Ch.21021. Joint Withdrawal

Suhyeok couldn’t focus on the class at all.

And the same was true for Juyeon.

Ever since she had gone out with Nayoung, she’d been looking like someone who had lost her soul.

She wasn’t even looking at the screen, just constantly scribbling something in her notebook…

What could she have heard that made her like this?

Suhyeok twirled his pen while imagining their conversation in his head.

“That concludes today’s lecture.”

The class ended a bit earlier than usual. Suhyeok packed his bag and stood up.

“Where should we talk?”

He asked Nayoung, who was still packing her things in the seat next to him.

“How about the club room? It’s been a while.”

Purple Storm’s hideout, tucked away in a corner on the 8th floor of the Business School building.

Though reluctant, Suhyeok followed her into the elevator.

When Nayoung entered the passcode and stepped inside, Suhyeok instinctively felt his breath catch.

The combo amp still stacked with dust. The broken cymbal still hanging on the drum set.

Memories from the past year came flooding back.

“So… what did you want to talk about?”

“Suhyeok.”

Nayoung slightly jerked her head toward a chair, gesturing for him to sit.

“I had a brief chat with Juyeon earlier.”

At the sudden mention of the Spirit member’s name, Suhyeok’s body began to stiffen.

Despite his resolve coming here, his guard crumbled pathetically at the mere mention of Juyeon’s name.

“She said you seem to be having trouble adjusting to club life.”

Suhyeok’s eyebrows trembled.

Was that statement true? Did Juyeon really say such a thing to Nayoung?

No way. Juyeon wouldn’t say something like that.

Their bond was still too weak to make such a definitive judgment.

And perhaps that statement might actually be true.

Even Suhyeok himself sometimes felt like he was on the outside looking in.

Like when they talked about old stories only they knew. Or when they discussed original compositions the other day.

I still haven’t completely blended in here.

Perhaps this was something that could never be resolved.

“…So?”

What was she really trying to say?

Nayoung slowly approached Suhyeok and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“I want you to come back to Purple Storm.”

There were two main reasons why Nayoung was trying to win Suhyeok back.

The first reason:

It was about the continued existence of Purple Storm as a club.

The facts Suhyeok knew about Purple Storm were confidential matters that should never leak outside.

It would not be welcome if he suddenly gained friends or courage to spread those secrets around.

He needed to remain their ally until the end.

At least until he went to the military.

The second reason:

It was something extremely personal yet important. Perhaps the real reason she was going to such lengths.

After Suhyeok joined Spirit, Nayoung couldn’t erase the discomfort bubbling inside her.

At first, she was certain he would be rejected.

How could someone like Lee Suhyeok get into a central club?

It just didn’t make sense from the start.

But he had boldly passed the audition, and now seemed to be looking at her with increasingly dismissive eyes.

And Nayoung simply couldn’t accept the tilting scales of their relationship.

“We had good times together, didn’t we?”

Not many relationships are doomed from the very beginning.

Same university. Same department.

The image-conscious Purple Storm members wouldn’t openly disrespect their fellow student from the start.

“…I’m still not coming back.”

Suhyeok answered with rare firmness.

He wished she would stop selling those shallow memories.

“Have you thought about what the Spirit members would think? You should consider their feelings too!”

“Suhyeok. You’d be better off staying with us at a smaller scale like our club, trust me.”

Lee Suhyeok was supposed to remain beneath Kim Nayoung and Purple Storm.

That was how it should be.

“I’ll talk to our members. I’ll tell them you can play guitar here as much as you want!”

Regardless of how reasonable her argument was, her voice carried a deep sense of appeal.

If he hadn’t gotten into Spirit, Suhyeok would probably have hesitated and considered going back.

But now he was a proper guitarist of Spirit.

“…Playing alone isn’t being in a band.”

Suhyeok was startled by the coldness of his own voice.

* * *

[Suhyeok]

[Could you come to today’s gathering 15 minutes early?]

