Ch.34034. Yokai

My heart is noisy.

I tried to quiet the sound, but it was a futile effort.

“…I think I’ll remember it well now.”

Suhyeok’s hand still retained a faint warmth.

In his head, a voice reciting numbers played on repeat.

He wasn’t the only one in poor condition.

Hana kept swallowing repeatedly, unable to stop her hiccups.

“Ah. Just a moment.”

Hana turned her back completely and tried holding her breath.

Surely this would work.

Perhaps it would also dispel this heat like the scorching summer.

Having successfully suppressed her rising hiccups, she continued explaining the last pedal with feigned composure.

“And this is a wah pedal.”

“Wah?”

“You might not have heard the name, but once you hear the sound, you’ll know exactly what it is.”

With a click, she stomped her foot, and the sharp distortion sound became distorted.

-Wowowowong weeeeong

Though she played just one note, the sound produced was closer to a howling “wah-woong wah-woong.”

“Oh…”

Suhyeok had certainly seen guitarists using it often in videos.

So that’s what it was—a pedal called wah.

Hana seemed even more impressive for having studied all these things one by one and even collecting and purchasing all the equipment herself.

“Now, if you combine these pedals…”

The effects weren’t devices that could only be used one at a time.

Mixing delay and chorus could create a dreamy sound, while combining distortion and wah could produce an aggressive sound like a galloping horse.

Hana’s demonstration continued on.

Suhyeok, sitting in the chair right next to her, could only stare at the scene.

Was a woman playing guitar pretty?

Or did Hana look pretty because she was Hana?

Perhaps it was both.

Hana, her gaze fixed on the fretboard, was unaware of Suhyeok’s stare as she tried her best to showcase her playing.

She didn’t want to be someone who owned expensive equipment but couldn’t back it up with her playing.

“Whew.”

Wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead, Hana could finally catch her breath after finishing her performance.

“That’s the general feel of it.”

Instead of answering, Suhyeok applauded enthusiastically.

An undisguisable smile hung on his lips.

“Thanks to you, I learned a lot today. Thank you.”

As if emphasizing his sincerity, his words contained no habitual hesitation or trembling.

And Hana thought his rare, serious gaze was pleasantly intense.

After Suhyeok had time to try the effects himself, today’s lesson seemed to be coming to an end.

Hana coiled the cables neatly and placed them on top of the amplifier before straightening up.

A block box sat on the desk.

Hana, who had even tucked the already opened wrapping paper into her pocket, looked once more at the miniature picture of her guitar.

It was cuter the more she looked at it.

Where on earth did he get something like this?

With curiosity, she casually called his name.

“Lee Suhyeok.”

“Yeah?”

“By the way, where did you buy this?”

“Just a moment. Where was it again? It’s a place Juyeon suggested we go to.”

Searching through his chat history for the answer, Suhyeok failed to notice Hana’s expression.

“…You went with Juyeon yesterday to buy it?”

“Ah. Yeah. Honestly, as you know… I’m not really the type who understands girls’ tastes.”

It wasn’t wrong or a lie.

Lee Suhyeok was someone who needed to fix his own style before worrying about others’ preferences.

But why?

Hana wished she could turn back time to before hearing Suhyeok’s words.

The thought that she’d rather not have heard it crossed her mind.

If mood were weather, it felt like cloudy skies suddenly appearing without warning in what had been a clear sky.

“…I see.”

There’s nothing wrong with that.

Shouldn’t I be happy about it?

After all, Juyeon, who had taken so long to become close with, had chosen a gift for her together with Suhyeok.

“Ah. Found it. Esser Town, second floor. Here it is.”

Suhyeok, oblivious to the atmosphere, cheerfully recited the answer.

“Esser Town is nice.”

Suddenly not wanting to show her face to him, Hana opened her pedalboard bag wide.

After neatly organizing everything, Hana grabbed the bag’s handle and stood up.

“Thanks for the gift, Suhyeok.”

She was still facing away from him.

“I’ll send you a verification shot when I finish building it.”

“Yeah. Send it!”

