Chapter 638 (1/2)

Jiyoon barely managed to get her breathing going again. When she looked at Maru, who was breathing out a heavy breath, she thought that it was the right thing to have come back to the hall. It was back when they were parting with each other by the school gates. Daemyung said let’s get going, but was actually looking backwards. Jiyoon stopped and asked him what was going on.

“Maru’s practicing by himself these days. I want to help him, but I can’t think of a way to do so.”

“The reason Maru-seonbae hasn’t been going home with us is because he was practicing?”

Daemyung nodded. Jiyoon raised her head to look at the 5th floor. The hall had its lights turned on again. She knew that Daemyung and Maru were very close friends. When Daemyung said that he couldn’t find a way to help Maru, he probably didn’t exaggerate. After a little bit of hesitation, Jiyoon carefully grabbed Daemyung’s hand. She was still as nervous as ever when they made skin contact, but now she was able to grab him whenever she wanted. It was great progress. She led the confused Daemyung up the stairs.

“We might not be able to do anything for him, but wouldn’t Maru seonbae do better if there’s an audience for him?”

She mustered up the courage to say those words. Jiyoon did not want to see Daemyung with a powerless smile on his face. It would be great if she could solve his worries, but she had no such ability. The only thing she could do was to lead the disappointed-looking Daemyung up towards the hall. Daemyung walked from behind until the 2nd floor and took the lead afterwards. He looked bold, which made Jiyoon smile in satisfaction. They eventually reached the hall where Maru could be seen practicing through the small opening of the door.

From that moment onwards until now, when he finished acting, Jiyoon stared at Maru’s acting in a daze without any time to become shocked. When Maru fell on his back like an athlete after a full sprint, Jiyoon grabbed Daemyung’s hand and shook it slightly. If they wanted to go inside, now was the chance.

* * *

“Why are you here?”

Maru looked at the couple that had opened the door and came in. They say those who like each other will become similar to each other, and the way the two smiled awkwardly looked very similar.

“We were about to go, but we came here.”

“You should’ve walked Jiyoon home. It’s getting late.”

“It was me who said that we should make a visit. I’m sorry,” Jiyoon said while looking down.

Maru’s nose twitched.

“It’s nothing to be sorry about. A student wants to come to school. Did you come here just now?”

“No, we were watching from outside the door.”

“You should’ve come inside if you were here.”

“Uhm, should I say that we couldn’t interrupt you mid way? I just felt like I shouldn’t open the door.”

“You’re worried about unnecessary stuff. How long have you been there?”

“About 20 minutes?”

“20 minutes? Hey, you let Jiyoon sit down on such a cold floor for so long?”

Daemyung, who stared at Jiyoon in a daze for a while, suddenly flinched and waved his hand around in the air.

“Uhm, Jiyoon, sorry for not being able to take care of you.”

“It’s okay. I used my bag as a cushion so it wasn’t cold.”

“I should’ve noticed anyway.”

“I said it’s fine. But rather than that, are you okay, seonbae? You were crouching down the whole time.”

“I did feel a little numb, but I’m okay now.”

“That’s a relief.”

Maru looked at the smiling couple before picking up the mop. He poked the long handle of the mop in between the two people who were confirming their love for each other. How dare you flirt in front of me.

“If you’re here to make me cringe, then you should get going. Geez, your PDA is out of hand. You want me to feel jealous, don’t you?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Why don’t you say that again after removing that grin on your face?”

He put the mop against the wall. He also placed the rest of the cleaning equipment in their respective places. Daemyung and Jiyoon also helped out.

“I want to show the others this too,” said Daemyung while putting the broom inside the container.

“Show what?”

“You practicing.”

Maru shook off the rag in his hand before placing it by the window. With that, the cleanup was done.

“It’s nothing worth showing. It’s just me going on a rampage by myself.”

Practice was the act of slowly unfurling what was agreed upon. There was no impulsive action, nor intuitive lines. Constructing the tower known as ‘completion’ by confirming their agreements - this was what practice was. Wrestling with a mysterious man inside oneself couldn’t be called practice.

“I thought it was moving though.”

The words that entered his ears made him feel ticklish. Maru quietly looked at Daemyung. Did this chubby fella not know that his words could shock others, make them shy, or sometimes even very embarrassed? He looked at Jiyoon through the corner of his eyes. He was looking for a target of sympathy. Unfortunately, she was looking at Daemyung with admiration. She was completely hopeless. Maru shook his head once before speaking.

“This isn’t the right occasion to use the word ‘moving’. Do you see these goosebumps on me?”

“Why? It was very impressive, I was touched. It was the best act I’ve seen in my life.”

“I’m going to shut you up physically if you say that again. Why don’t you nag at me instead? That would be much better.”

Labeling a scene of screaming and screeching his lungs out while running around everywhere as ‘touching’ was splendid mental torture. It made his hairs stand on end whenever he heard it and want to run away due to the shame he felt. The memories of his reincarnation on top of his personality gave birth to a persona that could not accept compliments as compliments. He knew that Daemyung did not possess any malice, jealousy, or a teasing tone in his words, but his gaze was like a child looking at a superhero from a cartoon movie. It was naively malicious, naively jealous, and a pure tease. Not only that, there was Jiyoon who was adding fuel to the fire, so he could feel his heart cringing into nothingness. At times like these, he really wanted to become a genuine high school student. The disparity of his body and mind felt realistic at odd times like these.

“That was just me putting on a show by myself. It’s nothing worth showing to others.”

“I think it’s fine though.”

“I’m not okay with it. If you’re done cleaning up, let’s go home.”

“Did we disturb you?”

“No, I was about to leave as well. The security guard will give me a glare if I stay any longer.”

He led the hesitant duo outside. He knocked on the guard room on his way out and told that he was done. The security guard opened his tired eyes and waved at him to get going.

“Let’s practice together next time.”

“I told you it wasn’t practice. Jiyoon, take your boyfriend and get going already.”

After sending the two off, Maru slowly started pedaling on his bicycle. Today, he had made some progress, as little as it might be. That guy, who didn’t budge like a statue, didn’t just stop at moving, he even came around to the stage and hung around. Had he managed to fan the guy a little more, that guy might have jumped on stage. He had to stop because of the appearance of Daemyung and Jiyoon when he was about to do the tug of war with that guy, but he had no regrets. In fact, he felt good after thinking that doing that might have made ‘that guy’ feel urgent. After all, bargaining was usually done by the side that was at a disadvantage. If he slowly waved the fishing rod with the bait known as ‘acting’ on it, that guy will have no choice but to break his unresponsive state. If there was a reaction, Maru could counterattack. Silence was that guy’s weapon of choice until yesterday but starting today, it was the other way round.