Chapter 11.12 - Act 11: Slowly 12 (1/2)

Act 11: Slowly 12

After that, the preparations for the performance progressed smoothly.

“Suhjoon. Did you finish with the forest background I gave you last time?”

“Yes. I added the finishing touches to it, and all that’s left is to put them back together.”

“Then give it over to Hyeji, please. And… here we go.”

Saying that, Yun Soojin-sunbae poured out a box full of props. Seeing that, my chin dropped unconsciously.

How many things did she bring?

The amount of props she had hand-made thus far was already a lot and yet the amount she brought today was on a different level. There was enough to form a big mountain on the ground.

One of the props then rolled its way over towards me, while I was standing off in a distance. In curiosity, I lifted it up after bending my back and it turned out to be a ripe apple.

“…thought it was real for a second.”

It was but a piece of flat wood painted like an apple, but the shining lustre and texture of a real fruit was well-expressed. I was fooled by it before lifting it up.

Do they teach students things like this in the Visual Arts Department?

I asked Hyeji-sunbae but she shook her head in response.

“They do draw still life paintings, but not three dimensional things like these props.”

“Right?”

Besides, judging from the fact that she made this many props in the mere span of one week… it was safe to say that Yun Soojin-sunbae was practically taking care of half the construction of the stage and the making of props.

“Aren’t the third graders extremely busy right now?”

I was unable to hold myself back from asking that question but Lim Suhjoon-sunbae shrugged his shoulders from the side.

“Well, her uni admission is right around the corner and she should get ready for it but… what can we do when she still brings stuff with a smile even when we try to stop her?”

She was diligently taking acting and singing lessons while also directing and allocating the club members with their jobs. I realised that this definitely was the reason why this society had succeeded before the regression.

‘For some reason, it’s the protagonist side that’s falling behind…’

Glancing at where the actors were at, I looked at Song Mirae while scratching my hair.

Song Mirae, the musical star who would later become famous.

I remember her gaining exceptional popularity due to her outstanding singing and acting ability, plus her decent outward appearance. She was in fact more well-known than Lee Suh-ah or Kim Wuju by the general population, and was a big star that frequently showed herself in television.

‘A big difference with them is that most of her career was focused in Korea, though.’

But currently, she was merely a high schooler, who was getting scolded by a teacher in a corner of the room. While listening to Song Mirae’s song, teacher Hong Yoojin made a frown and gestured for her to stop.

After quietly tapping the table a few times, teacher Hong Yoojin let out a sigh while pressing on the middle of her forehead.

“…Song Mirae. Are my words too difficult to understand? A musical and an opera share the same basics but there are small differences in between. I said that countless times right?”

“…”

Throwing a glance across the club room which had suddenly turned quiet, she eased her expression a little and continued her words.

“Of course, this is Future Arts High. No-one would be expecting a perfect musical or perfect acting from you. It is natural that you will be evaluated on your songs.”

Standing off in a distance, I was listening to her words and gave a nod.

Although we would be wearing the mask called a musical, our school was fundamentally a place to learn singing. We weren’t from the drama and theatre department or anything, so the audience won’t be expecting an outstanding act.

That’s why we decided on an unknown musical with simple acting, while eliminating the famous musicals.

The teacher observed the atmosphere for a while, before opening her eyes thinly with her arms crossed.

“But since we excluded other elements, the importance of the song becomes even greater. It has to be more elaborate, and more perfect. We need to take care of every single detail one by one.”

“…”

“But in your case, there’s no difference between your current singing and your opera songs.”

Looking back at the teacher who was indifferently staring at her, Song Mirae spoke with a pout.

“Because I’m from the Opera Department.”

“…”

Whoa, look at her talking back to the teacher.

She then hurriedly lowered her head after being scared away by teacher Hong Yoojin’s glare. It was exactly how Song Mirae was always like.

‘A child like that is the future musical star…’

Staring at her, I let out a sigh and shook my head.

In any case, just like that, the students learning acting were in a slightly more suffocating atmosphere. First off the female protagonist was in that state and Han Dasom, the ace, was also seemingly lost as to what to do.

Lee Suh-ah seemed quite unenthusiastic and after a short temporary visit to the society, she went back and forth between here and her other society like a migratory bird.

I was quite busy myself due to my given task.

After confirming what was happening around the room, I turned my head back to Chloe, who was sitting next to me.

“?”

Chloe, blinking her eyes and facing me with an innocent expression.

Yun Soojin-sunbae who had come to me after completing her work at the prop section.

And a first grade Dancing Department student, who had recently joined the society.

‘Non-majors who decided to enter the stage.’

I, who had the most time up my sleeve, was tasked with teaching them. With the main actors in that situation, there was nothing much for me to do.

After finishing my line of thought, I opened my mouth with a grin.

“Now, we will start practising again. Are you all prepared for it?”

In response to my glance, Yun Soojin-sunbae replied with a smile.

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes sir~ huhuh.”

…Yun Soojin-sunbae.

She started calling me like that after I was allocated to teaching them, and it seemed that she found my way of talking during lessons funny. It was a habit from giving lessons in the past.

Chloe was also imitating her after bursting out into laughter.

It couldn’t be helped though.

I had been teaching for way too long. What could I do when my speech automatically turns like this after standing in front of students?

After reminiscing some of the past memories a little, I carried my feet and stood in front of the three as the gazes of the three gathered at me. Returning those gazes, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Firstly, we don’t have much time. Both Chloe and sunbae are not people majoring in singing right? Since you can’t put all your time into this either, we can say it’s impossible for you to sing properly.”

Impossible.

Hearing that declaration, the happy and enjoyable air surrounding us stiffened.

While observing them, I explained with a bitter laugh.

“You might think I’m ignoring you guys too much, but let me put it this way. Let’s say I were to learn how to draw. Just as a hobby. Plus, I can’t even invest much time into it, nor have I learnt it before.”

These days, it was busy with mid-sem exams and such. With this school being a performing art school that puts significant importance into school grades, it was impossible to force them to stick to club activities.

“But after two months, I want to draw something and hang it on an exhibition.”

I met my eyes with Yun Soojin-sunbae.