Chapter 20:

  Summer Film’s New Face (6)

The students in Eunho’s class exchanged uneasy glances in the chilly classroom. All their attention was focused on Eunho, who was sitting in the very back row.

“What’s wrong with Bae Eunho?”

“He got hit with spaghetti, remember?”

“Is Cheol-i not coming?”

“It won’t matter even if Cheol-i comes. Moon Yerim has to come.”

Just as the students had hoped, Cheol-i walked into the classroom. Everyone immediately turned their eyes toward him.

Apparently overwhelmed by the sudden attention, Cheol-i quietly asked them what was going on. One of the students gestured toward Eunho with their eyes.

When Cheol-i looked at Eunho, he was startled.

Just as the others had said, Eunho was sitting there with an intimidating aura that practically screamed stay away from me.

“Eunho.”

“…What?”

“Is something bothering you? If it’s because of what happened with the spaghetti earlier…”

“I’m not upset.”

At Eunho’s answer, the students’ ears practically perked up.

Only then did Eunho look around at his classmates, who had been sitting in almost complete silence.

Are they acting like this because of me? No wonder it’s so quiet.

Eunho waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s just… nothing important. Don’t mind me.”

With that, he dropped his head onto his desk.

Seeing him lying there, the students relaxed and gathered together again, chatting among themselves.

Meanwhile, in the darkness beneath his folded arms, Eunho remembered himself smiling earlier when he saw Yerim’s name written on the Summer Film poster.

Why did I smile? Is there something funny about Moon Yerim’s name?

No, actually, there is something kind of funny about her as a person. She’s ridiculous.

She was nosy and talkative, always chattering away beside him. And then, every once in a while, she would suddenly act… surprisingly mature.

As his thoughts continued to spiral, Eunho lifted his head.

Moon Yerim was at the beginning and end of every single one of those thoughts.

Why am I even thinking about Moon Yerim like this?

Eunho clutched his head in frustration.

“Bae Eunho must’ve gone crazy after getting hit with spaghetti.”

Watching Eunho clutching his hair and suffering, his classmates muttered among themselves.

\*

“Hey, Bae Eunho!”

After the final bell, Eunho was packing his bag and preparing to leave when the discipline teacher called him over.

The teacher was holding a document.

“Take this to the library for me.”

“Me?”

“Who else is here besides you? Do you think I’d ask you to do it if I wanted to go myself?”

“…But I need to leave.”

“Is it urgent?”

“Yes.”

That was a lie. He simply wanted to go home early today.

At Eunho’s answer, the teacher made a thoughtful sound and nodded.

“All right, go ahead. I think Yerim was heading to the library earlier.”

“Moon Yerim hasn’t gone home?”

Eunho approached the teacher and asked the question without even taking a breath.

The teacher burst out laughing, clutching his stomach, and lightly tapped Eunho on the head with the document.

“Exactly. So you can go instead.”

The document was placed in Eunho’s hands.

As the teacher strolled leisurely down the hallway, Eunho hurried up the hill.

Even though he knew Yerim was the reason his mind had been so tangled lately, his steps kept getting faster.

Right now, Eunho could think of only one thing:

What if Yerim has already gone home?

When he opened the library door, he spotted Yerim talking to the librarian.

He was glad to see her, but he did his best not to show it. He handed the document to the librarian and left the library as casually as he could.

Eunho stood in the hallway, waiting for Yerim to come out.

He had thought about saying something to her, but he couldn’t come up with anything to say.

Just then, Yerim opened the library door and stepped outside.

Apparently, she hadn’t noticed him because she headed straight for the stairs.

Feeling pressed for time, Eunho called out to stop her.

“Hey, Moon Yerim.”

“Oh, you’re still here?”

At Yerim’s question, Eunho’s eyes darted around.

Right. The library.

Seeing it reminded him of Yerim’s ambitious declaration that she would turn him into a wonderful male lead.

“That kind male lead thing or whatever… Is it all over now?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, you haven’t asked me to do it again, so…”

Having said it aloud, Eunho turned his head away as though embarrassed.

His reddening ears gave him away.

Normally, Yerim would have been the sort of friend to suggest restarting the male-lead project or noisily change the subject to something else.

But today, the silence stretched on.

“Eunho, I know I’m being really weird, but…”

At Yerim’s sudden confession, Eunho turned to look at her.

“I know this sounds crazy. But I think I’ll feel more at ease if I make sure rather than keep worrying about it.”

