Ch.19019. The Qualities of a Chairman

[Hana!]

[Did you reschedule the movie with Suhyeok?]

[Ah. I’m really sorryyyyyy today]

[I’m so sorryyyyyy]

A bit late in the evening.

After reading Seo-eun’s message, Hana tapped her knee with her index finger.

It wasn’t that her unnie leaving early had given her any bad thoughts.

If anything, it might have been the opposite.

[No, it’s fine.]

[I just watched it with Lee Suhyeok, just the two of us.]

There was no reason to hide it.

And even if she tried, it would come out soon enough anyway.

[Huh? What? I thought you said bringing a boy home alone wasn’t right.]

Her quickly moving thumb paused for a moment.

[…It’s Lee Suhyeok.]

It was a reply with multiple implications.

[Well. I did know Suhyeok isn’t the type to do anything weird.]

A slightly delayed response arrived.

[Yoon Hana. Bold, aren’t you?]

The text almost seemed to have voice support.

Hana’s brow furrowed deeply at Seo-eun’s message.

[Ah. What are you talking about? We just watched a movie.]

[How many guys has Yoon Hana ever invited to watch a movie first?]

[Come to think of it, has there ever been one?]

There hadn’t been.

Hana wasn’t the type to approach guys first.

She had no reason to be that type of person either.

There were plenty of boys who tried to hit on her, captivated by her looks without any special reason, and if she wanted to watch a movie, she’d just watch it alone or with other female friends.

Especially after joining Spirit, she mostly satisfied her theater cravings at social gatherings.

Watching a movie alone with a boy?

And at her own home, no less?

Boys who had been firmly rejected by Hana might foam at the mouth if they heard this.

[Whatever! Anyway, you don’t need to worry about that anymore!]

Feeling awkward, Hana tossed her phone onto the bed and stared blankly at the chair where Suhyeok had been sitting until just a while ago.

The words he had said before leaving replayed in her mind.

[Thanks for watching the movie with me today.]

[Um. I don’t know how you’ll take this, but…]

[I think your room is the coolest one I’ve ever seen…!]

She recalled Suhyeok’s face as he stammered those words, looking embarrassed.

What he said probably wasn’t a lie.

And she also thought that liking this room was actually quite unique.

The girls who had visited her home always marveled at how she could live with so many random items.

Traces of long-haired, bearded rock stars from a century ago, now aged.

It was a room with an atmosphere vastly different from those of other girls her age.

Yet he had told her this room was his ideal.

It was something she could be happy about, something that could make her feel a bit overwhelmed, but…

[…Then come over again sometime.]

With a thud, Hana’s blanket rose briefly before settling back down.

“You’re crazy, Yoon Hana.”

Her thin, slender fingers swept down her face.

Even if it was Lee Suhyeok, how could she say something like that?

Bringing him here was a special case, after all.

If that idiot hadn’t mentioned not seeing the previous part, he wouldn’t have had a chance to enter this house this year.

No, for his entire life.

If she had at least had a desktop that could only play DVDs, she wouldn’t have invited him in…

She grumbled to herself despite having no one to listen, then pulled the blanket up to just below her chin.

“…Now I have to bring my effects pedal next week. What a hassle.”

Even as she said this, Hana was trying to remember where she had put her pedalboard bag.

* * *

Thursday.

The day to supervise the juniors’ band practice.

Today’s supervisors were Seo-eun and Suhyeok.

It was the result of a ladder game assignment, and Suhyeok was secretly feeling deeply relieved.

After last week’s experience with Hana and Choegang, he felt like he had just been standing there like a sack of rice, not doing much.

“Suhyeok!”

As he was about to open the club room door, he saw Seo-eun running toward him from a distance, carrying a box.

“Hi.”

“Hiii~”

She was certainly a person with good energy.

Today, as always, Seo-eun greeted Suhyeok with a bright smile as they entered the club room together.

“Hello!”

“Hello.”

“Wow! It’s the Diamond jungler!”

There was an uncomfortable title mixed in, but Suhyeok forced a smile and returned the juniors’ greetings.

“Everyone! The president has brought donuts!”

With her hands on her hips and her chest thrust forward in a pose that seemed to demand praise, Seo-eun announced.

She was definitely a born leader with natural presidential qualities.

“I love you, unnie!”

“Wow! Noona!”

The juniors rushed forward like baby chicks, eager to eat first.

The girls chattered as they picked their flavors first, and then the boys took what was left.

“Suhyeok! You eat too!”

Seo-eun held out the box with only a few donuts left to him.

“Ah. Thanks.”

