Chapter 148

Chapter 148

The lights near the audience seats turned on and the audience started getting up one by one, Maru narrowed his eyes as he observed them .

‘Quite a lot of students . ’

It made sense that there would be a lot of families since it was Christmas, they probably came here after finding that free play sign outside . The students, though? What were the chances that a normal high schooler would come to watch a play?

“Myunghwa High now, right?”

“Yeah . ”

“I wonder how good they’ll be . ”

“I hope they make a mistake, don’t you?”

“Dream on . You think they’d make a mistake?”

It was a conversation from two passing high school girls . In fact, most students were talking about Myunghwa High right now . Maru could tell that most of these students were from various acting clubs .

‘I guess they’re pretty amazing, huh . ’

Myunghwa High . The school that she went to . It wasn’t very famous for its academics but for something else, their acting club . Considering how the school even made a special club room in their new building, they were really investing a ton of money into it .

‘But our club’s about to get kicked out . ’

That was a little depressing to think about . He also knew that the graduate actors of Myunghwa High maintained a very good network among each other as well . Even famous actors could be seen roaming around during the school’s festivals .

“Myunghwa’s definitely taking one of the spots, so I guess we’ll have to fight over the other one?”

“Pretty much . Ugh, I wonder when our school’s going to pass the prelims . ”

“For real . ”

Myunghwa qualifying seemed to be set in stone at this point . How well would they do? He was getting pretty excited . After about ten minutes, the audience started coming back one by one . It actually felt like there were even more people than before, with most of them being students .

“Maru?”

One of the girls who was passing by started talking to him, Maru raised his head from looking at his wristwatch .

“Oh, it is you . ”

It was Yoojin . What was she doing here?

“Yoojin, get over here . ”

“Wait a second . ”

There were a few girls calling out to Yoojin .

“Acting club?”

“Yeah . ”

Yoojin turned around and told her friends to get going first .

“Did Woosung High come too?”

“No, by myself . ”

“Wow, you guys are really getting it on . For your girlfriend?”

Yoojin stood next to him . She took a hair tie and tied up her shoulder-long hair . Each time her hair swished to the side, a smell of lavender puffed into Maru’s nose .

“You came with your club members, Yoojin?”

“Yeah . We don’t have to watch the other schools, but Myunghwa High is a different story . Everyone was talking about how we had to watch it . Who knows? Maybe we’ll even learn something . ”

“So you came all the way to Anyang? That’s amazing . The prelims in your region’s over?”

“Yesterday, yeah . We’re definitely passing,” Yoojin said with a nod .

“You sound confident . ”

“Of course . We did well . It wouldn’t make sense if we failed . ”

“Nonsensical things are often pretty f… not funny . ”

Maru quickly corrected himself when Yoojin raised her eyebrows . Jokes were more common amongst their exchanges now that they became friends . They practiced a lot together, so it only made sense that the main characters would become friends together .

“You saw her?”

“No . I didn’t want to distract her, so I’ll meet her afterwards . ”

“Pft . You guys both think way too similarly . ”

“You don’t need to go back over there?” Maru asked, pointing at the girls at the fourth row . They were Yoojin’s club members .

“It’s fine . They’re friends, so I don’t need to be careful of what I do around them . The seniors didn’t come . ”

“You juniors work hard, don’t you?”

“The real goal is actually to just play around in Anyang! This is just our secondary objective . ”

Ah, is that so . She did look like she was out to play, judging by the makeup she had on . She did look a little more mature thanks to it, but her childish personality was in plain sight .

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Your makeup doesn’t look half bad . Nice job . ”

“ . . . Is that a compliment or an insult?”

“Depends on how you want to hear it . ”

Maru quickly stepped aside as Yoojin raised her hand .

“They say violent women aren’t charming, you know . ”

“I don’t need to look charming in front of someone like you . ”

In the end, Maru got hit . It stung .

“You did that to yourself . I thought you were quiet and serious when I first saw you, but you’re turning out to be a tissue . ”

“Tissue?”

“Light enough to fly away with a puff . ”

Maru shrugged . He did feel like he changed a little after talking with Moonjoong . He was no longer observing life from the sidelines anymore, he stepped in to experience it . He didn’t deny his adult self, but at the same time he recognized his teenage self . That’s when he started talking a lot more easily with the kids around his age . Before this, he had to admit, he had a difficult time .

“Anyway, it’s Christmas,” Yoojin leaned on the wall behind her, “Merry Christmas . ”

“You too . ”

The girl extended her hand towards him . Did she want something?

“What, no gift?”

“I’m not Santa . ”

“Tsk tsk, so cheap . You got a present for her, then?”

