Chapter 12 : The Ten Conditions for Becoming the Male Lead (6)

From that day on, Eunho moved between the school store, the classroom, and the library, learning from me how to become a wonderful male lead.

‘Be more forgiving of other people’s mistakes. Relax your eyes, attend all your classes, and don’t let teachers think you’re a troublemaker. You need to be kind to people.’

I had expected Eunho to find my advice annoying, but surprisingly, he took every word I said seriously. And little by little, he began to change.

“A guy should dress neatly and look presentable. Make sure you wear your school uniform properly, too.”

“But these clothes are comfortable.”

Eunho showed me the tracksuit he often wore. Honestly, that outfit was practically part of Bae Eunho’s identity.

It gave him a slightly delinquent look while bringing out the charm of an athletic guy. I folded my arms and examined him before suddenly clapping my hands.

“Just wear your school uniform properly underneath!”

‘I heard Bae Eunho hasn’t been caught by the school discipline teacher even once lately.’

‘That’s because he’s been wearing his uniform properly…’

The next day, I watched Eunho pass through the school gate from the window. Wearing his school uniform properly underneath his tracksuit somehow made him look even more like a delinquent. Eunho turned his head away, seemingly embarrassed by how dressed up he looked.

“And when your friends greet you, greet them back. Cheol said you ignored him when he said hello.”

“He’s too noisy.”

“But he’s your friend. Cut him some slack.”

“…Fine. I hang out with you, after all.”

“What?!”

I was just about to ask Eunho what he meant by that when, at the perfect moment, Cheol appeared.

Cheol glanced at me, then at Eunho, before awkwardly waving his hand.

“E-Eunho, hey.”

“Yeah. Hey.”

Eunho greeted Cheol directly, albeit indifferently.

At Eunho’s response, the students began whispering excitedly among themselves and hurried over to Cheol.

Watching Cheol beam with pride, I couldn’t help smiling, too. Then, making sure only Eunho could see me, I gave him a thumbs-up.

‘Did you hear? Bae Eunho actually greeted the class president of Class 8!’

‘Wasn’t he the one who got beaten up?’

‘Apparently not! I heard Bae Eunho saved the Class 8 president when some guys were extorting money from him.’

‘Seriously?’

While washing my hands in the restroom, I glanced at the students talking about Eunho. A little laugh escaped me.

We were almost there.

“I’m taking the bus today!”

“What? You said you didn’t like taking the bus because it was too crowded.”

I assured my mother that it was fine and hurried to the bus stop. As expected, the bus was packed with students and commuters on their way to school.

I counted the stops in my head, keeping my eyes fixed on the front door. Three stops later, a tall male student appeared.

It was Eunho.

When the bus arrived at school, the students poured out in a rush. I followed them off, then grabbed the strap of Eunho’s backpack just as he was about to enter the school gate.

“What the hell? Why are you getting off here?”

“I took the bus so I could go with you.”

“…With me?”

I nodded at his question, then glanced toward the teachers standing at the school gate.

“Eunho, you should always be polite to teachers and make sure you greet them properly. Okay?”

“…That’s not exactly a way to become kinder, is it?”

“Of course it is!”

“Haah…”

Eunho let out a deep sigh, as though this was one thing he simply couldn’t bring himself to do.

I understood. Eunho was even more uncomfortable around adults than Dogyeom was.

But I knew something else about him, too. Even if Eunho couldn’t be gentle and sociable, he was a steadfast and sincere person. If the teachers saw that side of him, they might grow fond of him as well.

“It’s not difficult. You just have to greet them properly. Having good manners gets you halfway there, you know?”

After thinking about my argument for a moment, Eunho nodded in agreement.

He took a deep breath and stepped through the school gate. I followed him inside.

Eunho stopped in front of the school discipline teacher and the science teacher.

