Ch.5858. Worry

After having lunch and returning, it had already been an hour since practice began.

Jiho, who had been watching the second-year students practice, ran toward Seo-eun on stage.

“Noona!”

“Ah! The call came!”

As the bass sound stopped, the rest of the members also halted their playing.

With the volume turned up so loud during practice, there was no way anyone could hear a phone ringtone.

But today was the special gratitude event where seniors were laboring for their juniors.

Seo-eun had given strict orders to Jiho, her direct bass junior, to run to her immediately when a call came in.

[Hello!]

As the ensemble practice was interrupted by Seo-eun’s phone call, Suhyeok took the opportunity to stretch.

Since there had been criticism that he stood too still while playing, Suhyeok was practicing moving his body while playing the guitar.

Even while swaying to the rhythm, he couldn’t compromise on the quality of his playing, so his eyes naturally remained fixed on the fretboard.

But as he continued staring only at the fretboard while playing, Seo-eun advised him to try communicating with the audience as well.

Whose rhythm was he supposed to follow?

The guitarist with zero stage experience had many concerns.

Beyond just playing, his performance skills seemed to have a long way to go.

[Ah! Of course! I’ll come right out now! Yes~ I’m coming~]

Seo-eun hung up the phone with a bright smile.

“Everyone, the OB seniors are here! First-years, come out!”

Seo-eun led the freshman chicks out of the auditorium like a kindergarten teacher taking children on a field trip.

Naturally, seniors tend to prefer the fresh-faced first-years.

It was similar to how grandmothers often welcome their grandchildren more warmly than their own children.

Juyeon came down from the stage and sat on a seat in the audience area.

‘Ah… I don’t like seniors…’

Juyeon found both juniors and seniors burdensome.

She preferred practicing only with students from her own year.

Especially when Seo-eun wasn’t around, those moments often became her biggest hurdles.

Seo-eun was like a parent and a reliable shield all in one.

Even at a spacious eight-person table, Juyeon wasn’t afraid if Seo-eun was with her.

But without Seo-eun by her side, even just two seniors in front of her would make her feel incredibly intimidated.

Choegang sat on the drum chair and took out his phone.

It was the only chair allowed on stage, forbidden to other sections and vocalists.

For him, it was a space like home, a fortress that provided psychological stability.

Suhyeok also took off his shoulder strap to rest for a while, but Hana was still standing still, idly strumming her guitar.

“Hana, wouldn’t it be better for you to take a break too?”

“…No.”

She had seemed to be in a good mood until just a moment ago, but her demeanor had clearly changed.

“…Is something wrong?”

“No.”

Though she denied it, Hana’s expression wasn’t good.

Her hands kept practicing [Dawn is Blue], an original song by the 23rd generation.

“But… isn’t that song okay?”

It felt a bit awkward to say this directly, but [Dawn is Blue] was one of the easier songs among those prepared for the performance.

The most difficult part was the solo created by Suhyeok himself, and even that was Suhyeok’s responsibility.

Hana’s parts mostly consisted of simple backing or some arpeggios (a technique where you pluck each string of a chord one by one).

In other words, there was little reason for Hana to be so fixated on it.

“…The seniors are coming.”

The one-year gap between Suhyeok and the rest of the 23rd generation members.

While there was almost no difference in information about juniors, the situation was different with seniors.

The only senior Suhyeok had directly spoken with was Jaejun, Seo-eun’s boyfriend.

Knowing this, Hana couldn’t share her concerns with Suhyeok.

“Ah… Are you worried that the seniors might scold you if you don’t play well?”

“No. They wouldn’t do that. With the performance just two days away, why would people who aren’t even the main year group bother scolding us?”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Suhyeok couldn’t think of any issues if the seniors were only going to offer encouragement.

“…Never mind.”

She almost spoke up but swallowed the words that had risen to her throat.

It was something he wouldn’t understand anyway.

Hana knew.

She knew that among all the members, she was the one who took music most seriously.

Even the decision to create original songs had started from her own ambition.

While all the members praised her as amazing, Hana feared being evaluated.

Especially standing before people with more musical talent and knowledge than herself felt like an enormous burden.

There was Jaejun oppa from the 21st generation, known as Spirit’s legend, and Byeongcheol sunbae from the 18th generation.

The 16th generation even had a senior whose main profession was being a drummer.

“I’m going out for a bit.”

Feeling suffocated, Hana hung her guitar on the stand and went down the stairs.

