Ch.8008. Why Are You Lying.

Suhyeok wasn’t the type to go around buying coffee on his own.

Among the many beverages out there, he didn’t think coffee ranked very high in terms of taste, and on the rare occasions when he did feel like having some, he’d usually just buy it from a convenience store.

The place they entered was a café teeming with women.

From Suhyeok’s observations as he looked around, there were some men present, but most of them appeared to be accompanying women who seemed to be their partners.

“Did you say earlier you wanted an Americano?”

When Hana, who was looking at the menu, asked, Suhyeok nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll have a Strawberry Delight Yogurt Blended.”

Strawberry Delight Yogurt Blended, huh.

Suhyeok thought that Hana, true to her appearance, was drinking something equally elegant.

After receiving the buzzer, Hana sat down at a table by the window.

She rested her chin on one hand and stared intently at Suhyeok’s face, where his eyes were hidden from view.

His hair was somewhat shaggy and looked a bit stifling.

Hana particularly wished she could see his eyes.

“Your hair…”

“Hmm?”

“Since when have you been growing it out like that?”

Although it had been trendy for a while for men to grow their hair long like that, it wasn’t particularly common for guys.

“Since graduating high school.”

Suhyeok scratched his head unnecessarily.

“Why?”

“I don’t know, I guess I felt like I should grow it out if I was going to be in a band.”

First Choi Gang, now Lee Suhyeok.

Why did they all have these strange obsessions about being in a band?

She thought both of their quirks were too ambiguous to even tell them not to do it.

“Hey, that’s not a thing. There are plenty of bald guitarists too.”

“Y-yeah, but I think being bald is a bit much!”

“Can I record this and play it for Gang?”

Suhyeok’s head shook vigorously from side to side as if motorized.

A chuckle escaped from Hana’s lips.

“So are you going to grow it out even more?”

“No. I think I like it just this length, so I probably won’t.”

“What? So in the end, you just grew it out because you liked the hairstyle.”

When the buzzer went off, Suhyeok brought the drinks over.

Hana thanked him and took a sip of her drink through the straw.

Suhyeok looked at the drink with its light pink and milky colors—something he’d never spent money on himself.

He thought that if it weren’t for Hana, he probably would have gone his whole life without even knowing the name of such a beverage.

“How was what I taught you today?”

“Which part specifically?”

“Just, you know… if the difficulty was manageable, or if there’s anything you’d like me to do differently next time.”

As if there would be anything.

Suhyeok was already overwhelmed by the fact that someone was taking time out of their day to kindly teach him. He had absolutely no intention of criticizing Hana’s teaching methods.

“No, it was all good. I’ll practice more of what you taught me when I get home.”

“That’s good. But even with just that, you should be able to handle the first verse of Standing Luxury that we’re planning to play.”

The parts of Hana’s recommended song that required different techniques were in the latter half.

Those parts even had similarities to the solo lines Suhyeok had been practicing, which might actually make them easier for him.

“I’ll try to prepare it perfectly by tomorrow.”

As a look of firm determination filled Suhyeok’s eyes, Hana smiled and nodded.

But can he really do it in just one day?

It was generally accepted that playing skills don’t improve overnight.

“It’s okay if you just do as much as you can. The others weren’t perfect from the start either.”

“No, I don’t want to hold everyone back during practice because I’m the only one who can’t play well.”

Suhyeok didn’t want to betray the expectations of the others, who all seemed to believe he would do well.

“Hana, do you have anything else today?”

“After I finish this, I’ll go home and practice for tomorrow’s session, and then I have a part-time job in the evening.”

“If you’re busy, it’s okay if you want to leave first.”

“No, no. I’ve almost finished my drink anyway, and since I have a free period today and came all the way here, I wanted to chat with you too.”

A question mark appeared above Suhyeok’s head at the mention of a free period.

“You had a free period today?”

“Yeah. I don’t have classes on Tuesdays.”

“So… you came to teach me…”

A free period.

An artificial holiday that only a select few successful college students get to enjoy.

The kind of day that makes you so excited about not having to go to school that you can’t sleep the night before and just end up staring at your phone all night—and she used it for someone like me!

“Oh, it’s fine~ Better than not being able to teach you because I don’t have time.”

Suhyeok was nearly blinded by the halo that seemed to shine behind Hana.

“Oh? I finished my drink.”

Hana, who had been thinking about chatting a bit more before leaving, checked the time and put her phone in her pocket.

She gathered the pieces of straw wrapper into her hand, brought the tray to the front, and stood by the entrance.

“Lee Suhyeok. Thanks for the coffee! See you tomorrow?”

“Ah. Yeah.”

“I’m going now.”

Hana waved her hand and turned around.

Left alone, Suhyeok stood there blankly, watching Hana’s retreating figure.

It reminded him of childhood memories of finding unexpected gifts by his pillow.

* * *

-Tick tock tock tock tick tock tock tock tick tock tock tock tick tock tock

Alright.

This should be good enough.

Suhyeok turned off the metronome that was about to drive him neurotic, dark circles clearly visible under his eyes.

