Caramel Popcorn

55

Caramel popcorn [Caramel popcorn]

55.

...

"Let's go together."

I turned my head at the familiar voice.

오여주 image

오여주

"What."

Jaehyun was walking next to me with an expression as if nothing were wrong.

And he was still holding Yeongseo's bag in one hand.

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오여주

"I told you to carry Yeongseo's stuff."

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명재현

"I am carrying it."

I had nothing to say.

He'd clearly been told to carry it, and Jaehyun was carrying it now...

It wasn't wrong, but...

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오여주

"No, I meant go with Yeongseo."

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명재현

"You didn't say that."

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오여주

"That's what that means."

Jaehyun glanced at me.

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명재현

"Anyway..."

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명재현

"We can go together, right?"

I was even more flustered that he said it so casually, and I lost my words.

Jaehyun must have read my expression, because he soon turned his gaze forward.

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명재현

"The camera's expensive. If it's not here, we have to look for it together."

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오여주

"...Ah."

Right.

I was swept up by a strange feeling, so I quickened my pace, awkwardly staring only ahead.

Then Jaehyun naturally matched my speed.

Only the sound of our two sets of footsteps echoed steadily through the hallway.

Until just a moment ago it had been noisy with a crowd of people rushing around, but the hallway was eerily quiet.

Step-

Step--

At the steady overlapping footsteps, I glanced sideways.

Jaehyun was walking along with Yeongseo's bag in one hand, looking completely at ease.

'Why did you have to follow me?'

I said I could go alone.

But if I asked that, it felt like I'd just make things bigger, so I kept my mouth shut.

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명재현

"Why."

I flinched at Jaehyun's sudden voice.

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오여주

"What?"

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명재현

"You were staring like you had something to say."

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오여주

"...No, I wasn't."

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명재현

"Really?"

Jaehyun looked at me once, then faced forward again.

Luckily, he didn't ask any more.

Even though we were clearly close, the few steps we walked together felt strangely long, as if we'd been walking for ages, and when we finally reached the front of the auditorium, Jaehyun reached out and opened the door first.

Squeeeak-

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오여주

"But Jaehyun."

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명재현

"Yeah."

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오여주

"Give me the bag. I'll carry half."

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명재현

"It's fine."

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오여주

"There are a bunch of bags; split one with me."

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명재현

"This much isn't heavy."

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오여주

"Still, Yeongseo didn't even ask me to do it, and I'm the one making you do it for no reason..."

Before I could even finish, Jaehyun let out a snort of laughter.

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명재현

"It's fine, so let's find the camera first"

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오여주

"Okay... but what if it's not there?"

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명재현

"Then we'll just keep looking together until it turns up."

Right.

He answered so simply that I looked up at Jaehyun.

Jaehyun just kept staring ahead, completely calm.

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명재현

"So don't worry about it yet."

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오여주

"...Okay."

It wasn't even a particularly comforting thing to say.

But if I had been alone, I would already have been in a mess in my head worrying about the camera...

With someone beside me saying things so calmly, it really felt like no big deal.

Inside the auditorium, I started by looking for the spot where we'd stood last.

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오여주

"It's not here..."

I was checking under the chairs when my anxiety started to rise.

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명재현

"Yeojoo."

At Jaehyun's call, I turned my head and saw him standing there, pointing somewhere.

Following the tip of Jaehyun's finger with my eyes, I saw a chair at the far end of the auditorium.

Right on top of that chair was a black camera, sitting there all alone.

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오여주

"There it is!"

I ran over at once and hugged the camera to my chest.

After checking right away whether it powered on, I let out a long breath.

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오여주

"Wow... that was really close."

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명재현

"Yeah."

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오여주

"If I'd lost it, I would've been kicked out of the club on the spot, right?"

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명재현

"Why would they kick you out?"

I flashed a grin at Jaehyun, who was chuckling, and slung the camera strap around my neck.

Then it suddenly caught my eye that Jaehyun was still holding Yeongseo's bag in one hand.

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오여주

"Seriously, give it here. Let's carry it together now."

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명재현

"Oh Yeojoo"

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오여주

"...Huh?"

"Just let me take care of it"

At the short words, my hand stopped.

Trying to snatch it again would feel even weirder, so I just lowered my hand.

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오여주

"Okay"

There was a brief silence, and a faint shadow fell over my head as I hesitated.

Jaehyun's hand rose above my head at some point.

The moment he noticed, Jaehyun's hand froze in place.

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명재현

"Ah..."

Jaehyun carefully lowered his hand.

Watching him, I decided that I couldn't keep going like this and made up my mind to ask about the things I'd been keeping to myself.

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오여주

"Jaehyun"

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오여주

"That movie you wanted to watch with me then"

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명재현

"...Yeah"

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오여주

"You said Yeonwoo gave you the ticket"

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명재현

"Right?"

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오여주

"You... said you used to date Yeonwoo"

...

As soon as we got back to the club room, I turned my head at the hot gaze I felt and saw Jiu staring straight at me.

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김지우

"Did you find it?"

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오여주

"Yeah."

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김지우

"Wow, thank goodness. The teacher said if you lost that, there'd really be hell to pay."

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오여주

"...Shh."

When I shut my eyes tight and covered my mouth with a finger, Jiu burst out laughing.

Watching Jiu and me, Yeonwoo smiled and held out the paper in her hand toward me.

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최예원

"While you were gone, we finished sorting out the locations."

On the paper were the playground, the main building hallway, the stairs behind the school, and the auditorium.

The places we'd toured today were written down in order.

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최예원

"Once the first draft of the script comes out, I think we can start preparing for filming."

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오여주

"When will the script be ready?"

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문서윤

"By this week."

Seo-yoon's voice suddenly cut in.

I turned toward the voice, but then my eyes met Yeongseo, who was standing right next to Seo-yoon.

For a moment I felt awkward, remembering the conversation we'd had in the hallway, but then I saw Yeongseo smile very slightly first.

I'd clearly said I needed time, but that didn't mean I planned to stay in a cold war during that time, so I let the corners of my mouth lift a little too.

Then Jiu's voice came again.

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김지우

"Ah, and we also need to decide who will appear in each scene..."

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최예원

"Can't the broadcasting theater team just take turns?"

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김지우

"We could do that, but..."

Without thinking much about their conversation, I was staring hard at the paper when...

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명재현

"I think Yeojoo would be good at it."

'Me?'

I looked up in surprise and saw Jaehyun smiling brightly.

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오여주

"I... have to film, though?"

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명재현

"I know."

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오여주

"Then why me...?"

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명재현

"I think you'd look good on screen"

For a moment I was speechless, and all I could do was shake my head from side to side.

Then Yejun, who'd been quietly sitting next to me, slowly lifted his head and opened his mouth...

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최연준

"Yeah."

'What?'

Yejun's gaze stayed on my face.

"I think you'd look good."

A moment of silence.

I looked back and forth between Jaehyun and Yejun with unfocused eyes, and when they saw me like that, the two of them just smiled brightly, so I shouted at them.

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오여주

"No, I can't do it!"

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자까

Which club room do you all want to go to?

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