Chapter 6 : Funny Songs

The night air was cold.

The can in my hand was colder than that.

It was a drink I had never seen before.

It wasn’t something I liked or regularly drank.

The design was strange, and barley-flavored soda?

But when I took a sip,the sensation that spread in my mouth was surprisingly pleasant.

It wasn’t a familiar taste, nor one I expected, yet somehow it made me feel good.

I looked down at the can.

“…That’s strange.”

I muttered quietly.

I never thought the drink he handed me would match my taste this well.

Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Maybe it just happened to be a lucky match.

But.

I looked up at him.

A clear silhouette under the streetlight.

A face where emotions were hard to read.

Yet somehow, in his indifference, I felt a hidden kindness.

Behind the gym,at the bus stop…why is it that I keep getting caught by this person?

I rubbed the can again with my fingertips.

He shrugged his shoulders in front of me.

“If it’s okay, drink it.

If you don’t like it, throw it away.

It’s a buy-one-get-one deal anyway.”

His voice was low.

Indifferent, but not light.

I couldn’t help but think about his words.

I drank it because I wanted to, not because he picked it out for me.

But somehow, realizing that it actually matched my taste better than expected made my insides tingle.

“Contact?”

I spoke first.

As soon as I said it, my heart skipped twice.

Not a “thud, thud,” but a “thud-thud,” fast-paced.

He looked up.

“What?”

“…We’re in the same club, so I thought it might be useful.”

He casually pulled out his phone.

I naturally followed suit.

[Contact added.]

The small notification popped up, and I held my breath for a moment.

He closed his phone.

But still, I kept looking down at the screen for a while.

Just a simple club friend.

And yet.

I almost pressed the name again.

My fingertips froze for a second.

“Strange.”

It could just be a simple misunderstanding.

Maybe our tastes just happened to match.

And maybe I took his kindness too much to heart.

But, I gently traced the can with my fingertips and quietly looked up at him.

“See you tomorrow.”

I left a short greeting and got on the bus.

Soon the door closed, and the bus slowly started moving.

The bus stop faded into the distance outside the window.

He was still standing there.

Not going anywhere, just standing still.

That sight bothered me.

My fingertips stiffened subtly.

Just as the distance between us was slightly off, so were my feelings.

I leaned against the window, quietly holding my phone.

Feeling something for him, though I hadn’t named it.

But.

The fact that the drink he handed me tasted surprisingly good kept circling in my head.

The performance club, with its long history, was large in scale.

I don’t even know how many new members there were.

There were so many it was hard to count.

New students naturally grouped together on one side of the auditorium.

They were talking, divided into large groups of girls and boys.

I casually watched the scene as I organized the camera equipment.

On the girls’ side, the atmosphere heated up with a discussion about ideal types.

“But what about Senior Yeonhee, what’s your ideal type?”

Someone jokingly asked, and Seoyeonhee stopped fiddling with her tablet and smiled playfully.

“Hmm~ When it comes to love, you can’t just be emotional.

You have to consider each other’s personalities.

Rather than just being overly nice, a person who knows how to lead and has a sense of things is important.”

“Oh~ As expected, a love expert!”

“You really seem experienced!”

Seoyeonhee smiled like it was nothing.

“Of course.

In theory, I’m a love master.”

“Huh? Theory?”

The atmosphere became a bit odd at that.

“Well, when you read books or watch movies, you see patterns, right? The important thing when you’re starting a relationship is—”

“Senior, you don’t have any real experience, do you?”

The quiet atmosphere suddenly became noisy.

Seoyeonhee flinched and hurriedly looked back at her tablet, avoiding eye contact.

“Well, that’s not the important part.

The important part is the flow!

Love is all about timing, you know?”

“So, you’ve never experienced timing yourself?”

Seoyeonhee quickly looked at Lee Jian as if asking for help. Her gaze and question were urgent, like a cry for help.

“Jian, what about you?”

“Huh?

Me?

I like people who are indifferent but kind to me?”

“Wow?

That’s oddly specific.

Do you have someone you like?”

The girls stared at her suspiciously.

Seoyeonhee sighed quietly behind her, relieved.

“No, really.

There’s no one.”

Lee Jian waved her hand, looking flustered, and avoided eye contact.

And then, by chance, her eyes met mine.

She hesitated for a moment, then quickly turned away.

On the opposite side, the boys were talking about similar things.

“Looks matter, after all.”

“Right.”

“She has to be pretty.”

In the midst of that, one of them added.

“Isn’t Senior Park Nayul pretty ?

She’s totally my ideal type.”

That comment caused a stir.

“Get real.

Don’t look at trees you can’t climb.”

“Imagination is free, right?”

