Ch.4646. The First Disciple

This is embarrassing.

I want to die.

How could I get so immersed even though I knew it was all acting!

Suhyeok was in despair.

It was too pathetic to talk about his pride as a man given his usual behavior, but he still felt ashamed for crying in front of Hana.

Overwhelming shame and self-loathing.

Suhyeok had to endure pain that felt like his limbs were twisting.

“Hey. Are you okay now?”

Hana stepped back and examined his condition.

“…Yeah. You should go now, Hana.”

“Where do you want me to go? I’m not leaving.”

“Ah… I… I’m really fine now, so you can go. Thanks for teaching me how to scold people today…”

Suhyeok rambled without even lifting his face.

Hana snickered at the sight, finding it ridiculous.

“That doesn’t look like the face of someone who’s okay, if I’m being honest.”

Hana crouched down to check Suhyeok’s face again.

Behind his drooping bangs,

she caught sight of his swollen eyes.

With a smile in her eyes, she playfully asked:

“…Want another hug?”

To be completely honest.

There was a tiny bit.

Just a fingernail’s worth of self-interest involved.

Because when Suhyeok pulled her into his arms, Hana had felt a strange flutter in her chest.

Lee Suhyeok is hugging me.

Lee Suhyeok is depending on me.

Lee Suhyeok wants me…?

The more she repeated these thoughts, the more Hana felt her brain tingling.

She had made him cry with harsh words, yet here she was enjoying comforting him with a hug.

An improper, twisted progression of events.

Yet strangely, that transgression only felt sweet to Hana.

“No… I’m fine…”

Suhyeok sniffled and regrettably declined her offer.

What happened earlier was just because his emotions were running high, but he thought it would be rude to keep hugging Hana when they weren’t even dating.

What if someone saw them?

“Sorry. I’m being weird.”

“Hey. Why are you apologizing? I’m the one who yelled at you.”

“But seriously, if you do that to the juniors tomorrow, they’ll definitely all cry.”

Suhyeok forced a smile, trying to change the mood with a joke.

“I was still relatively gentle because I’m a woman. If you saw what senior Jino and the others did last year, they were foaming at the mouth and practically fainting.”

“Jino?”

“The 22nd generation president, the senior right above us. I was imitating him just now. You probably haven’t seen him. He’s in the military now.”

The 22nd generation of Spirit had a completely different vibe from the 23rd.

Unusually, the 22nd generation had a severely skewed gender ratio.

The drummer, both guitarists, and the bassist were all men.

The only woman was Heejin, the female vocalist.

Because of this, they were rough and wild.

If the current club atmosphere led by Soeun could be described as harmonious, back then it was nothing short of a jungle.

Harsher words were exchanged.

Raw, unfiltered feedback was given.

Today’s 23rd generation members were like flowers that had somehow bloomed in the middle of a dense forest.

“Well. Anyway. Last year was last year.”

Hana turned around and gestured that it was time to go back.

Suhyeok, whose eyes were still swollen, pulled his bangs forward as much as possible.

He looked like a dog in desperate need of a trip to the groomer.

Hana made another mental note:

She would definitely do something about that hair before the performance.

“Anyway! You’ll be able to give Taeho the same surprise the day after tomorrow, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Good~ You need to show your dignity as a senior at least once. I believe in you, okay?”

Although she doubted this would change Suhyeok’s image, Hana still patted his back encouragingly.

“Yeah. I’ll do my best.”

“Great. See you tomorrow.”

Hana turned around and walked away.

The confusion in Suhyeok’s heart grew even larger.

* * *

Inside a long, thin full-length mirror.

There was a young woman pointing her finger with an angry face.

“No. That’s not how you sing!”

Last spring.

Juyeon, who had suffered a lot.

She had been waiting for this day.

She had been scolded so harshly.

When the seniors who had been setting the mood suddenly said, “This was all a joke!” she had felt murderous rage.

Juyeon had shown almost the same reaction as Suhyeok did with Hana.

The painful memory of her youth when she could only shed tears without saying a word!

Now it was time to return that suffering.

“…Your vocal technique is completely wrong from the start.”

This should be scary enough, right?

Though she was secretly proud of herself, if Soeun or Hana had seen her, they would have told her never to act like that.

She had no self-awareness whatsoever.

Her behavior closely resembled a sulking child throwing a tantrum.

-Vrrrrr

Her phone vibrated.

She wondered who it could be at this late hour, but it was Suhyeok.

