Chapter 24: Arts Festival (1)

[Alright everyone, today’s an important event, so get up quickly. Any students still sleeping need to hurry to breakfast!]

“…Mmm.”

The dorm supervisor’s voice shouting through the speaker gently opened my eyes. Their constant urging had long since chased away any remnants of sleep.

When I pushed myself up from the bed, it was already bright beyond the curtains. I thought I could faintly hear drums being beaten.

Rubbing my eyes, I looked at my phone screen.

Current time: Tuesday, May 24th, 7:15 AM.

Finally, the morning of the arts festival had dawned.

For arts track students, this was their most important annual event. The arts festival with outside guests always carried such meaning, they said. I hadn’t known until last year, but this year I’d learned about it through various channels.

First, because I’d somehow been picked as an arts festival helper.

And second… because I’d become So-yul’s fake boyfriend.

On such a meaningful day, arts track students couldn’t possibly focus on classes. Though the event itself wouldn’t start until after lunch, all morning classes had been canceled for this very reason.

Even Juho, who usually stayed calm, sent messages like [I had to film alone since there was no one to act with. What if the audience laughs at me?] – that said it all.

Of course, for most academic track students, this was all outside their realm of interest.

“Guess I should go study in the study room now if I want to sleep later.”

In fact, my friend in the next dorm room said exactly this to me.

I snorted and offered words of encouragement:

“Good luck with that.”

“Huh? Why? Aren’t you going to the study room?”

My friend asked, clearly confused.

Come to think of it, had I not told them? Well, whatever. Instead of wasting breath explaining, I showed them the name tag around my neck.

Their eyes and mouth opened wide.

“What’s this? VIP guest guide?”

That’s right.

Yesterday, as rehearsal was ending, the teacher in charge of the arts festival approached us helpers who’d been killing time with various distractions.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow’s assignments~”

Then in a drawn-out voice, they started handing out name tags with our names and roles written on them.

Pamphlet distribution, attendance check, auditorium cleaning – all the seemingly easy roles went to others. Finally, I was given the weighty responsibility of VIP guest guide.

“It’s because you’re handsome, that’s why.”

The teacher patted my back while saying this.

Of course, it wasn’t comforting at all.

And so I became a guide escorting VIPs between the main gate and auditorium.

Having to walk alongside perfectly capable people with working eyes and feet just to show them to their seats – could there be a more pointlessly bothersome job?

Thanks to this, my entire morning was spent exhaustively walking back and forth moving people around.

Among them were various parents, and even a member of the National Assembly who came to give congratulatory remarks before the festival. There was even an Assembly member who was someone’s parent. What an impressive school indeed.

After suffering through the whole morning like this, even the teacher seemed to pity me.

“After lunch, you can rest until the festival starts at 2. I’ll have someone else cover until then.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. Many guests arrive late after the festival starts too. You need to save your energy for then.”

That didn’t sound quite right.

But anyway, since they’d granted me rest time, I should gratefully take it. My legs were starting to hurt already. If I kept this up until the festival ended, I’d probably suffer muscle pain for days.

After quickly finishing lunch, I collapsed into a chair near the main gate.

When I stretched out my sore legs, they made cracking sounds. For a moment I thought my bones had broken.

Break time after working hard was truly this sweet.

Lost in these small thoughts while resting, a humid breeze swept past from somewhere.

Looking up, the bright sun was blazing in the blue sky.

Well, it was late May – summer would arrive soon.

Though whether spring or summer, I’d just be focused on studying anyway…

Letting out a tired sigh, I took out my phone. The screen was filled with KakaoTalk messages that had arrived at some point.

As I was slowly reading through with sleepy eyes, my finger suddenly stopped mid-scroll.

There was a message from So-yul.

Looking around to confirm no one was nearby, I carefully opened the message.

[Come to the backstage area before the arts festival starts.]

A message that just stated her business. It was quite like So-yul.

Letting out a small laugh, I wrote back:

[Why?]

The reply came immediately:

[For the fun of the day.]

Seriously.

Imagining So-yul eagerly anticipating this moment for days, I couldn’t help but laugh.

◎

So I made my way to the auditorium, but…

Honestly, I had no idea how to meet So-yul from here.

Though I was an arts festival helper, no one worked backstage. With arts track students already busy preparing, there was no room for helpers to get in the way.

Though it looked less crowded now with people gone for meals, there were still plenty of watching eyes. The risk was too high to carelessly approach So-yul.

But trying to talk while hiding in corners like before… with So-yul’s outfit, it would be like advertising our presence.