The remaining donuts were the kind that would inevitably leave white powder on your hands.

Holding a donut in one hand, Suhyeok used his other hand to prevent the sugar powder from falling.

It was certainly more convenient not having to handle instruments.

“Have you decided on the songs?”

Seo-eun asked the freshmen with her mouth full of donut.

“We’ve decided on the current song and the next one.”

“What are they?”

“We’re going to do that Muse song I mentioned before.”

“Oh! Muse is good! Not too difficult either.”

Spirit, with its 24-year history, prepared 4 songs for freshmen and 8 songs for sophomores for the festival.

Since some were just starting to play instruments and they didn’t harmonize well yet, the freshmen’s schedule was more relaxed.

The sophomores had it tough.

It was the responsibility that the main class had to bear.

While the freshmen’s performance was like a cute rookie showcase, the sophomores needed to prove themselves with impressive skills.

No matter how warm the atmosphere seemed, Spirit was ultimately a central club.

It was a den of students who played with their own pride.

Since Suhyeok had joined late, they should have already started on at least the third song by now to keep on schedule.

This burden would probably have to be dealt with right after midterms.

Seo-eun was already considering practice up to four days a week if necessary.

“Well, if you’re all done eating, shall we listen? You didn’t forget what I said on Tuesday, right?”

Seo-eun smiled broadly after licking the sugar off her fingers.

The previously cheerful atmosphere subsided slightly.

Between subduing the wild Choegang and this, Seo-eun definitely had the charisma to control people.

“Shall we start?”

Gonwoo, the 24th generation’s vocalist, took the microphone and nodded, signaling to Sohye, the drummer.

-Clap clap clap clap

The two sticks crossed, setting the rhythm.

The practice session began.

However, Seo-eun, who had made the kids practice, was constantly on her phone.

Thinking she should focus more to give feedback, Suhyeok quietly approached her and was shocked.

On her screen was a notepad.

[Gonwoo]

[Taeho]

[Hyejung]

[Jiho]

[Sohye]

The names of the current practice members were neatly arranged in a single line.

Seo-eun’s busy fingers were leaving detailed feedback for each person.

[Taeho – Arpeggio inadequate, needs additional practice for first verse]

[Hyejung – Slight noise when changing chords / tell Hana]

[Jiho – Acceptable for now. Difficulty too low to evaluate]

[Sohye – Fill-ins are a mess;; / Kang-i needs to talk to her firmly.]

By the end of the practice, Seo-eun was even giving star ratings for each section.

Watching this, Suhyeok felt a chill run down his spine.

Do I actually look okay in her eyes…?

He felt like he should go home and practice guitar right now instead of supervising the juniors.

-Boom boom thud

The freshmen’s first practice session came to an end.

Expecting a brutal critique session to begin, Suhyeok swallowed hard and placed his hands on the desk.

“Everyone.”

Seo-eun, who had been looking down, raised her head.

Is it coming?

Is something big coming again today?

But contrary to Suhyeok’s tense expectations, Seo-eun started clapping.

-Clap clap clap clap

“Good job~ Much better than Tuesday!”

Despite none of the individual ratings exceeding 4 stars, Seo-eun smiled broadly and praised them.

“Really? Whew… that’s a relief…”

“See? I told you we were pretty good!”

“Ah. The practice paid off!”

The freshmen were chattering excitedly among themselves.

Seo-eun gave only very brief feedback and encouraged them to practice more.

She asked Suhyeok if he had any feedback, but he declined, feeling he wasn’t in a position to teach others yet.

He just listened to the freshmen’s somewhat clumsy practice.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

“Hey! Who’s going to the PC bang!”

“I have a part-time job today, so I can’t. Sorry.”

The freshmen left the club room one by one after practice.

Seo-eun, who stayed until the end, gave a bit more feedback to Jiho, who played the same instrument as her, then stretched.

“Bye, Jiho~ Ah~ Good work~ Suhyeok!”

“No, noona worked much harder.”

He hadn’t really done anything, so what hard work was she talking about?

“You’re just going home, right?”

“Ah. Yeah.”

“Okay! Then I guess I’ll see you at the social gathering tomorrow… hmm…”

Seo-eun seemed to be contemplating something.

After confirming Jiho had left, Suhyeok cautiously probed about the contents of the notepad.

“Noona, what did you think of the freshmen’s practice today?”

“Huh? Well, that…”

The gap between her bright expression and her packaged words was deeper than expected, leaving Suhyeok momentarily speechless.

“Wasn’t it garbage?”

Suhyeok began to find Seo-eun a bit more frightening.