Suhyeok was still basking in the satisfaction of having successfully completed this difficult gift mission.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Take care.”

Leaving him behind, Hana strode down the corridor with large steps.

As she pressed the elevator button, her fingertips betrayed an inexplicable irritation.

Even Hana, typically insensitive to her own emotions, could now understand.

The switch in her heart had been flipped by the name “Juyeon.”

She had no ill feelings toward Juyeon.

If anything, she liked her—why would she dislike the cute Juyeon?

But whenever Juyeon’s name came from Suhyeok’s lips, it felt like someone was pressing down on her shoulders, making it hard to breathe.

If she were to consider the likely reason for this…

“…That can’t be it.”

What a ridiculous notion.

Muttering to herself as if under hypnosis, Hana took out the box she had put in her pocket.

The gift she liked so much that she couldn’t even throw away the wrapping paper.

Hana had a feeling that the mini block from Suhyeok would become a troublesome object that would disturb her peace of mind whenever she looked at it.

* * *

[Hana really liked it.]

Back home, Suhyeok threw himself onto his bed.

The message chat with Juyeon.

She must have been looking at her phone today too, as the yellow bar disappeared immediately after he sent the message.

[Really?]

[Yeah. She even asked where we bought it.]

It was an achievement accomplished together, not alone.

Suhyeok wanted to quickly share this victory with his fellow loner.

[I do know Hana pretty well.]

Juyeon’s reply seemed slightly boastful.

A smile escaped from the corner of Suhyeok’s lips.

Standing in front of the shopping mall, searching for women’s gifts like a boy—isn’t that too shameless?

Recalling Juyeon’s awkward posture with her phone, Suhyeok decided to tease her a bit.

[Then you must know Hana’s birthday too?]

The “1” had disappeared, but no reply came.

Only after about a minute of silence did Juyeon’s answer return.

[June 4th.]

[You just checked her profile, didn’t you.]

[No, I didn’t.]

Even this had a slight delay.

[Then why didn’t you answer right away?]

[…I got a message from another friend.]

For a moment, Suhyeok almost sent “Which friend?” but successfully resisted the impulse.

A joke is most beautiful when it remains a joke.

He would prefer an immediate answer about who it was, but if there was another buffer, it might lead to a very sad situation.

Whether aware of his consideration or not, Juyeon asked him a question.

[…When’s your birthday, Suhyeok?]

[Mine is December 26th.]

Suhyeok thought this date was quite deflating, even to himself.

A birthday right after everyone celebrates Jesus’s birthday on the 25th.

It felt like being leftover chocolate after Valentine’s Day.

[That’s far away.]

[Right?]

[We celebrate all the birthdays of our year group members.]

Suhyeok’s eyes widened at this new information.

[Really?]

[Yeah. That’s why we all went to eat crab on Kang’s birthday during winter break.]

I should remember the other members’ birthdays too.

[What about you, Juyeon?]

[Mine is August 31st.]

Honestly, Juyeon’s birthday didn’t seem that great either.

It was a date where you’d wake up the very next day to the start of a new semester.

[The day before the semester starts, right?]

[Yeah. That’s why I don’t like it much.]

Juyeon echoed his exact thoughts.

As always, talking with Juyeon was comfortable because they shared similar perspectives.

Even their assessment of unlucky birthdays was similar, making him feel like this must be what having a twin sibling would be like.

[I don’t want to do team projects.]

[Me neither.]

When they first started team projects, both Juyeon and Nayoung were difficult to deal with, but now only Nayoung felt awkward.

Ah…

Come to think of it, Friday will be here again soon.

Just as he was thinking how torturous it would be to face someone after such an uncomfortable conversation…

[Hey, Suhyeok.]

The vibration sound rang again after a moment of silence.

Juyeon’s next message veered quite far from the previous topic.

[I made a new broadcast banner. Can you take a look?]

This time it’s really good, I think.

Surely he’ll say it’s nice?

Juyeon clutched her phone with both hands and stared at the screen.

[I think it would be better to just pay someone to do it…?]

No matter how he looked at it, Suhyeok couldn’t find anything positive to say.