Well, what other options were there? If I couldn’t approach, the only solution was to watch from afar. That was the only answer.

With this thought, I carefully stepped into the backstage area.

And there stood a presence that seemed to radiate its own light.

A pure white dress exuding clean, sophisticated charm.

Her long, glossy straight hair fluttered gently. Her large eyes and straight nose boasted an exotic beauty.

Her lips, curved up as if drawn with a brush, seemed to hold So-yul’s characteristic playfulness.

Though I’d thought her small frame would look childish in anything, So-yul in a dress instead revealed an undeniable, bewitching elegance.

While the dress alone might have seemed simple, combined with So-yul’s appearance, it perfectly highlighted her delicate beauty.

Without realizing it, I found my gaze completely captivated.

Perhaps my staring gaze felt intense. Though I hadn’t said a word, So-yul turned her head toward me. Before I could hide, our eyes met directly.

She must not have expected me to be watching from afar – So-yul’s shoulders jumped in surprise. Her cheeks quickly turned red. Her already large eyes grew even wider, visible even from a distance.

Then showing a shy smile…

She gave a small wave at waist height, meant only for me to see.

I closed my mouth that had fallen open at some point and looked away. Then I roughly waved back in greeting.

Well, I understood being careful not to get caught, but I wanted to minimize dangerous behavior as much as possible. If we kept showing small signs, who knew when we’d be discovered. It would be better to avoid facing each other when possible.

The most useful communication method for this situation was obvious.

I took out my phone and sent a KakaoTalk message:

[Is anything uncomfortable?]

After hitting send, I looked up. So-yul checked her phone, then looked at me and wrinkled her nose. This was the best I could do – what else did she want?

Of course, that didn’t last long either. Soon So-yul was giggling while typing.

A moment later my phone buzzed.

[Nope. It’s much more comfortable than it looks.]

Getting this confirmation internally relieved me. A sigh of relief even escaped.

Though So-yul said not to worry, you never knew. There was still a non-zero chance she might have to frantically search for different clothes if it didn’t fit right. That would have been a huge inconvenience to her.

When I looked up thinking how fortunate this was, So-yul smiled brightly at me.

Soon my phone vibrated again:

[How do I look? Does it suit me?]

Well, it wouldn’t be So-yul if she didn’t ask this.

Let’s see. If I said it suited her, she’d obviously tease me. But saying it didn’t suit her would be… well, simply put, it would be a lie.

What would be the right way to answer?

I must have hesitated for quite a while without realizing. While my fingers wavered, another message arrived:

[By the way, you know you’ll have to take responsibility if it doesn’t suit me, right?]

What on earth was she talking about?

Well, this left me no choice. Since I had no intention of taking responsibility for her.

[Fine. It suits you, it suits you.]

The moment I sent this reply, I heard a “huhu” laugh from where So-yul stood.

Was she happy enough to bow down in thanks, or was she pleased at successfully making me give compliments? It was hard to tell what her reaction meant.

Another KakaoTalk arrived:

[It’s all thanks to the person who helped pick it.]

Hmm…

[We should thank the dress shop unnie then.]

My phone buzzed again:

[Don’t be shy.]

I wasn’t being shy though.

We should probably stop this playful dress talk here. Even though we were apart, exchanging glances still risked others noticing us. Plus I needed to restart my guide duties soon.

Snorting, I typed and sent:

[How’s your condition?]

[Perfect. The most energetic I’ve ever been.]

What an exaggeration.

[Oh really, is that so.]

[Yeah. …Maybe because I slept in such a comfortable bed last night.]

What comfortable bed.

I should have asked what I needed to ask. Anyway, it was good that her condition was fine. So-yul had been so worried about making mistakes. It was only natural to hope she could show her full abilities.

As I was feeling somewhat relieved, another message arrived:

[Will you… watch my performance?]

After reading the message, I looked up. So-yul was holding her phone to her lips, staring at me intently with narrowed eyes.

That gaze felt like a silent demand to absolutely come watch no matter what.

Snorting, I typed my answer:

[I’ll end up seeing it whether I want to or not. I have to stay until the end as a helper.]

[Hmph, is that so?]

This came with a pouting bear emoticon.

Looking up, So-yul had also turned her head away in the exact same pose as the bear character.

I’d said I’d end up seeing it whether I wanted to or not, not that I didn’t want to see it. …But I absolutely couldn’t say such embarrassing things. Saying stuff like that as a fake boyfriend would be ridiculous.

So I just wrote:

[Do well.]

After sending just these brief words of encouragement, I turned around.

I thought I heard another “huhu” laugh from behind me.