Yoon Jihoo smiled awkwardly, listening.

Then, the conversation naturally shifted elsewhere.

“Now that I think about it, isn’t Lee Jian pretty good too?”

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t she decent?”

Yoon Jihoo tilted his head, and immediately there was a rebuttal.

“She’s pretty.”

“She is pretty.”

“She’s no joke.”

Then suddenly, someone seemed to realize something.

“Oh, but you guys are childhood friends, right?

Are you dating?”

At that moment, the words that came from the boys reached the girls as well.

“What?

Are you two dating?”

The girls murmured.

All eyes turned to Yoon Jihoo and Lee Jian.

[Main episode flow detected. Perspective fixed.]

A system message appeared without warning.

At that moment, Park Nayul, who was passing by between the girls, stopped walking.

A playful smile was on his face.

“What are you talking about?

Are Jian and Jihoo dating?”

Then Yoon Jihoo smiled awkwardly and said,

“We’re not really like that.”

“Really?”

“It’s just a simple friendship.”

Yoon Jihoo waved his hand awkwardly, firmly setting a boundary.

While doing so, he subtly glanced at Park Nayul’s reaction.

The guys’ attention quickly shifted elsewhere.

“Jihoo?”

“You said Jihoo, right, senior?”

The boys’ eyes grew wide.

They stared at Yoon Jihoo, seemingly asking why he was so close to Park Nayul.

“What’s the problem?

I can call him by his first name.”

“Then why do you call Lee Jian by her last name?”

“How would I know?”

The boys’ jealous stares turned toward Yoon Jihoo.

“Traitor!”

“Deceiver!”

…It was just that Park Nayul’s sense of personal boundaries was a bit off.

Meanwhile, the girls’ group had a new question.

“Are you really not involved?”

I quietly looked at Lee Jian.

She was smiling lightly.

Her lips curved upward with ease, but her fingertips subtly moved.

That small motion caught my attention.

‘Maybe…’

Perhaps Yoon Jihoo’s words bothered her.

She had drawn the line too clearly, too decisively.

She would probably say she was fine.

She’d brush it off like it was nothing.

But at that moment,her gaze shifted toward me.

Lee Jian, in the same firm tone, said,

“We really aren’t involved.

We’re just friends.”

For some reason, it felt like she was talking directly to me.

It was probably just a misunderstanding.

Overthinking.

I thought that and quickly looked away.

“Is there something over there?”

“Why do you suddenly look like you ate something sour?”

“It’s nothing.”

Of course, I wasn’t feeling great.

The back stairs of the gym.

“Good job.”

When I finished organizing the camera equipment, Kwon Hyuktae spoke.

I nodded slightly in response to his words.

“Is it always this few people?”

“Oh, the camera crew usually doesn’t have many volunteers.

Since it’s not like a performer who stands out, or like a director who coordinates everything.”

“A quiet observer, then?”

“Oh, good expression.

That’s right.”

Kwon Hyuktae nodded with a satisfied smile.

“But not a bystander.”

“What’s the difference?”

“It’s different.

A bystander doesn’t intervene, but an observer can.

They can be a witness or a helper.”

For a moment, my hand stopped.

“Can’t they be the protagonist?”

“The protagonist?

That’s probably difficult.

We need to focus on the performers, after all.”

“I was just saying that.”

Sometimes, I wonder.

Am I moving according to my own free will, or am I just a pawn in the system?

I felt suddenly melancholic.

Noticing my gloomy expression, Kwon Hyuktae didn’t say anything and just patted my shoulder before leaving.

I sat down on the stairs.

‘Maybe I should watch that.’

Wasn’t that the video I filmed?

I rummaged through my bag and took out my earbuds.

I put them in just to listen to the sound, and put my phone back in my pocket.

No matter how many times I listen to it, it’s still a funny song.

Tone-deaf, and off-beat. But for some reason, I have a surprisingly nice voice.

It made me smile involuntarily.

Just then, someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned my head.

Softly.

A small, slender finger touched my cheek.

It was Lee Jian.

I was startled for a moment and my eyes widened.

“What’s up?”

“Haha.

You actually have an expression?”

Lee Jian sat next to me, bursting into laughter.

I quickly put my earbuds back in as I replied.

“I’m human too.”

‘I almost got caught.’

I almost got caught filming the video.

“So, what are you listening to that’s making you laugh so much?”

“It’s just a bit of a funny song.”

“Really?”

Lee Jian flashed an oddly mischievous smile and said,

Then she snatched the earbud from my hand.

“Then I should listen too, right?”

“Ah.”

Before I could stop her, she quickly put the earbud in her small ear.

And her face turned bright red.

A tomato wouldn’t turn this red.

“Hey!!”