three, two, one! Kimchi!”

After taking about ten consecutive photos, he handed the phone back to Hana.

“You all worked hard.”

“Thanks, Uncle. This year too.”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re coming again next year?”

“No? There won’t be a next year. This is the end for us.”

“Ah, right, I almost forgot.”

Hana’s uncle seemed to remember something and told Hana to wait while he rummaged through his pockets.

“Can you call your vocalist friend over for a moment?”

“Which vocalist?”

“The one who performed with you.”

“Juyeon?”

“Yes, that friend.”

Hana didn’t know why her uncle wanted to see Juyeon, but she brought her over anyway.

“Um… you were looking for me?”

“Ah, it’s nothing much. A friend of mine asked me to give you this just now.”

Her uncle placed a business card in Juyeon’s hand.

“Blossom… Entertainment…?”

The department listed was “New Talent Development.”

Below that were a name and email address.

“He was impressed by your singing. He said he’d like to have a proper conversation with you, so please contact him.”

“Uncle, this isn’t a scam, is it?”

“Hey, I told you he’s my friend. And the artists signed with them are all people you know.”

Singer…

Juyeon quietly took out her wallet and tucked the card deep inside.

“Everyone make sure you haven’t forgotten anything!”

The members finished their final preparations in small groups.

Black guitar cases stuck up like bamboo shoots behind their backs.

“This is going to be epic. We’re drinking hard tonight.”

“Oh, absolutely today~”

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

“You know if you get drunk and fall, your instruments are going to the afterlife with you, right?”

More than ten people moved through the bustling streets like a great migration.

Their destination: a private drinking room.

It had been reserved by their alumni.

“Hey, hey, make sure the guitars don’t fall over.”

“If any guitar gets scratched, you’re all dead, got it?”

Though said with a smile, it was 50% serious.

Suhyeok and Hana’s guitars were particularly expensive.

Both instruments cost nearly 2 million won each.

After a performance comes ravenous hunger.

The members ordered enough food to make the table groan.

“Hey, let’s order tteokbokki next time.”

“No, no, no, no. Let’s go for fruit punch.”

“Has everyone filled their glasses~”

Seo-eun stood alone and raised her glass high.

The truly final page.

The president, whose affection for Spirit was extraordinary, looked at them with wistful eyes.

“Thank you all for your hard work!”

“Thank you for listening well, following practice well, and making this year so enjoyable together.”

“And the new students are now handling everything so well on their own.”

“All that’s left…”

“Is to drink until we die! Cheers!”

The members all raised their glasses in unison.

“Cheers!”

The 23rd and 24th generation members, all mixed together, downed their drinks with gusto.

“Hey, I need to use the bathroom for a moment.”

Hana, who was sitting at the edge next to Suhyeok, stood up.

“Ah, then I’ll go too, unni.”

Hyejung followed behind Hana.

Suhyeok blinked, unable to understand this sentiment.

Why do they always go to the bathroom together?

However, he would find out the answer about three minutes later.

Suddenly, the table lights went out.

For a moment, he thought there was a power outage, but that wasn’t it.

The door opened with a sliding sound.

What appeared from the other side were three warmly glowing candles.

The dim candlelight illuminated Hana’s face.

“Hey, why aren’t you all singing?”

At Hana’s direction, the juniors and peers began to sing in unison.

“Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~”

“Dear Lee Suhyeok (Suhyeok-ie, Suhyeok hyung, Suhyeok oppa)”

“Happy birthday to you~ Whoo~”

Suhyeok’s birthday party was being held simultaneously with the after-party.

Since his actual birthday was still a few days away, Suhyeok truly hadn’t expected this event.

“Hey, what are you doing! Blow them out quickly!”

As the candle wax began to drip, Hana urged her boyfriend.

“Ah, yes. Thank you! Everyone.”

The candles went out with a puff.

“Did you make a wish?”

“Yes.”

“What was it?”

Everyone looked at Suhyeok’s face curiously.

Suhyeok and Juyeon’s gazes met in midair.

“I wished for all our members to be happy.”

Let’s be happy. All of us.