Chapter 242 (1/2)

Before he even asked what was up, the distinct smell of oil-based paint tickled his nose. He frowned and approached the container. The first things he saw were the costumes colored in black and green. He also saw the despairing Daemung, as well as the uneasy Jiyoon and Aram duo.

“I don’t think this was a result of a spill.”

Hearing his words, the three of them nodded. At that moment, Dowook and Bangjoo arrived at the container as well. Both of them were panting.

“Maru, you’re here.”

“Yeah.”

“Ha, shit. Bangjoo and I made rounds just to see if the fucker that did this was still nearby, but we came up with nothing.”

Maru nodded and first left the container. He was in there only for a brief moment but he felt dizzy already.

“For now, put those costumes in the container.”

“...Okay.”

Daemyung sighed as he did as Maru instructed him to. Maru looked at Daemyung before stepping on the latch of the door and climbing to the top of the container. Right now, he had to ventilate the container. He opened all the ventilation latches on the corners of the container. These were usually closed to block off rain.

He then jumped off the roof. He did all he could right now so now he had to know what happened.

“I’m sorry, seonbae-nim. I should have closed it when I saw that it was open.”

“No, seonbae. I had Aram leave this place with me even though she said that we should protect this place. I’m really sorry. Really….”

Jiyoon and Aram looked down and apologized. Daemyung stepped in.

“These girls didn’t do anything wrong. It’s my fault for leaving them open for ventilation. I shouldn’t have left this place….”

Maru stared at the apologizing trio before sighing.

“The one that did this is not you guys so why are you the ones apologizing? And if there’s a responsibility, it lies with all of the acting club, so you don’t have to apologize to me either. Aram, Jiyoon, and Bangjoo, you three should go to your classes now. Lesson will start soon.”

The first years hesitated, but when Maru urged them on, they returned to their classes, albeit reluctantly.

“What are you going to do? This is a mess.”

“The costumes are the problem.”

Maru scanned the container again with a bitter expression. For a work done in a short period of time, it was actually quite thorough. There weren’t any empty paint cans on the floor.

“How long did you leave this place for?”

“Around 15 minutes?” Daemyung replied with uncertainty. 15 minutes. Since Aram and Jiyoon seemed to have visited this place during that time, it meant that this place was vacant for around 10 minutes.

“I guess it doesn’t take that long to make it like this.”

“...Should we tell a teacher?” Daemyung asked carefully. His expression was filled with guilt.

“We should tell teacher Taesik, but it would do us no good even if we tell someone else. No, we can’t tell them. This country is quite messed up. When something happens, the first to be interrogated is the one that saw losses through that incident, not the one that caused it. Once the teachers find out that the container has become like this, it’s obvious that they’ll scold us for not managing it properly and use it against us. I’m not really into that, so we should take care of this ourselves.”

“Sorry… just because of me.”

“I just said it’s not because of you. The fucker that did this is the problem, not you. If it’s considered fair for it to become like this just because the door was open, then why would thievery be a crime? Don’t mind about that and let’s think about how to solve this problem. For now, let’s close the door since the ventilation holes are open.”

Nothing good would come out of everyone knowing what happened here. Just as Maru was about to close the door, the empty spray paint canister entered his eyes.

“Wait.”

He didn’t have the time to have a close look at things, but now that he saw the spray paint can, he saw a green handprint. It was from the waterproof paint. Maru then glanced at the floor of the container. The culprit had splashed the costumes and the props on the wall and the paint had splashed back onto the ground. Maru lifted his feet up to check his own shoe. He saw waterproof paint on it. It was obvious. Although it was only a little, the paint that splattered on the ground got on his shoe.

“Daemyung. You went inside the container, right?”

“Yeah. I did.”

“Have a look at the sole of your shoes. Do you see any paint?”

“Huh, yeah, there is!”

Maru had a look at the work gloves next to the spray paint can. Green paint was everywhere on it. It seemed that the culprit first put the gloves on, and poured out the contents of the paint bucket inside the container. Then, he or she should have stepped backwards while pouring out the pain, noticing the costumes at the top. It should have been a little dangerous to try and paint those by pouring paint from the bucket. Then, finding the spray paint cans, the culprit should have returned to spray the upper walls with spray paint.

Maru first left and closed the door. Then he had a close look at the asphalt floor that led to the container. As he had expected, traces of green paint could be seen. They should belong to Daemyung, Maru himself, and the culprit.

“Let’s go back as well. The 5th period is starting soon.”

Maru took his two friends inside. There was less than 3 minutes until the next lesson.

“Just who in the world would do that kind of thing?”

“It shouldn’t be a prank. If that person went as far as to spray paint everywhere, then there must be a motive behind it.”

“...,” Daemyung silently stared at Maru. Maru smiled back.

“What, do you have someone in mind?” Dowook asked. Someone in mind? There was one likely culprit. Maru turned around right in front of his class and went to the design department class. As the 5th period was about to begin, everyone was in their classes. After having Dowook wait outside, he took Daemyung inside. He saw Geunseok near the window. Geunseok was calmly looking at them. Maru grabbed Daemyung who kept giving glances to Geunseok and walked towards Soyeon.

“How have you been?”

“What’s up, you two?” Soyeon chuckled. Although she left the acting club, she still hung out with the 2nd years from time to time. Though, with the start of May, it was hard to hang out with everyone since they started practicing.

“We had some business here.”