Ch.4242. Strawberry Delight Yogurt Blended

“Haah…”

Seo-eun sighed deeply as she put down her phone.

She had told them to come up with a theme for the lyrics and set a direction by the weekend.

But the stories that Suhyeok and Juyeon brought were nothing but dark and gloomy tales of kids with too many complaints about society.

She checked the lyrics they had written once more.

[There’s no future! The world is absurd!]

Really…

If Hana were to put such lyrics to her song, there was a very high probability that she’d collapse while grabbing the back of her neck.

Being the president was this exhausting.

How should she sugarcoat this nicely?

‘Are you crazy?’ ‘Are you in your right mind?’ ‘Don’t you want to do this?’

It was quite difficult to convey her intentions without using harsh words.

Especially when dealing with Suhyeok and Juyeon.

Both were like glass children whose mental state would shatter completely with just one word.

If she spoke too harshly, they’d definitely run away crying, saying they couldn’t do it.

In truth, Seo-eun could have written the lyrics herself without any problem.

A sophomore in Korean Language Education.

She had chosen her major purely out of love for books.

Naturally, her writing skills were far superior to the kids’.

Writing ordinary lyrics, not even poetry, would be no problem at all.

But for Seo-eun, this Spirit activity wasn’t about who could do better.

She wanted everyone to have fun.

She hoped to decorate a page of their lives at the most beautiful age.

But she too was just a college student, only a year older.

She needed somewhere to vent these frustrations.

In the end, Seo-eun called her boyfriend.

Also from the 21st generation.

No one was more reliable than Jaejun, the former president.

Jaejun was quite a different kind of president from Seo-eun.

His instrumental skills were considered the best among all the guitarists in Spirit’s history.

Jaejun had clear leadership qualities.

The leadership to command people.

And the monstrous skills to back it up.

The reason Seo-eun fell for Jaejun was because she admired these qualities in him.

[Hello?]

[Ah. Oppa. Are you busy right now?]

[No? What’s up?]

[Well…]

Seo-eun poured out her complaints about today’s original song story.

Jaejun listened to her story but couldn’t provide a solution.

[So, just write it yourself, I’m telling you.]

[No. It’s only meaningful if we all write it together.]

[In our year, I did everything from composition to lyrics all by myself.]

[Well, aren’t you amazing.]

It was a pointless battle of nerves.

And Jaejun knew very well that he could never win against Seo-eun.

[Then…]

After a brief moment of thought, Jaejun spoke.

[Just tweak what the kids brought a little.]

[Or if you don’t like that either, have them write hopeful lyrics at least for the chorus.]

[Finding a compromise should be fine, right?]

[That’s true.]

[Ugh. If they were in our year, they would have just…]

Jaejun expressed his disgust as if they were insufferable.

[Probably would have left already?]

Seo-eun smiled brightly, as if not denying it.

[Still, I like our kids. They’re all super gentle and kind.]

[Well… I’m not trying to nitpick about that, but what happened with Yoon Hana seeming to like Lee Suhyeok?]

It felt like a grandfather asking about his grandchildren’s love lives.

[Why, Oppa? Do you like Hana?]

When she asked him playfully, she received quite a harsh jeer in return.

[If that high-nosed girl begs and pleads on her knees, asking me to date her, I might consider it?]

[Ooh… so there’s room for consideration?]

[Ah. Stop it, Seo-eun. So what happened?]

Seo-eun chuckled and trailed off.

[Well… in my opinion, about… 98 percent…?]

Of course, the president thought that the probability of them becoming a couple was something that needed to be observed a bit more.

* * *

Knock, knock

Seo-eun’s fist lightly hit the heads of Juyeon and Suhyeok, who were sitting on the sofa.

Of course, it wasn’t hard.

Just enough force to not be unpleasant.

“Hey, you two.”

“Yes.”

Formal speech automatically came out of Suhyeok’s mouth.

It was a habit that emerged whenever Seo-eun lowered her voice.

“I don’t remember if I mentioned this before or not.”

“We’re going to use this song as the final encore at the festival.”

“Shouldn’t it be energetic and exciting?”

The socially awkward kids had no excuse against such reasonable words.

“But if you write things like ‘there’s no future’ or ‘life is like a water flea,’ do you think that’s appropriate?”

“We’re… we’re sorry.”

“…Sorry.”

Seeing them apologize, Seo-eun brushed her hair back.

“Let’s just make some small modifications.”

“No… we’ll start over from scratch.”

Juyeon, fallen into despair, hung her head low in self-reproach.

“No. Let’s just change the chorus a lot and leave the rest as is.”

“How?”