After deciding on the songs for the performance, the standard practice was for everyone to rehearse those songs together.

After returning home from the café with Hana, Suhyeok had been clutching his guitar and repeatedly practicing the same sections, except during meal times.

While this might seem like a very tedious process to others, for someone who had been repeating the same song for two years, this level of grinding was as easy as flipping his palm.

In fact, he found this feeling of taking on something new quite refreshing.

“Okay… what time is it now…”

His mind was hazy.

The rhythm of the original song’s accompaniment kept echoing in his head.

After washing his face and changing his clothes, he put on his frequently worn gray sweatshirt and covered his ears with headphones.

He had bought them after seeing online promotions claiming they had the best value for money. While he wasn’t sure about the value, the sound quality was quite good, so Suhyeok didn’t have many complaints.

Standing in front of the mirror with his guitar strapped on:

“Hmm.”

A rather guitarist-like visual.

Suhyeok was quite pleased with himself, looking like someone worthy of a central club position.

As usual, after sitting through the entire class tucked away in a corner, Suhyeok began climbing the stairs to the welfare building.

The club room was on the 5th floor.

By now, he had memorized the password and didn’t need to check his phone.

But today, there was no need for Suhyeok to unlock the door.

Because from inside:

-Boom boom boom boom boomboomboomboom

The deep sound that provides a solid foundation in a band.

The sound of a bass could be heard.

When he opened the door, he saw Juyeon sitting on the sofa looking at her phone and Seo-eun practicing the bass.

Both of them immediately looked toward the door as Suhyeok entered.

“Oh! Hi, Suhyeok!”

“Hi.”

Juyeon slightly nodded her head in greeting when her eyes met Suhyeok’s.

“Did you practice well with Hana yesterday?”

Seo-eun put down her bass and approached Suhyeok.

“Yeah. Hana explained everything kindly and well.”

“Yo~ Sounds like you did well? Yoon Hana gets completely hysterical if you don’t play properly.”

“Really?”

“I’m just saying that, though.”

Seo-eun lowered her voice and whispered in response.

“If you come to practice without having practiced properly on a day when Hana’s in a bad mood, be prepared to get an earful.”

The image of Hana from yesterday, kindly reassuring him, overlapped with this new information, creating confusion.

A growing sense of anxiety.

Can I really do well?

Just as Suhyeok gulped, the door opened again.

Choi Gang and Hana entered next.

“Oh! Everyone’s here?”

Hana, with a guitar on her back, hummed happily.

“Lee Suhyeok!”

Choi Gang, wearing short sleeves again today, approached Suhyeok who was sitting on the sofa.

“…Yeah?”

“You watched Luca-tan’s clip yesterday, right?”

It felt like he might be killed on the spot if he didn’t answer.

“Ah. Yeah.”

Although Seo-eun had told him to filter out what Choi Gang said, Suhyeok thought he should try to get along with Choi Gang too, so he had forced himself to watch the VTuber videos he had no interest in.

“Your thoughts?”

“Uh. She was super cute!”

Suhyeok gave a suitable answer and tried to gauge the reactions of the other members from the corner of his eye…

“Ugh.”

Brief but clear sound.

Along with the expression of discomfort came a gaze of contempt.

Suhyeok, with an arrow seemingly piercing his heart from Juyeon’s gaze, couldn’t meet her eyes.

Ah. Not everyone is accepting of this, I see.

“Alright~ Since everyone’s here, shall we start practicing?”

After a brief chat, the instrumentalists began setting up in front of their respective amplifiers.

After tuning and adjusting the volume, Seo-eun signaled to Choi Gang that she was ready.

“Let’s try just the first verse for now!”

-Clap clap clap clap

The rhythm Choi Gang created with his sticks was identical to the metronome Suhyeok had been listening to all night.

Perhaps due to nervousness, Suhyeok could feel cold sweat trickling down his forehead.

But what helps overcome nervousness is overwhelming practice.

Suhyeok’s hands began to mechanically play the music once again.

Looking for the stars

Desiring shiny moonlight.

What completed the accompaniment was Juyeon’s singing.

Though her voice had a different color from the original, it had a firmness that didn’t get buried under the instruments.

Her English pronunciation was also quite good, causing Suhyeok to be startled a few times while playing and steal glances at her singing.

-Jaaang

As the chorus ended and the buzzing sound from the amplifiers ceased, a somewhat heavy silence fell.

What’s this?

Am I going to get scolded now?

“…It’s not great.”

Those were the first words that fell from Hana’s lips.

“First of all, Choi Gang. You’re speeding up too much. Why can’t you keep the beat?”

“And Seo-eun unnie, if you notice Gang speeding up, you should try to rein him in. Why are you speeding up with him?”

With her legs crossed, Hana began pointing out the shortcomings of the members in a rather aggressive tone.

“And Lee Suhyeok.”

Naturally, the one named last would be the most nervous.

“Why did you lie to me?”

…Lie?

“I didn’t lie about anything.”

“You told me yesterday that you’d never practiced strumming before!”

Hana felt quite upset about having her free period taken away due to Suhyeok’s deception.