Life, Once Again!

ionship, the seniors all seem to have their matches, but me on the other hand… Ah, my springtime is rotting away.”

“Romance doesn’t account for all of your youth, you know.”

“It isn’t, but it does account for a significant part of it.
Daemyung, Maru is our only hope.
I’m sure he got that girl’s number that time.
We need to make use of that.”

Daemyung shook his head.

“I’m n-not that interested.”

“Liar.
Cross your heart and tell me.
Every dude with a dick wants love, yo.”

Dojin spoke with exaggeration as he would on stage, some of the pedestrians turned to look at them as a result.
Daemyung became embarrassed, and quickly started walking away.

“Hey! Don’t leave me alone, dude.
I feel embarrassed.”

“O-oh, so you’re aware that you’re an embarrassment?”

“…Yeah.”

The two of them entered a convenience store nearby.

“Taejoon was confessing today, right? You think he would’ve done it by now?”

“Dunno.”

Daemyung was pretty surprised when Taejoon informed the group of his plan.
Taejoon? Liking Soyeon? Even more surprising, everyone else already knew about this?

‘Maybe I’m just slow.’

A girlfriend… Just thinking about it made Daemyung a little excited.

“Oh, it’s Maru,” Dojin said, taking out his phone.

After exchanging a few words, Dojin ended the call with a ‘meet you at the station’.

“Maru’s done with work?”

“Yeah.
And here I thought he couldn’t make it.
Anyway, to think he’d give up being with a pretty lady to hang with us instead… He’s a bit odd himself.”

Daemyung thought of Soojin.
The woman was incredibly pretty, he remembered.
She was the manifestation of purity itself, as a matter of fact.
After a while of waiting, Maru came into the convenience store himself, with his hands in his pockets.

“Let’s go,” he said, before walking back out.

“How was work?”

“It was alright.
It ended pretty fast, which was why I called you.
What are you doing here, by the way?”

Dojin gestured at the restaurant nearby.

“They’re in there right now.”

“Ah.
How was Taejoon?”

“I honestly wanted to take a picture.”

Daemyung smiled, too, remembering Taejoon’s expression.
The boy’s frozen face was an uncharacteristic expression.

“We’ll probably have to wait then, huh?”

“Probably?”

* * *

And yet again, they were at a bar.
Miso grinned, looking at Taesik sitting next to her.
Just looking at him made her happy, the fact that this man was hers made her even happier.

“So, how has practice been?”

“Ugh, what’s up with the guys around me and the acting club? Aren’t you interested in me? Also, that politeness thing! Can’t you try fixing it?”

“I’m sorry.
No, sorry.”

Miso shook her head.

“Well, practice is perfect for now.
My use of the word ‘perfect’ should give you a pretty good sense of what’s happening.”

“Yeah, I can see it.”

“It’s going to be different from the first competition.
Plus, Maru’s here too.”

“So the prelims aren’t going to be a problem?”

“If it is, I’m going to leave the industry.”

She was confident.
Really.
They were on a highway to the finals, and they would take first place as well.

“A comedy… isn’t it difficult?”

“It is.
But that’s what makes us special.
If we win at the nationals this winter, we’re going to sweep up every award.
Just watch!”

“That'd be nice.
Would be something nice to brag about.”

“Oh my, Mr.
Advisor.
Were you having a hard time?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t have to care so much about what the other teachers think of me.”

Watching Taesik complain was a little cute.
Miso couldn’t resist pinching his cheek.

“Don’t you worry, mister.
I’ll change what the school thinks of your club with this.”

Just you watch.
That first place plaque was going to have the name ‘Blue Sky’ engraved on it.

* * *

Maru went back to his room after a quick shower.
After checking his homework, he opened a book related to acting.
Some of them were books recommended by Miso, and others were scripts from Ganghwan.
The scripts from Ganghwan were the copies used by the man himself, so it was loaded with a bunch of notes written on the sides.

[Use it as reference.]

That was what Ganghwan told him as he gave Maru the scripts.
For Maru, this script lined with red and blue notes was the best teacher he could ever ask for.
For the last two months, Maru diverted 20% of his time into school, and the rest all into acting.
He decided to work hard for three years.
He did make a deal, after all.

…Or at least, that’s what he thought at first.
He thought he made a great deal, what with him being able to meet his wife through this and all.
But after meeting both Junmin and Ganghwan, something’s changed.

He still thought this was a good deal, and he was still going to try hard.
But now, he had motivation.
That is, motivation to be on stage.
As a matter of fact, looking at Ganghwan’s script made him think of something Junmin told him in the past.

[I’ll be waiting until you start acting not because of money, but because of passion.
I guarantee it’ll be interesting.
For the both of us.]

Maru closed the script and lay down on his bed.
There was a week until the prelims for the winter competition.
He could see the glow light stickers stuck on the ceiling.
The moon sticker was glowing faintly.
The moon couldn’t shine by itself.

‘But if it becomes able to…’

Then, like Junmin said, things would get very interesting.
Maru closed his eyes.
That night, he dreamed.
There was a man on a stage, wearing a black and white mask on his face.
He raised his hands to the sky as he spoke,

“Did you like the choices I gave you?”

Maru could only smile in the dream.