Suhyeok followed her down but headed toward the seat next to Juyeon.

“After graduation… I’m never coming back…”

It wasn’t clear who she was talking to, but Juyeon was chanting some kind of indecipherable spell like a shaman.

“What are you doing?”

“…I was making post-retirement plans.”

“You’re already thinking about retirement?”

“No. Retirement from Spirit.”

Come to think of it, there were only about six months left until the 23rd generation would become OBs.

“You plan that in advance?”

“Yes. I’ve decided I’ll never come back.”

“No one calls it a plan when it’s just about not doing something, Juyeon.”

“I-I’m not coming back for the sake of future juniors who would feel burdened like me…!”

Juyeon was volunteering for the role of Dark Knight without anyone asking.

After about ten minutes, the door to the small auditorium swung open.

“Hey~ Choegang~”

At the booming voice that sounded almost like a battle cry, Choegang raised both arms high.

“Welcome, hyungnim!”

Among the OBs, Choegang was a superstar in his own right.

Honestly, even if he didn’t have such an outgoing personality, the fact that he was a bald drummer alone would have left an indelible impression.

“Juyeon! Suhyeok!”

As Seo-eun called their names, the two awkwardly stood before the group of seniors.

“H-Hello.”

“Hello.”

The only familiar face was Jaejun.

Suhyeok’s time of enduring discomfort had begun.

“Ah~ So this is the new guy!”

“Yes! That’s right!”

“What’s your name?”

“L-Lee Suhyeok.”

“Great! I’m Jang Eunho from the 17th generation. I was a guitarist too! Hahaha!”

Not knowing how to respond, Suhyeok laughed along.

“But where’s Hana?”

Hana was also famous among the seniors.

It was more due to her beauty than her skills.

Last year, when Hana entered as a freshman, there were even rumors that Spirit might finally produce an idol.

Seo-eun also looked around, unable to find where Hana had gone.

“Suhyeok, where did Hana go?”

“Ah. Yeah. She said she was going somewhere a little while ago.”

“Really? I should try calling her.”

The call went through, but Hana didn’t answer.

“Hmm… Since the seniors are here, it would be good to practice right away…”

“Just let the first-years go first. Yoon Hana will be back soon.”

Jaejun, with his arms crossed, suggested an alternative in a somewhat casual tone.

“Right. That’s better. First-years! Can you all get ready for ensemble practice?”

The first-years went on stage.

The second-years split into two teams: hospitality and search.

Seo-eun and Choegang were in charge of entertaining the seniors.

This was also Seo-eun’s consideration for the two introverts who found seniors intimidating.

“Come back as soon as you find her, okay?”

They had gone out to the hallway, but the quest to find Hana seemed quite daunting.

“…Should we go together?”

Suhyeok asked Juyeon.

“No. I think it’s better to split up. I’ll search from the 6th floor to the 3rd floor. You check from the basement to the 2nd floor.”

“What if she’s not there?”

“I think we’ll probably find her by then… but… call me. Okay.”

“Got it.”

Suhyeok took the elevator down and found Hana in a somewhat unexpected place.

She was sitting on a sofa placed in an odd spot next to the dance studio, biting her nails.

As if deep in thought,

Hana didn’t notice Suhyeok’s arrival until he was right in front of her.

From her phone, [Dawn is Blue] was playing at a very low volume.

“Hana.”

Suhyeok called her name.

“…Huh? What? How did you find me here?”

“The seniors are here, so I came looking for you.”

“Oh. They came earlier than I expected.”

“No, you’ve been gone for over 30 minutes now.”

“Ah. Sorry. Let’s go.”

Just as she got up, brushing off her seat:

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

Throughout his search for Hana, Suhyeok had been pondering why she seemed down.

The reason she couldn’t let go of such a simple original song.

“I really think your song is great.”

Suhyeok’s face filled Hana’s eyes.

“I mean… this might be me overstepping…”

A friend.

A friend is someone who stays by your side during difficult times.

Someone who helps solve problems when difficulties arise.

So this…

This was something Suhyeok felt he had to do.

“I think the seniors will all love it when they hear it.”

“So I think… you don’t need to be afraid…”

It had no basis.

It might seem like he was just saying it after reading the room.

If he was going to offer encouragement, he could at least put more effort into it.

“Who said I was afraid?”

But strangely, Hana’s worries began to melt away like snow.

What came was a warm spring.

Somehow, right now.

Hana thought she could pretend not to notice Suhyeok’s flirtatious words.