Suhyeok, rereading the lyrics they had prepared, asked Seo-eun.

“Hmm… even though it’s hard and confusing now, spring will come someday? Something like that approach.”

“Spring will come…”

Juyeon repeated Seo-eun’s words.

As if something came to mind, she gripped her pen and began writing phrases in her notebook.

[Spring that hasn’t come yet]

[In these hazy days]

Watching her, Seo-eun gave a thumbs up in approval.

“That’s it! Yes! You can do it!”

Korean Language Education is a department combining “Korean” and “Education.”

Seo-eun began encouraging the kids as if she were doing her teaching practicum.

“With this development, it might be good to say that a day will come when flowers bloom.”

As Suhyeok muttered beside her, Juyeon immediately wrote it down.

[Flowers will bloom☆]

“Why did you add a star?”

“…Because I like it?”

As the three huddled together to revise the lyrics, the clock was already pointing to 7 o’clock.

It meant that the regular practice time was approaching.

-Creeeeak

With the sound of the door opening, Hana entered.

“What are you all doing?”

“Oh? Hi, Hana~”

Seo-eun stood up from her chair to welcome her.

“So Lee Suhyeok and Juyeon left me out, and now you’re in on it too, unnie?”

“No way~ How could that be~”

Since the lyrics were mostly revised, Seo-eun didn’t try to hide what they were doing.

“We were writing lyrics!”

“Oh. I’m looking forward to it.”

At the word “looking forward,” Suhyeok and Juyeon’s shoulders hunched.

Having just been severely criticized by Seo-eun, they were also afraid of Hana’s evaluation.

“Let me see.”

As she held out her hand for the notebook, Juyeon, the owner of the notebook, looked toward Suhyeok.

Suhyeok nodded slightly.

He believed it would be fine since Seo-eun had reviewed it.

On the other hand, Hana’s irritation level was already creeping up even before seeing the lyrics.

“Hey, are you two married or something?”

“Huh?”

“Why do you act like you need your husband’s permission to do anything?”

“It’s… it’s a collaborative work.”

Juyeon hesitated and looked at Suhyeok again.

Suhyeok nodded once more.

‘Ah. This is annoying.’

Setting aside her irritation for a moment, Hana took the notebook and read through the lyrics the two had written.

[Even if I dream]

[The distance doesn’t narrow]

[I’ve pictured that unreachable other side]

[Spring that hasn’t come yet]

[In these hazy days]

[Another night asleep in the distance]

It wasn’t the kind of lyrics Hana had expected.

But she didn’t dislike it.

It was characteristic of them, you could say.

It was evident that Seo-eun had helped, given the somewhat lyrical nature.

“What do you think?”

Seo-eun asked Hana with a proud face.

“Not bad.”

Hana handed back the notebook and sat leaning against the amplifier.

“Finish it up. It seems good.”

Smiles bloomed on the faces of the two who had been anticipating the worst.

Though jealousy stirred within her, Hana had no intention of ruining the warm scene. She habitually reached for her guitar but then put it down.

“Ah, right. No band practice today.”

“Huh? Did you just come without remembering?”

“Yeah.”

No matter how mercilessly Spirit demanded a four-day-a-week activity schedule, they still had to take exams.

Naturally, preparing and practicing new songs during exam period was a big burden.

That’s why Seo-eun had established the principle of no activities for one week during exam periods.

Instead, she suggested that those who wanted to study together in the club room could gather during the usual practice time.

“Ah, wait. Then I should go get coffee first. Anyone want to come?”

When there was no response, Hana, feeling awkward, turned her back.

“Fine. I’m going then.”

It was at that moment, as she grabbed the doorknob.

“I… I’ll go with you.”

Suhyeok, belatedly grabbing his wallet, stuck close behind Hana.

“Hey, if you don’t need anything to drink, you don’t have to come.”

“No, I think it would be good to have something to drink if I’m going to study for a long time.”

“Then follow me if you want.”

Since it was already late, the cafes inside the school were closed.

Hana had no choice but to head to the cafe where she had first taken Suhyeok.

The two of them went down the hill, complaining about how much they hated exam period, and soon reached the cafe.

“What do you want to drink?”

Hana turned her head toward him as they stood in front of the menu.

“Strawberry Delight Yogurt Blended.”

A somewhat unexpected drink came out of Suhyeok’s mouth.

“You like that too?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never tried it.”

“Then why are you ordering it?”

Suhyeok turned his body slightly toward Hana.

“Because it seems like you like it.”

Hana’s eyes trembled.

‘What? What does that mean? Why would you drink something just because I like it?’

Of course, Suhyeok was simply curious about the taste of such a fancy drink.