Suhyeok began to feel anxious upon receiving Juyeon’s text.

His mood was still unsettled from his conversation with Nayoung hours earlier.

He had decided not to dwell too much on what Nayoung had said. He didn’t want to get entangled with her anymore.

But Juyeon was different.

Within the Spirit group, Juyeon was someone whose mere presence gave Suhyeok a sense of comfort.

Although he occupied the position of “that kind of person” in the thought “If even someone like that can get along here…”, Suhyeok still felt very fond of Juyeon.

A sense of kinship without words. Emotional connections that could be shared without explanation.

When the other members were causing a commotion, Juyeon would often stand beside Suhyeok, both of them blankly watching the scene unfold.

But now, the colleague he trusted…

-She said you seem to be having trouble adjusting to club life.

Nayoung’s words still echoed in his ears.

“Haah…”

A sigh escaped him, laden with murky anxiety.

Suhyeok got up from his bed.

If she wanted to meet 15 minutes early, he should leave now to arrive just in time.

Donning the gray hoodie—a cost-effective item even Hana had approved of—Suhyeok began to move with heavy steps.

The Spirit club room door was already open.

Juyeon, noticing Suhyeok’s arrival, put down her phone on the sofa.

“Hi.”

Suhyeok awkwardly greeted her again, despite having seen her earlier in the day.

“Hey.”

Juyeon was looking at him with a somewhat solemn expression.

“Um…”

She bent down to take something out of her eco bag.

A pristine white envelope was clutched in her small hand.

“You just need to sign here, okay?”

“…Sign?”

“Even though today is the last day… I was happy to be with you, even if it was brief…”

Everything except the greeting left him with question marks.

Suhyeok’s brain couldn’t keep up with the conversation.

He took the paper Juyeon handed him.

It was filled with neat, cute handwriting, but when he read the content, he sharply inhaled.

‘What is this…?’

[Economics majors Park Juyeon and Lee Suhyeok have decided, after careful consideration, to withdraw from Spirit for the club’s continued development.]

[Thank you for accepting us despite our cluelessness, inadequacies, and selfishness.]

[We hope you find a more talented vocalist and guitarist.]

[We’ll pay the membership fee only until this month.]

There were faint water stains at the end of the sentences, as if tears had fallen on them.

“Here’s a pen.”

As if everything had already been agreed upon, Juyeon tried to hand him a pen, but Suhyeok needed to stop her for a moment.

“Why suddenly… why are you withdrawing? And why… why am I suddenly…?”

“I heard everything. That you didn’t actually want to join Spirit but were forced to.”

“Maybe it would be better to talk with the Purple Storm members again…”

It seemed Nayoung had said something misleading to Juyeon.

Setting aside the need to clarify this later, why on earth was Juyeon suggesting they leave together as a package deal?

“…Why are you leaving?”

“Because I’m clueless, inadequate, and selfish… there’s no helping it… You sign too! Quickly! If we delay any longer, it’ll be irreversible…!”

She had thought they were getting along well, but realizing that the members had actually been tolerating her all this time made Juyeon feel like she might burst into tears at any moment.

“Huh…?”

Just as he was about to ask for further explanation, the firmly closed door swung open.

It was the club president, Seo Eun, entering with her dark black hair flowing.

She tilted her head curiously at the sight of the two positioned like a couple over a single pen.

“Hi? What are you two doing?”

Before Juyeon and Suhyeok could hide the paper, Seo Eun reached the desk in a single stride.

She began to carefully read the contents of the document Juyeon had brought.

The cheerful expression gradually disappeared from her friendly face.

Though the temperature hadn’t changed, the air seemed to grow colder.

“Who was it.”

Having finished reading the document and understanding its nature, Seo Eun’s lips curled up on one side in a sinister smile.

“Who said such hurtful things to our Juyeon.”

The two reacted as if wondering how she knew.

Indeed, not just anyone could become the president of a central club.