Copyright 2020. 안생. All Rights Reserves.
※This is a human genre with no romance or flings.※
I hope you take this into consideration.
It's okay if you don't have a dream.
It's okay if you're not good at studying.
What you have is worth it.
"Good luck on your exam."
It was Ha-yeon's last greeting. After the exams were over and Ha-yeon's suspension was lifted,School went back to normal, as if nothing had happened.
***
After the exam, Ji-eun, who had become a bit closer to Seok-jin and borrowed his notebook to study, ran around the hallways all day, boasting that she had gotten fourth place in the entire school. In a fit of rage, she dragged Seo-young to a tteokbokki restaurant after school, promising to buy her tteokbokki.
"But why don't the kids talk about Baek Ha-yeon?Don't the kids know that he took the lead?"
"Oh, that."
Ji-eun, who was happily stuffing tteokbokki into her mouth, quickly swallowed it and drank some water upon hearing Seo-young's words. Then, after glancing around, she leaned toward Seo-young and whispered softly.
"The kids don't even know if Baek Ha-yeon did it in the first place, or if she even went ahead."
"And Baek Ha-yeon's father,He asked to be treated as a suspended student."
"Wow," Seoyoung's mouth dropped open after hearing Ji-eun's words. "This world is so full of money. That's what it is!" Ji-eun, perhaps more upset than she was, banged her fist on the table, expressing her anger.
"The father of that house is really great, he'll end up leaving anyway."
"I guess it's to manage your daughter's image. Once water gets on her, it's hard to wash it off."
"Wow, it's been a spectacle since the beginning of the semester."
Ji-eun shook her head as if she didn't want to talk anymore and put the tteokbokki back in her mouth.
***
A few days later
Seokjin, who had some free time while studying for the mock exam before taking it in June, decided to go to the music room for the first time in a while.That was the reason I wanted to hear Seoyoung's song again.
Seokjin, unable to hear Seoyoung's voice from the hallway, entered the music room, keeping his voice as low as possible. He quietly opened the door. He smiled in relief at the sight of her inside, holding a microphone and talking on her phone.
"You really like me too much, don't you?"
Seoyoung also smiled brightly at Seokjin. When Seokjin entered the instrument room and sat down across from her, it was Seoyoung who spoke first. Hearing her words, Seokjin let his expression do the talking. "I knew."
"··· thanks."
As the atmosphere gradually calmed, a brief silence followed, and Seokjin spoke. "If it weren't for you, Baek Ha-yeon, I would've lost my chance, agonizing over whether to confess or not." This time, Seoyoung responded with a smile instead of words.
"Oh, right."
"You said you'd write a poster if the culprit came out."
When Ha-yeon's story came up, Seo-young remembered the conversation she had with Seok-jin before the incident. Seok-jin, who seemed to have forgotten, looked slightly surprised.
"Do the kids know that Baek Ha-yeon did it?"
"No, the kids really don't know anything. From beginning to end."
"Are you going to reveal it? That Baek Ha-yeon did it."
To be honest, Seokjin wanted to reveal the culprit to the entire student body. But after hearing Hayeon's story that night, he reconsidered.If I do that, will the person inside me be released?I've gone back to the starting point countless times, agonizing over what the right decision was. And in the end, I've come to this conclusion.
"··· no."
"Now that everything is over, let's just relax and prepare for the mock exam."
It was something to forget.It started without anyone knowing, and it progressed without anyone knowing. So, I thought, no one should know the ending. In fact, keeping it that way would be harder for both Seokjin and Hayeon.
Seoyoung responded, "I knew it," and followed Seokjin's choice. After fiddling with the microphone in her hand for a while, Seoyoung spoke solemnly.
"··· I'm going to the audition on Saturday."
Seoyoung lowered her head, seeming unsure. Seokjin stared at her for a moment, then began to think about what he could say to her. After all, Seoyoung had been the one who had comforted him, both physically and emotionally, when he was struggling. This time, he wanted to be a source of strength for her.
"I'm so nervous, what if I make a mistake because I'm shaking?"
"Why, I think you can do it well enough."
"Hey, that's because you've never been to a place like that. If you get discouraged by the people who practice there, you'll just lose."
"You can't lose, you can win."
Seokjin's words seemed sincere. He wasn't just lip service, but a sincere desire to give Seoyoung strength. Seokjin likely wouldn't have gone to the audition, but hearing such words from the top student in the school somehow made Seoyoung believe it.
"Really? For what reason?"
"Songs don't discourage people, they make them empathize."
"You know how to do it."
When you sing a happy song, I get happy too, and when you sing a sad song, I get sad too. That's what makes you special. It's what you're good at, and it's your unique value.
"Still, I've never done that before..."
"there is."
"You made at least one of me do that."
"So sing it so everyone can relate, because you can do it."
Many people have misconceptions about what true happiness is. Happiness isn't achieved through self-satisfaction, but through being true to a worthwhile purpose.
- Helen Keller -