Her expression was kind of funny, so Maru ended up smiling . He took out the perfume and the box with the couple rings .

“What is it?”

“Perfume and couple rings . ”

“Can I see?”

“Why would you? They’re not meant for you . ”

“Girls know girls, you know? Did you even get something that would look good on her?”

Sorry, but I’ve lived with her for twenty years, Maru thought . He couldn’t say he knew everything about her, but… He probably knew more about her right now than most other people .

“Can’t I see?”

Maru sighed and opened the box a tiny bit . The rings were decorated with little bunnies . He picked them with her preferences in mind . Indeed, the wedding ring he got her didn’t look far off from this either .

“You’re going to be wearing that?”

Yoojin barely suppressed her laughter . Please stop laughing… he didn’t get this because he wanted to .

“Well… it’d look good on her though . You have good sense . ”

Phew, that was a relief to hear . He had to wonder though, did she have the same tastes as her adult self right now? He’d be screwed if that wasn’t the case . He didn’t want to be made fun of for bringing something so childish looking .

“It’s about to begin . You’re going to watch from here?”

“Yup . ”

Yoojin waved him farewell and walked back to her friends . The storm’s finally passed . Maru leaned back on the wall with his arms crossed, it was time to watch her play .

* * *

She practically ran away to the waiting room .

“It’s our turn . Get ready . ”

“Y-yes!”

“What the . Are you nervous?”

She shook her head . She wasn’t nervous . But… she saw something she shouldn’t have seen .

‘Why were those two . . . ’

She saw Maru when she got out of the waiting room . She was about to run over to say hello, but she noticed a girl right next to him . It was Yoojin . She’s seen them together often, so she just had to go over… she couldn’t do it . They looked too much like a couple . She knew that she was the one who was going out with Maru, but she felt afraid to approach them for some reason .

‘Why did I feel this way?’

She just had to walk up to him . Why did she feel jealous? She was getting depressed, too . Was Maru kind to all women around him? Or was it just to Yoojin? Which was worse? She knew that they had a lot to talk about since they were both main characters . She understood it, yet her heart couldn’t accept it . She was being childish . So childish . She should’ve stepped in front of the two of them .

‘But why were they together?’

“Alright guys, focus! Let’s go wild today . ”

She came back to her senses at the club president’s voice . She couldn’t afford to think about other things right now .

* * *

Maru touched his lips . He was smiling . Just watching her on stage made him feel so happy .

‘I guess it’s about to end?’

Myunghwa High’s play was more than good, as expected . He’s watched many plays with Ganghwan at Hyehwa station and this play does not pale in comparison . As he expected, the play ended after just a few more minutes . She was the main character, so she appeared at the end of the curtain call . The entire club bowed towards the audience . Maru clapped .

“They’re good,” Yoojin said, walking up to him .

“Go play with your friends . Why do you keep coming here?”

“What? Are you intimidated by me?”

Yoojin was smiling like a fox . Maru pushed her away with a finger, making her frown .

“What are you going to do now?”

“What?”

“You’re going to be seeing her, won’t you?”

“Of course . ”

“Huhuhu . ”

She was laughing like a witch . Was she planning on following him? He tried to escape the hall quickly, but Yoojin was quick on her foot .

“I can’t miss this . She gets really embarrassed by this stuff, so this has got to be fun . ”

“Man, you’re evil . ”

Yoojin even told her friends to get going without her . Maru scratched his eyebrows . Should he run away from her? No, he needs to come back here later anyway . He had no way to escape .

“I’ll be hiding . ”

“Hah . . . ”

“Hehe . ”

Maru figured he might as well let her do whatever she wants . He walked over to the waiting room . He could see the actors from Myunghwa High working among everyone else . Among them, she was moving around props very busily . He might as well wait until she finishes . Maru bought himself a drink from the vending machine .

“What about me?”

“Use your own money . ”

“Cheapskate . I bought her a meal last time, you know . Pay me back in her stead . ”

Maru was at a loss for words . He scanned the vending machine for a really disgusting looking drink . Ah, ginseng . Bingo . Sure enough, the girl had a big frown on her face when she received it .

“I paid you back . ”

“Ugh . ”

Yoojin still drank it . Her face scrunched up in pain . Sweet victory .

“Looks like they’re over?”

The Myunghwa High students were coming out of the waiting room .

“Alright, those of you who need to get rid of their makeup, do it now . We’ll leave in 30 minutes, so be at the bus by then . Be sure to take pictures with your parents as well . ”

The students all split up with the president’s word . The bus… Ah, he remembered seeing one outside . He vaguely recalled seeing the name of Myunghwa High on it .

