Chapter 19:

  Summer Film’s New Face (5)

“Do you like me?”

Even as I asked the question, I was so nervous that I had to swallow hard.

Eunho’s expression gradually stiffened. Soon, the muscles in his face tightened, and he began to frown. He ran a hand through his hair.

“Wow.”

Then he let out a sigh of disbelief.

“Are you crazy?”

With just three words, all my worries about our relationship were settled.

Ah, so Eunho didn’t see me as a girl. He didn’t like me.

I had completely… gotten ahead of myself and imagined things that weren’t there.

The pressure I’d been desperately suppressing finally disappeared, and a sense of peace washed over me.

“Right? Phew, I thought… Never mind.”

“I won’t say anything more since you already know you’re being weird. But seriously, don’t do that again.”

“Sorry. But did you really have to look so horrified?”

“Because you were saying something ridiculous.”

Well, from Eunho’s perspective, it was a perfectly reasonable question to be bewildered by.

As we walked down the hallway together, I slowly looked him over. He had changed into his gym clothes.

Eunho and athletic wear were an unbeatable combination.

He looked so effortlessly cool and rebellious that my mouth fell open before I even realized it. His hair sparkled beneath the sunlight.

“What are you staring at?”

“Huh? Oh, your hair… Did you wash it? It’s so shiny.”

“…I washed it in the shower room.”

“The shower room? There’s a shower room at school?”

“The judo club has one.”

Eunho’s expression darkened when he mentioned the judo club.

I followed behind him as he continued walking straight ahead, remembering what he’d said about forgiveness earlier.

Then Eunho suddenly stopped and stood there for a moment before asking me,

“Th-that girl from the cafeteria… Is she okay?”

“Semin? Oh, she hurt her knee a little, so she’s limping, but I don’t think it’s anything serious.”

“She’s limping? Doesn’t that mean she’s seriously hurt?”

“No, she said she’s fine. But, Eunho…”

“…?”

“Are you worried about Semin right now~?”

I hadn’t expected Eunho to bring up Semin first.

He still called her the girl from the cafeteria rather than using her name, but the fact that he was concerned about her even though she hadn’t been injured because of him made me hopeful.

Maybe, with just a little effort, the two of them could become close in no time!

Faced with my suspicious barrage of questions, Eunho looked horrified and hurried down the hill.

“Eunho, wait for me!”

I shouted as I watched him rush ahead.

Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, it was much easier to look at Eunho. In fact, I should say I felt more comfortable around him than before.

What a relief.

Really.

\*

“So you’re coming separately today because you have club interviews?”

“Yes. See you next week.”

“Okay~ See you next week.”

After saying goodbye to my driver, I got out of the car.

Students were entering the school gates in small groups.

I spotted Eunho approaching from a distance and quickened my pace. But just as I was about to reach him, I noticed Semin walking toward me with a limp.

I changed direction.

“Semin, does your leg still hurt?”

“No. I got it checked, and nothing was fractured. They said it was fine. It’s just a little uncomfortable, so I decided to walk like this for a while.”

“I see. If it hurts, it’s better not to push yourself.”

“Yeah. Oh, right! I have my Summer Film interview today.”

“I know. I’m one of the club officers, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right. Please take good care of me.”

Semin smiled and held out her hand to me.

She playfully suggested that we go to the school store so she could make a good impression on me, but I shook my head and refused.

Yes, a cute girl like Semin should have someone by her side who was… kind and handsome, like Eunho.

As Semin and I chatted about trivial things on our way to the classroom, Dogyeom came out of the restroom and waved at us.

Semin seemed a little shy around him, but she returned his greeting.

I wanted to ignore him, too, but the situation made that impossible, so I forced the corners of my mouth upward.

“You two came to school together?”

“No, we just ran into each other outside.”

“Ah, Yerim, do you have a moment?”

At Dogyeom’s question, Semin naturally stepped aside, saying she would let us talk.

I stood with one leg cocked to the side and looked at Dogyeom with an displeased expression. He seemed to be carefully choosing his words.

I hated to admit it, but Dogyeom was getting more handsome by the day.

Of course, that didn’t mean Eunho wasn’t handsome, either.

Still, I couldn’t shake this growing sense of unease.

“What is it?”

“Oh, I’m auditioning for Summer Film today. When is Semin’s interview?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“I see… Sorry. That must have put you in an awkward position. But, um, could you perhaps—”

“I can’t get my friend accepted just because we know each other. That wouldn’t be fair, would it?”