“…What is it?”

“Do you like me?”

At Yerim’s direct question, Eunho’s eyes widened.

With those few words, he was finally forced to confront every question that had been circling around him.

Why did he smile when he looked at her?

Why did it bother him when she was with another boy?

And…

‘What do you get if you become the male lead?’

‘You get to have the person you like fall in love with you.’

Was everything he’d done to become the male lead because he liked Yerim?

Eunho swallowed unconsciously.

His gaze naturally settled on Yerim’s face.

The girl who was always so confident and cheerful, always smiling brightly, was wearing an expression he’d never seen before.

It was the expression of someone standing right before opening Pandora’s box.

She looked frightened. Afraid of what she might discover. As though she didn’t really want to know the truth.

Eunho didn’t want this incident to make things awkward between them.

He had finally begun talking to his classmates little by little and had even started making a good impression on his teachers. But all of that had happened thanks to Yerim.

Without her, none of the changes he’d made would have meant anything.

“Are you crazy?”

Eunho asked, contorting his face into an exaggerated frown.

To put Yerim’s ominous suspicions to rest, he had to get ahead of the situation and shut them down first.

At his answer, the worry that had clouded Yerim’s face disappeared, and her expression brightened again.

“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.”

Pretending to brush aside Yerim’s hurt feelings, Eunho headed down the hill.

His heart was pounding.

But this time, it wasn’t because of Yerim.

It was because of himself.

He was afraid that he might end up in a situation where he could never see Yerim again.

\*

That night, Eunho stayed awake until morning.

Now that he had realized his feelings for Yerim, it was only natural that he couldn’t fall asleep easily.

He got out of bed and washed his face with cold water.

“Get a grip, Bae Eunho. Just act like nothing’s happened. These feelings will probably fade soon enough.”

He muttered the words to his reflection in the mirror.

If he wanted to maintain the distance between himself and Yerim and keep their relationship the way it was, all he had to do was act as though nothing had changed.

And that was something Eunho had always been good at, so it shouldn’t be difficult.

At least, not until he saw Dogyeom and Yerim in the hallway.

“Ah, I went up one floor too far.”

Eunho had been walking absentmindedly and realized he’d climbed an extra flight of stairs.

He was about to turn around and head back down when he stopped.

In front of Class 3, Yerim and Dogyeom were standing face-to-face.

Although he could only see Yerim’s back, he had a clear view of Dogyeom’s face.

Dogyeom was smiling at her affectionately, as though he were looking at his girlfriend.

Without realizing it, Eunho clenched his fist.

“What the hell is he doing?”

Dogyeom reached into Yerim’s hair.

Just as Eunho was about to approach them, he noticed the hair roller that had been stuck in Yerim’s hair.

“Is this… a fashion statement?”

After that, the two continued talking, but Eunho couldn’t hear any of their pointless conversation.

He watched Dogyeom walk into the classroom with a smile.

After Dogyeom left, Yerim pouted for no apparent reason.

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

Male lead?

Eunho stood frozen, stunned by the word he’d heard from Yerim’s mouth.

Does Moon Yerim have another male lead besides me?

\*

After everyone had gone home, Eunho sat quietly in the empty classroom, staring at the Summer Film poster on his desk.

He had hurriedly denied his feelings because he was afraid his relationship with Yerim would fall apart.

But now that he had seen her with another boy, his stomach twisted with jealousy.

“It’s not like I can do anything about being pissed off. I might as well take them the towels.”

Even if he was jealous, there wasn’t anything Eunho could do about it.

He sighed and took out the judo club towels he’d washed.

The gold embroidery at the bottom of one towel shimmered under the fluorescent lights.

“The Strongest Judo Club: Turn the Tables!”

Suddenly, Eunho’s eyes lit up.

The technique he’d been best at in judo was grabbing his opponent’s collar and throwing them to the mat.

Whenever he executed a throw, he turned the tables, and victory became his.

His judo style also demonstrated a tenacity that never knew when to give up.

Eunho stood up.

Then he rushed toward the Summer Film clubroom.

He had absolutely no intention of asking Yerim to look only at him or to make her fall in love with him.

When the door opened, Yerim, who was sitting in the interviewer’s seat, widened her eyes in surprise.

Eunho wore a faint smile as he took his seat.

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

Eunho simply wanted to stay by Yerim’s side.

As her friend, or whatever else he could be.

Until these feelings finally quieted down.

He wanted to stay by her side.

For as long as he could.