Chapter 407 (1/2)

“Wash your face with cold water or something.”

“Why do you say the same thing as my mom?”

Dojin, who was weak to heat, ran towards the window while taking his top off. The ones that were cooling their bodies off by the window pushed Dojin away with fright. For today, staying together was death, and scattering was the way to live.

“It’s been long past the beginning of Autumn, but it’s still damn hot. Maru, should I fan you as well?”

“I’m fine. It’s bearable if I stay still.”

Daemyung fought the heat by fanning himself with a notebook. The fan installed above their heads had stopped working two days ago. Well, it was working non-stop under this heat so it wasn’t that surprising. Their homeroom teacher told them that it was going to be fixed soon, but ‘soon’ was too abstract of a word.

“My brother-in-law Kang.”

Maru poked the waist of Dowook who sat in front of him. Dowook got annoyed and pushed him away.

“My brother-in-law Kang, why don’t you buy us some ice cream to stave off the heat?”

“You wanna die?”

“My, how disappointing.”

Daemyung chuckled from the side. Maru grabbed his t-shirt and shook it around. This goddamn heat didn’t have a break.

“I heard that you’re starting the movie shoot this week,” Daemyung asked.

“Yeah, apparently, the set is near Pangyo.”

“You’re not coming to school then?”

“I won’t be able to if I don’t have the time.”

“Bangjoo’s going with you, right?”

“Yeah. He’s the problem, not me. The teachers won’t see him in a good light if he starts missing classes in the first year.”

“That’s true. But Bangjoo’s quite serious about it, isn’t he? He’s putting a lot of effort into becoming an action actor too. Wouldn’t the teachers recognize his efforts?”

“A good teacher would, but from what I heard last time, apparently, he got hit on the head with the class register book. Apparently, he was told to focus on studying rather than doing meaningless stuff.”

“That teacher clearly went too far there.”

“Studying is one of the easiest ways to succeed, so you can’t exactly blame the teacher for it.”

Daemyung nodded.

“I guess you’ll have to manage your attendance well from now on. You won’t be able to advance into third year if you miss too much.”

“I’ll be fine as long as I attend two-thirds of the school year, so I can advance even if I miss about 60 days or so.”

“Then I guess there’s no problem then.”

“Like this, I don’t have a lot to worry about. If it comes down to it, I’ll have to reject all the incoming work and go to school.”

“But what if you suddenly get many offers because you do well? You know, that’s a possibility.”

“You don’t know what will happen. You’re good at acting after all.”

“Hey, at this age, the face matters a lot more than acting skills. Did I tell you this? I met a lead actor around my age while shooting the historical drama, and damn, he’s good-looking.”

“You’re good-looking too.”

Maru coughed and turned around. Sometimes, Daemyung said embarrassing things without batting an eyelid, and made him feel awkward. Maru didn’t know if he was pure or was just teasing him.

“You guys are bullshitting,” Dowook said, from his desk.

“Dowook is really good-looking, too,” Daemyung spoke as if he was waiting.

Dowook raised his head a bit and glanced at Daemyung before saying ‘you have good eyes’ before going back to sleep again. Maru raised his feet and kicked Dowook’s chair. Even though he’d usually get up and get angry at him, he was only laughing right now.

“Hey, Han Maru.”

Just then, a guy from the 2nd column shouted at him.

“What is it?”

“You’re shooting a drama right? Did you appear in ‘The Witness’ too?”

“What’s it about?”

“Huh? It’s not you? I was watching the drama yesterday and someone that really looked like you appeared in it.”

“Someone that looked like me?”

The guy seemed tired of shouting and approached Maru. Now, Maru had the attention of everyone in the class. Maru leaned back in his chair and looked at that classmate.

“Yeah. I was watching the drama yesterday and someone that looked exactly like you appeared in it.”

“Really?”

“Is it really not you? They looked so like you though.”

“I don’t remember shooting a drama titled ‘The Witness’.”

“Then was it someone that just looked like you? Damn, if it was you, I was going to ask you to get an autograph. Ahn Joohyun is in it, you know? She’s really pretty.”

“Ahn Joohyun?”

At that moment, he was reminded of the drama he was suddenly called for last time.

“Hey, does the guy that looks like me play something like an assassin’s role?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then that’s me.”

“What? I thought you didn’t know what ‘The Witness’ is.”

“I don’t.”

“How do you appear in a drama that you don’t even know about?”

“Many things can happen.”

At that moment, all the people in the classroom that laid on their desks like dead people all stood up at once.

“Hey, Han Maru, you know Ahn Joohyun?”

“You know our honey Joohyun-ssi? Did you shoot with her?”

“Hey, hey. Out of my way!”

The back seat of the 4th column where Maru sat, suddenly became a warzone. They all pushed the desks away and shouted ‘Ahn Joohyun’. Dowook, who was sleeping, stood up while swearing, but the people that came to Maru like starved dogs didn’t even seem to notice him.

“Have you seen Ahn Joohyun up close?”

“Uh, yeah. That I guess I did….”

Maru replied as carefully as possible. He felt that something big would happen if he told them that he knew her. Peace for the rest of the day depended on this moment.