Chapter 38: Karaoke

Hanbit Academy Newspaper Club.

They were disappearing.

Once, they had been the most influential club in the academy.

Shocking exclusives, romance scandals, hidden secrets.

The Newspaper Club had exposed every incident unfolding within Hanbit Academy.

But times had changed.

Students no longer read paper newspapers.

Stacks of newspapers sat abandoned in the corner of the classroom, ignored by everyone.

Instead, students turned to social media and anonymous forums, consuming faster, more provocative news.

“We’re doomed…”

Oh Deokhan, the club president, clutched his head in frustration.

He had tried everything.

He had come up with new strategies.

He had even attempted to adapt to the digital era by posting articles on the academy’s anonymous forum.

But…

[Anonymous2]: There’s nothing interesting. Just a bunch of useless stuff.

[Anonymous3]: Does the Newspaper Club even do anything these days?

…No one cared.

Oh Deokhan despaired.

At this rate, the Newspaper Club would fade into history.

***

Just then.

Someone knocked on the clubroom door.

Click.

The door opened.

A new figure stepped into the Newspaper Club.

His name was Kang Minwoo.

A quiet presence with an ordinary appearance.

At first glance, he seemed completely unremarkable.

Deokhan asked the usual question, barely paying attention.

“You were supposed to submit an article within a week, right?”

Minwoo pulled a sheet of paper from his bag.

“What is this…?”

What he handed over…

Was not an article.

It was a comic strip.

Deokhan frowned in confusion.

“What’s this?”

Minwoo responded nonchalantly.

“I thought adding illustrations to the articles might help.”

Deokhan felt breathless.

The quality was impressive.

Detailed composition.

Striking expressions.

A gripping narrative.

The protagonist of the comic was a single person.

A lone student taking down a gang of bullies.

Single-handedly crushing the opposing team during the sports festival.

Diving into the water to rescue a drowning classmate. (Though, Minwoo had never actually witnessed this event—he made up most of the details.)

Deokhan’s hands trembled.

“This isn’t just an illustration.”

He sprang up from his chair.

“From now on, the Newspaper Club will include comic strips in our articles!”

The club members murmured among themselves.

“President… isn’t this turning into a webtoon club?”

Ignoring them, Deokhan turned to Minwoo and asked, “Did you really see all this happen before drawing it?”

Minwoo shrugged.

“Everything except the drowning rescue scene is based on real events.”

Deokhan’s eyes gleamed.

Real stories + Slight exaggeration = A legendary series.

This was the kind of content students would go crazy for.

He made his decision.

“Alright. From now on, we’re publishing this series on the anonymous forum!”

The club members hesitated.

“But… if the characters are based on real people, shouldn’t we get their permission first?”

Deokhan paused.

‘Permission…?’

Well, they could always apologize later.

What mattered was getting the story out there.

***

They sat in silence.

Not speaking a word to each other.

Just aware of each other’s presence.

The long, suffocating silence finally ended.

‘But why am I even here…?’

I looked up at the glowing neon sign above me.

A karaoke room in the middle of the city.

From inside, lively melodies and bursts of laughter spilled out into the street.

A sacred place for social butterflies.

‘And me?’

A social outcast who had been dragged here against my will.

Resisting two extroverts at once was a battle I had no chance of winning.

“Kim Dohyun, aren’t you going to pick a song?”

As soon as we entered the room, Seo Yuna—without hesitation—began selecting songs on the remote.

She turned to look at me, sitting there blankly.

‘As if I would.’

The room glittered with flashing lights.

The screen changed rapidly.

Upbeat songs from the neighboring rooms echoed through the walls.

This was an extrovert’s paradise.

And I had no place here.

Yuna, with practiced ease, selected her signature song and began to sing.

Her voice was flawless.

Perfect pitch.

Perfect rhythm.

I quietly sipped my soda.

‘She’s really good…’

Then, Choi Dabin joined in, taking the second microphone.

Their duet was just as impressive.

When the song ended, Dabin handed me the remote.

“Alright, your turn.”

“…What?”

“You have to sing at least one song.”

“I can’t sing.”

“It’s okay.”

But I wasn’t okay.

‘What part of this was okay?’

My mind went blank.

I had never been the type to sing.

‘But still…’

‘Wouldn’t I be good at it, considering I had the protagonist buff?’

That small hope made me grab the remote.

I gripped the microphone tightly, steadied my breath… and started singing.

“LOVE IS!!! PAINFUL!!!”

The result?

A catastrophic disaster.

“Wow…”

“I know that… That’s the ‘Thunder Tiger’ singing technique.”

Halfway through the song, they both covered their ears with their hands.

When it finally ended, silence filled the room.

“What in the world made you think you could pull that off?”

Choi Dabin asked, looking utterly baffled.