“What is this? It’s not like you’re challenging them to a duel…”

Before my concern could turn into genuine worry, Eunho bent forward in a perfectly respectful ninety-degree bow, as though he were greeting a senior on his sports team.

Pfft!

I couldn’t help laughing. Was it really necessary to act like a wooden puppet?

Still, I was proud of him for trying so hard.

The teachers exchanged bewildered glances, clearly caught off guard. The students arriving at school were just as astonished.

“Good morning.”

“O-Oh! Yes, good morning, Eunho.”

“Well, look at that! Bae Eunho actually bowed ninety degrees to greet us. Good morning to you, too, Eunho.”

Eunho raised his head slightly and looked at the school discipline teacher.

The teacher smiled proudly and patted Eunho on the back. Even the science teacher, who usually seemed awkward around him, gave him a kind, benevolent smile.

A subtle look of delight spread across Eunho’s face.

At the library, I took the books Eunho handed me and placed them on the shelves.

Ever since that day, I had been teaching Eunho how to become a kind and gentle man, and we had been serving our punishment together by cleaning the library. The shelves we had worked on were now neat and tidy. Eunho and I looked at them with satisfied expressions.

“Eunho, don’t you think we’re pretty good at this?”

“Yeah. Looks like we’ve got a knack for it.”

There was still some time left before the library closed for lunch. I opened my notebook so I could teach Eunho the remaining steps. He naturally sat down beside me, then handed me something.

“Huh? What’s this?”

It was the screenplay collection by Director Ahn that I had said I wanted to borrow a week ago.

I looked at Eunho in surprise. He shrugged and turned his gaze away.

“We finished our punishment cleaning today, so I heard we could borrow books.”

“Eunho…”

“Hey, it’s not that big a deal…”

“You really are becoming a kind male lead—no, a kind man! Yes! That’s it!”

He had remembered what I’d told him, even though it had been a week ago, and had gone out of his way to borrow the book for me. He was quick to learn and had a good memory. Our Eunho was smart, too!

Unable to hide my excitement, I turned the screenplay collection over in my hands. Outside the window opposite us, the cherry blossom tree swayed back and forth in the breeze.

“It’s already April,” I murmured.

Eunho responded to my comment.

“Time flies.”

“Right? The cherry blossoms are beautiful, aren’t they?”

“Well… I guess they’re pretty.”

“There seem to be so many cherry blossom trees at our school.”

“They say they’re one of our school’s famous attractions. That’s why we’re getting something ridiculous like cherry blossom bibimbap on the menu this week.”

Cherry blossom bibimbap?

I couldn’t even imagine what that would look like. Back when I was in school, we used to get dishes with all sorts of strange names, too. So this world worked the same way.

I was laughing at the thought when something suddenly occurred to me.

“That’s hilarious. Cherry blossom bibim—wait a second. Cherry blossom bibimbap? When?”

“Friday. Why?”

“Friday? Then… three days from now?”

Eunho nodded, looking puzzled by my question.

He asked if I had never tried cherry blossom bibimbap before, but I waved my hands.

That wasn’t it.

There was a certain day in April when cherry blossom bibimbap had appeared on the school lunch menu.

And that day was…

The pink cherry blossom fritters on top of the bibimbap shot up into the air. Like dozens of falling cherry blossom petals, clumps of rice mixed with red pepper paste came raining down onto Eunho’s shoulders.

It took exactly ten seconds for the accident to happen.

Semin had no idea that those ten seconds would change the rest of her final year of high school.

Welcome! Summer Film

That was the first time Semin and Eunho properly met!

Without realizing it, I dropped the screenplay collection I was holding.

Eunho hurriedly picked it up and handed it back to me, looking startled.

“Are you okay? Why did you suddenly—”

“Eunho, listen.”

“Huh?”

“You’re doing such a good job right now. But there’s still one really important thing left.”

“…What is it? You’re not going to make me do something weird, are you?”

“Hmm, no. One thing you need to do is…”