“Huh?”

I needed to make it absolutely clear that I wouldn’t bend the rules.

If I was firm enough, he wouldn’t even get the chance to ask me for a favor.

After hearing my response, Dogyeom suddenly burst out laughing.

He laughed for quite a while, as if something about my words had struck him as incredibly funny. He even wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes before reaching toward my face.

Oh my goodness, what was he doing?

Wait… Don’t tell me he liked me instead of Eunho?

I squeezed my eyes shut without realizing it.

Dogyeom removed the hair roller stuck in the hair near my forehead and asked,

“This… isn’t a fashion statement, is it?”

I hurriedly took the roller from him, overwhelmed by a sudden wave of embarrassment and humiliation.

Dogyeom continued with a friendly smile.

“I’m not going to ask you to get me accepted or anything like that. That would put you in a difficult position. Besides… I’m pretty good at auditions.”

Ugh. What an arrogant guy.

But honestly, he wasn’t wrong.

He was tall, handsome, well-mannered, and seemed to have a good personality. Who could possibly resist casting someone like Han Dogyeom?

As Dogyeom walked into the classroom with a smile, I instinctively pouted.

“So this is what it means to be the male lead, huh? What’s with all that confidence?”

\*

Students in their school uniforms were sitting in a row outside the clubroom.

They weren’t applying to a university or anything, yet they were holding sheets of paper and memorizing things in preparation for their interviews.

Their passion for filmmaking was so palpable that even I could feel it.

“How many students are there?”

“Looks like about ten.”

“Yerim must have done a good job promoting the club.”

I’d promoted it last out of all the clubs, so I’d expected only a few people to apply. Surprisingly, though, Summer Film had quite a dedicated following.

Even the teacher, who had praised my promotional skills at the beginning of the interviews, eventually grew exhausted as students kept coming in.

About an hour after the interviews began, the teacher took a sip of iced Americano with a tired expression and handed me the remaining application forms.

“I have a meeting to attend, so I need to head downstairs. You can make the final decisions with the vice president.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

After the teacher left, only the vice president and I remained in the room.

I watched the vice president flip through the applications before silently checking the next applicant’s information.

“Senior, should I call them in?”

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“…Tell them to come in.”

“Yes. The next applicant may come in!”

As the door opened, Dogyeom walked toward us with a broad, cheerful grin.

Judging by the number of applicants remaining, I could already guess what was coming.

If the person entering now was Han Dogyeom, then Semin would be next.

Dogyeom’s confidence hadn’t been an empty boast.

Even under my deliberately intimidating interview questions, Dogyeom kept smiling and delivered one impressive answer after another.

He had also chosen acting as his preferred field, and his additional audition performance was astonishing.

He answered the questions well and acted brilliantly. There was no reason to reject him.

He was so good that the vice president actually started crying while watching his performance.

I shot the vice president a brief glare before writing a number on the score sheet.

If I could have followed my heart, I would have given Dogyeom one point just to keep him from joining the same club as Semin.

But… I couldn’t do that.

In the end, I reluctantly wrote down an eight.

“Eight points?” the vice president seemed to ask with an expression of utter disbelief.

I simply turned my head and pretended not to notice.

After Dogyeom left, Semin entered.

Calmly, she introduced her favorite movies and explained that she wanted to work in directing and screenwriting.

She seemed more nervous than usual, but once she got started, she delivered her prepared answers just as well as Dogyeom had.

What a good girl.

Without hesitation, I gave Semin a perfect score: ten out of ten.

Only after Semin left did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Now all we had to do was add up everyone’s scores and decide who would be accepted and who would be rejected.

Just as I was about to get up, the vice president pulled out another application form.

I hadn’t seen that one before.

Perhaps understanding my questioning gaze, the vice president explained,

“Senior, there’s one applicant left.”

“Huh? I thought that was the last one.”

“They applied in person today. The teacher told me to accept their application…”

“Who is it? Tell them to come in.”

The junior nodded and stood up.

“Please come in!”

Soon, the door opened, and I heard someone approaching.

I was flipping through the application forms without much interest when I suddenly looked up in surprise.

Huh?

“Hello. I’m Bae Eunho, and I’m applying to Summer Film. I don’t mind which field I’m assigned to. If you accept me, I’ll do anything.”

Why on earth are YOU here?!