“…I thought I could do it.”

“Do what?”

“Something. Anything.”

“….”

Seo Yuna sighed and took a sip of water, shaking her head.

Then, she picked up her phone—and her expression instantly hardened.

Dabin noticed and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, Yuna furiously tapped on her phone screen, frustration evident on her face.

With an irritated expression, she tossed the phone onto the table.

“Ugh, if only this wasn’t the club group chat.”

As soon as she said that, one particular person came to mind.

Kim Junyoung.

The president of the design club, who had been turned down twice at the school gate.

Yuna picked up her phone again and showed the screen to Dabin.

I hadn’t meant to look, but the screen was right in my view.

[Kim Junyoung]
– Yuna, are you having fun with your friends?

– If you’re free this weekend, want to watch a movie together?

– Guess you’re too busy hanging out to reply ^^

Yikes.

Honestly, I had to give him credit for his persistence, even after being ignored.

But this… This would only backfire.

Just look at Yuna’s expression—completely twisted in disgust.

Dabin frowned as she read the messages.

“He’s being way too obvious. It’s uncomfortable.”

“Exactly. But I can’t just keep ignoring him forever.”

Yuna tapped her fingers against the table, visibly frustrated.

“I think I just need to be direct and clear this up once and for all.”

“What are you going to say?”

Dabin asked.

“‘Please stop contacting me for personal reasons. It makes me uncomfortable.’ Something like that.”

Buzz—

A reply came immediately.

[Kim Junyoung]
– Yuna, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I was just trying to be friendly as a senior in the club. I think you might have misunderstood.

On the surface, it looked like a polite apology.

But the subtext was different.

It was worded in a way that made Yuna seem overly sensitive, like she was misunderstanding his kindness.

As soon as she read it, Yuna let out a dry laugh.

“Wow. Unbelievable. Now I look like the weird one.”

Dabin glanced at the phone and scowled.

“This is totally a ‘You’re just being too sensitive’ kind of response.”

Yuna hesitated for a moment, then sighed and typed again.

[Yuna]
– No, I didn’t misunderstand. Please don’t contact me personally anymore.

A firm rejection.

And just a few seconds later—

Buzz—

[Kim Junyoung]
– Ah, okay. Got it. Sorry about that.

– I still think you’re overreacting a bit, but if that’s how you feel, I guess there’s nothing I can do.

– I’ll be more careful from now on.

Yuna stared at the message, exasperated.

“Ugh… He just had to make me look like the bad guy until the very end, huh?”

Dabin sighed and nodded.

“That kind of wording is so frustrating. It sounds like an apology, but he’s really just gaslighting you—making it seem like you’re the one who’s overreacting.”

“Exactly.”

Yuna slammed her phone onto the table and chugged her drink.

Buzz—

Another vibration.

“Oh, for the love of—”

Irritated, Yuna held out her phone for us to see.

This time, it was the club group chat.

[Kim Junyoung]
– Good job today, everyone~ I’ll update you on our next meeting soon!

– Also, just in case anyone misunderstood, I only reached out to our members because I genuinely want to get closer to everyone. There were no personal feelings involved.

Yuna scowled at the screen.

“Wow. Just wow.”

A clear indirect jab.

This guy was petty.

No wonder, in the original story, he tried to casually put a hand on Yuna’s shoulder and got kicked in the gut for it.

I watched silently as the group chat started filling up with messages from other members.

[OO: Did something happen?]

[MM: Why say that all of a sudden…?]

[Kim Junyoung: Just thought some people might have taken it the wrong way.]

The chat was taking a weird turn.

If Yuna tried to explain herself now, it would only create more unnecessary drama.

Sighing, she put her phone down.

“God, what a piece of trash.”

Dabin grimaced at the messages.

“He’s being so passive-aggressive. Making the atmosphere all weird on purpose.”

“Right? This kind of vague wording is even more annoying.”

I, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke.

“Just leave it alone for now.”

Yuna glanced at me.

“What?”

“If you react while you’re angry, you’ll only end up looking like the crazy one. Ignore it for now.”

Yuna exhaled sharply and shook her head.

“Yeah… You’re right.”

I casually slid the karaoke remote toward her.

“Go ahead and keep singing. I’m not singing again, though.”

Yuna glanced at me and smirked.

“Good. I never wanted to hear your voice again anyway.”

Dabin agreed immediately.

“I’ve never seen anyone be that bad at singing before.”

…You two were the ones who forced me to sing in the first place.

I sighed and finished off my soda.

The karaoke room remained lively as ever, and the two of them picked up the microphones again without hesitation.

And so…

Another round of extrovert karaoke began.

Just five more minutes.

Five more minutes, and I could escape from this place.

[Time has been extended by 15 minutes.]

‘Are you kidding me? This karaoke place is way too generous with their service.’