She wasn’t surprised, and now she even felt somewhat glad.

[Hello?]

[…Juyeon.]

She listened carefully to his serious-sounding voice.

[Yeah. What’s up? Did something happen?]

[Well…]

After returning home from his special training with Hana, Suhyeok had fallen into deep contemplation.

He had seen Hana’s demonstration, but he simply couldn’t replicate it.

He had never spoken so loudly in a presentation before.

And to scold someone while acting!

But he didn’t want to betray Hana’s trust.

If he couldn’t even pull off this prank properly… if he ruined the mood…

Although it was just acting, Hana’s sharp words remained vivid in his mind.

[At the very least, you shouldn’t be a burden!]

The word “burden” pierced Suhyeok’s heart.

He hated it.

He absolutely hated that.

He really didn’t want to hold everyone back when they were preparing something together.

After much deliberation, he decided to open up to Juyeon.

She had a similar personality to his, and since she hadn’t received special training, she must have her own plan.

[Hmm… So you’re asking me to teach you how to scold juniors?]

[Right?]

[…You’ve come to the right person.]

Having practiced in front of the mirror, Juyeon was full of confidence.

[I’m a professional, you know.]

Suhyeok, holding the phone to his ear, burst into laughter.

[Did you just laugh?]

[No. No, I didn’t.]

Though he denied it, what could he do? It was funny.

Park Juyeon putting on airs.

It was certainly a rare sight.

[Hmm… But to pass on this know-how, I think it would be better to see it in person.]

[Can you show me tomorrow then?]

[You want me to show you at school?]

[Uh… Yeah? In the club room or something…]

Juyeon had no intention of previewing this in front of everyone.

She wanted to surprise the rest of the 23rd generation members too.

[If you come to my place now… I can teach you.]

Suhyeok had already visited her home several times.

Juyeon, who always kept her room tidy, had no reservations about inviting him.

[Huh? Now?]

[Yeah. Your place is close anyway, right?]

It was only a three-minute walk, but Suhyeok was concerned about the late hour.

[…Are you sure it’s okay?]

[Yeah. Thirty minutes will be enough.]

At the mention of thirty minutes, Suhyeok scratched his head and got up.

[Alright. I’ll be there soon.]

[Okay!]

Wearing slippers and his department jacket, Suhyeok left his place.

When he reached Juyeon’s house and rang the doorbell, he heard hurried footsteps from inside.

“Hi.”

Today, Juyeon was wearing pajama pants and a white t-shirt.

“Hi.”

Interestingly, she was wearing glasses, which made her already youthful face look even more like a high school student with those round frames.

“The glasses… Did you always wear contacts before?”

“No? These are blue light blocking glasses.”

“I see…”

“Don’t I… look like a teacher?”

Her eyes sparkled with expectation.

Suhyeok swallowed the honest opinion that had risen to his throat.

“So. What’s the scariest way to scold Taeho?”

Suhyeok asked seriously as he sat on Juyeon’s bed.

“F-First, you need to address him powerfully.”

Juyeon straightened her chest and imparted her secret technique.

“Address him?”

“Yeah. Say ‘Hey’ in a scary way.”

“Hey.”

Suhyeok tried it as instructed.

Whether it was effective remained questionable.

“No, no. That’s not how you do it.”

“Then how?”

Juyeon crossed her arms and demonstrated in what she thought was a dignified posture.

“Hey.”

“Pfft.”

This time, Suhyeok couldn’t hold back his laughter.

He had been thinking she seemed a bit clumsy all along, but Juyeon’s acting just now was…

It sounded like someone calling a friend in a children’s cartoon.

“Ah. Why are you laughing! Wasn’t I good?”

“Sorry… But really… I think you might be worse than me…?”

Juyeon was shocked.

Coming to ask for help but then insulting the teacher!

This was unacceptable.

“T-Then why don’t you try it, Suhyeok!”

“Me?”

“Yeah! Try scolding me. H-Honestly, if you came to me, you probably aren’t much better.”

Juyeon planned to hit him with facts if he failed.

“So… I should pretend to scold you, right?”

“Yeah! We both know it’s acting, so you can even say harsh things!”

The result…

“Why… why… are you saying such mean things to me… uhuhu… ahahaa…”

“Lee Suhyeok… I… I… thought we were… friends… hueup…”

Juyeon was crying her eyes out in Suhyeok’s arms.

Suhyeok was frantically patting her back.

Surprisingly, Suhyeok turned out to be Hana’s star pupil.