Chapter 11.5 - Act 11: Slowly 5 (1/2)

Act 11: Slowly 5

There’s a game which I think everyone would’ve played at least once when they were young – a battle arena of insects.

Like, sometimes you just get curious when catching insects outside right? ‘Who would win if these were to fight?’

I could still vividly remember placing ants, grasshoppers and crickets into an insect container, watching their fight with interest.

Thinking back, it was a pretty cruel game but I don’t know why it had been so interesting.

“Dasom, was it? Is she good at singing?”

“Dasom? She’s good.”

“Really? How good? What about in comparison with Song Mirae? I remember hearing Song Mirae’s name during middle school… Since her name was even spread to the Violin Department, doesn’t it mean she’s quite good?”

“Indeed, Song Mirae is also around the top level in the Opera Department.”

“Really? This is getting interesting~ Who do you think will win?”

“…”

While the three protagonist candidates were going through a short practice session after receiving their music sheets, we had such conversations amongst ourselves. There was nothing else to do, and besides there were also lots of sunbaes that were curious about the new members including Chloe and I.

Since Chloe was also a rare half-Korean, while also being the top piano student, she was in the centre of a blooming conversation with three other female club members.

“Wahh… Chloe’s hair is absolutely insane, don’t you think so, unni?”

“You’re right. It’s sparkling.”

“A true blonde is different as expected…”

“Thank you.”

Like that, female members were talking to themselves, while male members were with other males but… there were actually only three males in the society: Lim Suhjoon-sunbae, the opera department sunbae and myself.

With the school itself being like that, societies having more female ratio was to be expected as well.

Having such thoughts in mind, I scratched my hair while replying.

“Hmm… It’s difficult to clearly compare and judge who’s better and who’s going to win in terms of singing skills… Since it’s quite subjective.”

“That’s true. But you can at least make a guess right?”

…I was trying to avoid the question but he was too persistent.

I turned my back towards Lim Suhjoon-sunbae, who was facing me with interest.

Well, starting conversations like this was probably his attempt of trying to get closer to me. Since it was a bit difficult to just ignore, I slowly racked my brain.

“But isn’t that sunbae over there doing it as well? I don’t think comparing just the two will be meaningful.”

“Ah, her? I know her so that’s fine, so just compare between the two freshmen.”

“…Hmm.”

Placing a hand on my chin, I observed the front, at the girls zealously carrying out their preparations.

Glancing between Han Dasom murmuring and memorising the lyrics and Song Mirae closing her eyes, I opened my mouth.

“According to my standards… to be honest, Han Dasom is better in terms of singing.”

“Ohh, really?”

Squinting my eyes in thought, I organised my thoughts for a bit before nodding my head.

First off, the voice – the timbre they were born with, were different.

Han Dasom had a soft voice that made listeners feel relaxed, while Song Mirae’s voice was a little unique and low. It was husky, so to speak and although it wasn’t due to the vocal cords trembling unstably, her timbre was just darker and lower in comparison.

Different from Han Dasom’s voice which everyone would like, Song Mirae’s voice would depend on the listeners’ likes and dislikes.

Since there was a difference like that from birth, it seemed natural for Han Dasom to be at a comparatively advantageous position in an side-by-side evaluation.

Next up were the foundations.

At the start of the year, Han Dasom’s basic foundations were almost non-existent but recently, it was almost perfect. Compared to Song Mirae who sometimes made mistakes, she might even be better.

The final conclusion, plus a little bit of personal preference, would end up with Han Dasom’s victory.

‘Well, there’s actually an objective factor that proves Han Dasom is better…’

Soon after some thought, I turned towards Lim Suhjoon-sunbae and continued my words.

“Han Dasom actually made it past the preliminaries of Future Central Concour.”

“What? As a freshman student?”

“Yes.”

After watching Lim Suhjoon-sunbae’s astonishment, I turned my head slightly and looked at Song Mirae.

…Since Song Mirae failed the preliminaries, it could be said that the objective opinion also leaned towards Han Dasom being more skilled.

Laying all the facts down made me realise that Han Dasom had become a bigshot.

I was engulfed in a myriad of deep emotions when the female members started turning their heads over towards us after most likely hearing Lim Suhjoon-sunbae’s voice.

“What interesting things are you talking about?”

Lim Suhjoon-sunbae ran up to Yun Soojin-sunbae, who was tilting her head, and rambled.

“You know what? I was digging up for some info because I was curious who would win but apparently, Han Dasom made it through the prelims of Future Central Concour.”

Admiration could be heard amongst the female members.

Their eyes turning to Han Dasom seemed to be in a completely different light from before and even Chloe who already knew about it faced her with a strange light in her gaze.

‘Future Central Concour is quite high up there after all.’

I watched their reactions for a bit when Lim Suhjoon-sunbae suddenly placed his arm on my shoulder. Then, he gave a nod with a wide smile hanging on his lips.

“Thanks. After you joined, awesome juniors started coming in one after another. When no-one joined in the first semester, I thought we would be the last ones marking the end of our club… if you weren’t here, we definitely would’ve been over.”

“…Ah. Yes…”

…Since Song Mirae would have come, it wouldn’t have ended though.

It felt somewhat embarrassing.

Song Mirae would have raised the society back up anyways and it felt like I was just placing a spoon on top of a readied meal. I only joined because I judged it could be good for building up experience though…

I twisted my body a little from the embarrassment as Lim Suhjoon-sunbae continued his words in a serious tone.

“Although I can’t sing, I’ll support you as much as possible. I might look like this, but I did help out in a big play back in first-grade so there shouldn’t be any trouble preparing for you and Dasom’s stage.”

Hearing up to that point, one of the other female members couldn’t hold herself back as she walked up and shoved Lim Suhjoon-sunbae’s arm.

“Hey! Why do you pressure him like that. Besides, there’s still Hyeji okay?”

That other sunbae nominating herself for the protagonist position is called Hyeji, huh.

I haven’t remembered all their names yet. Feeling apologetic inwardly, I looked at her face when chatters were heard from the side.