“As expected of Myunghwa High… They even rented a bus . Our school should take after them,” Yoojin commented .

The club members were all headed towards their parents, it looked like the parents were heavily invested with the club as well . She was standing among the others all alone by herself . Was her mother not with her? Maru walked up to greet her .

“You were good . ”

“ . . . Ah . ”

She smiled at him awkwardly . Maru knew that smile well . She always smiled that way when she didn’t like something . She was good at arguing for what she wanted a lot of the time, but whenever she couldn’t, she smiled like that . This didn’t feel good .

“Um, thanks for coming . ”

She wasn’t being normal . Why wasn’t she as energetic as she usually was?

“Did something happen?”

He decided to ask directly . She looked away . Something was wrong for sure . But before he was about to ask if something happened, she walked away somewhere else . He watched her for a second before walking to follow her . He could feel Yoojin following close behind . Once he got out of the hall, he could see her looking around for something .

“What are you doing?”

“No, it’s, just… it’s nothing . ”

She tried to run away again . Maru wasn’t a fan of playing hide and seek like this, so he grabbed her wrist .

“Why are you running away? That’s not like you . ”

“I’m not running . ”

She was sensitive to the word ‘running’ as always . She glared at him for a second, but she immediately became depressed again . It was kind of endearing to watch .

“What’s wrong?”

“ . . . . . . ”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t read your mind . ”

Well, only kind of . He could look into it and see what the other side was thinking every once in a while . He didn’t want to use it on those who he held dear . He would feel like he was cheating them if he did .

“I just feel pathetic . ”

She bit her bottom lip .

“Pathetic about what?”

“Just everything!”

She shouted . She was a mess today . How did she act so well today?

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No! No, yes!”

“What did I do?”

“T-that’s . . . ”

She closed her mouth . She looked at the floor for a few seconds before raising her head . She was… crying . Why? For what? What was wrong?

“You! You didn’t even start acting until recently, so how are you so good?!”

“ . . . Is that bad?”

“No! Not at all!”

“Then what’s the issue?”

“I’m the issue . I feel pathetic . Like an idiot . ”

Tears were dripping from her face . Ah, he remembered now . He fought her a few times already in the past . Every time they did, she would cry . She always blamed herself, too, never pointing fingers on anyone else for her anger .

“You have no problems . You’re not pathetic, nor are you stupid . ”

“ . . . . . ”

Maru hugged her, he could feel her crying in his arms . She was such a strong woman and yet she was so weak right now . He waited until she calmed down . She’s a smart woman, so she should come back to her senses quickly .

“I saw . ”

She was still sniffling a little .

“What?”

“ . . . You were with Yoojin . ”

“What about it?”

“I know it’s not anything special . It’s just… You guys get along so well together . . . ”

She was young . He’s realized now that she was very different right now compared to her 25-year-old self . She was an entirely different human being compared to herself in her forties . What should he do to calm her down? He wasn’t good at talking, so he had to do the next best thing .

“You worried about something so stupid . ”

He hugged her . Tightly .

“ . . . . . . !”

She struggled for a bit . She calmed down quickly after a few pats .

“You were honest with me, so I’ll be honest with you too . ”

“W-what?”

“I’m going to marry you . ”

“ . . . What?”

“I’m confessing in advance . ”

She pushed him away with both of her arms .

“You’re crazy! M-marry? What?!”

“What, I can’t?”

She became quiet again with a troubled expression .

“Ah, were you jealous, by the way?”

“I wasn’t!”

“Liar . ”

“ . . . Ugh . ”

She looked like she might cry again if he teased her more . Maru stopped here and grabbed her hand . He looked her straight in the eye, he could feel her hands tense a little . The world around them became completely silent . Maru lowered his head slowly . He could see her eyes getting wider as his face got closer to hers .

“You’re supposed to close them here . ”

* * *

“ . . . Wow . ”

Yoojin looked at the two of them dumbly . She followed Maru because it looked like things were about to get fun, she just ended up getting jealous instead .

“My daughter’s pretty wild, isn’t she?”

Right then, Yoojin heard a voice behind her . She looked back in surprise, there was a grinning woman standing behind her .

“Kids nowadays go into things so fast, don’t they?”

“W-what? What?”

Yoojin was confused . Daughter? Did the woman just say, daughter? Could it be…

“Now now, us spectators should just leave . ”

Yoojin nodded . She’d get in a lot of trouble if she got caught here .

“By the way . ”

“Yes?”

“I’m a little annoyed she didn’t tell me . ”

Why did the woman’s smiling face look so scary right now? Yoojin wanted to go back to her friends as quickly as she could right now .

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