âIâll definitely go to your next performance.â
âMe too!â
Gyunglim and Gwangseok left the lecture room after saying their goodbyes. As for Sungjae, he exchanged a few words with Sooil before quietly leaving through the door.
âThank you for the meal,â Maru said as he put the last piece of sushi in his mouth.
âYou can take this one as well.â
Sooil pointed at the remaining crĂŞpe as he spoke.
âWhat happened to you? Yielding food to someone else like that.â
âI ate quite a lot of it during the past few days, so Iâm a bit fed up with it.â
âWait, you had these for days?â
âYeah. Itâs hard to get your hands on if you donât get them now.â
âDo you think crĂŞpes are some seasonal fruits or something?â
âThe one that makes them is quite busy. Itâs hard to get your hands on them.â
âReally?â
âHeâs a famous patissier. He came to the country for just a while, so you canât get them otherwise. If you want them, youâd have to travel all the way to France.â
âYouâre quite capable, having connections like that.â
âWell, I do know a lot of people.â
Sooil spoke in a joking tone as he cleaned up the trash. He gathered the plastics on one side, divided paper with food on it and paper without food, and put them in separate bags.
âYour future wife will love you if you do that.â
âThatâs precisely why Iâm doing this.â
âDo you act like this at home as well?â
âThat depends on the case.â
Seeing the neatly cleaned trash made Maru want to clap. He might as well receive the recycling award of the year.
âSince Iâm full, Iâll feel awesome if I just went straight to bed like this.â
Miso kicked Ganghwan, who was about to lie down on the floor.
âWhy is a soon-to-be-newlywed so violent.â
âShut up, and we need to empty this place, so be quick if you want to say anything. Iâm going to visit the principal before going home. Maru, donât forget to turn the lights off. The principal is sensitive to things like that even though he earns a lot of money. See you next time, Sooil.â
Miso waved her hand and left. As soon as Miso left, Ganghwan laid down on the floor. His ability to lie down regardless of the time, place, or occasion had to be acquired from when he was living as a homeless man. Maru asked Ganghwan who just blankly stared at the ceiling.
âYou shouldnât be here just to bring the sushi. What is it?â
âIâm just here to see my discipleâs face though.â
âThen Iâm leaving.â
Just as he was about to get his bag and leave, Ganghwan quickly changed his words.
âI heard that your movie was over.â
âYes.â
âDo you have any fixed schedule other than Misoâs classes?â
âNot immediately, no.â
âThatâs good. Iâm going to ask senior Junmin to pull you out.â
âEh?â
Ganghwan pointed at Maruâs face and spoke.
âI think Iâll have you do some plays.â
* * *
âThen see you in Anyang. How about you, Sooil?â
âIâll go home after hanging out with him for a while.â
Maru shook off Sooilâs hand that was placed on his shoulder.
âWhat do you mean hang out? Itâs nearly ten.â
âJust hang out with me for a while. I donât have a place I can spend time in. Senior, be careful on your way home!â
Ganghwan waved from inside the car before driving off. After watching the car turn on the left blinkers and disappear to the other side of the road, he looked at Sooil.
âGo home now. Itâs way past sunset.â
âHang out with me for a while here. Just until 11.â
âDid you cause an accident?â
âWhat makes you say that all of a sudden?â
âItâs because you donât want to go home.â
âThe atmosphere at home right now is a little⌠you know. If I go back now, Iâll have to put myself in a corner of my room and act like I donât exist, but I donât really want to do that.â
Sooil answered with a depressed face. Maru sighed.
âDo you want to go to a PC-bang or something?â
âSounds good. But donât we have to leave after 10?â
âAh, right.â
There was no suitable place they could go to as high school students. This was why some high school students gathered in the neighborhood playgrounds with some soju they bought in secret. Maru clicked his tongue as he looked around. There wasnât a suitable place they could go to.
âMaru, you good at billiards?â
On the 2nd floor of the building Sooil was pointing at, there was a billiard hall. Billiards, huh. It was one of the places he practically lived in when âMaruâ was young, along with the PC-bang.
âDo you know how to play?â
âMe? Of course I do.â
âThen letâs go. It should be better than standing outside like this.â
They entered the billiard hall. Near the counter, girls who seemed to be students like them were playing pocket ball. Maru expected this place to be filled with smoke from cigarettes, but it was actually quite clean. The part timer even brought them drinks.
âThis place is different from my area.â
âLooks like this is the trend these days. I see a lot of them pop up.â
âSeoul has it pretty good alright. Whatâs your score?â
âFifty.â
âDammit. Four-ball?â
âI can do three.â
The confidence of a kid who could only play 50. Maru released three balls onto the table.
âLetâs not do anything strange. The table is expensive.â
âI donât do stuff like that.â
Maru was about to use the scoreboard but decided not to, thinking that they would only stay here for a short while. Sooil wandered around the table while holding the cue. He clearly looked like he hadnât played many times. Maru felt the smooth texture of the cue he hadnât held for a long time before speaking.
âWhatâs your relationship with Gyunglim-noona?â
âGyunglim-noona?â
Sooil smiled.
Gyunglim, who rejoiced so much when she saw Ganghwan, froze up after seeing Sooil. It was the same as the last time. As Gyunglim drove off with Sooil, she made a crying face as though she was a cow being dragged to a butchery. It didnât look like she didnât like it. She just looked to be at a loss on what to do.
âSheâs just a cute noona.â
âCute?â
âYea? Gyunglim-noonaâs pretty cute. The way she says everything without filtering first is cute, and the way she instantly regrets it afterward is also cute.â
âYou got to know her through this work?â
âNo, weâve known each other since we were young. But why do you ask about her? Are you perhaps interested?â
âItâs because sheâs interesting. Thatâs why.â
Sooil pushed the ball with the cue.
âSheâs a kind noona. Sheâs the type of person whoâd make a lot of losses because of her kindness. When I look at her, I want to do more for her.â
âThat sounds kinda suspicious.â
âIâm talking about in a humanitarian way, so donât misunderstand. Rather than that, how many scores are you going to play?â
âLetâs just play and chat about something.â
Playing seriously was only done when there was a ten thousand won bill on the table, or when the number of the Chinese food delivery service was preset in the phone. He drank a little before speaking again.
âBut I thought you donât have experience doing plays.â
Sooil, who was estimating the distance with the cue, raised his head.
âYeah, not on an official stage. You said you do, right?â
âJust a couple of times to help out. But are you okay with that? I mean, you have a busy schedule.â
Maru looked at the counter as he spoke. The female part timer as well as the high school girls that showed no interest at the beginning thinking that they were just customers, were now stealing glances at them. They probably recognized who Sooil was.
âI wanted to learn what plays are like. They do say thereâs no better place than a stage to hone your acting skills. Dramas are good as well, but right now, I want to try out a lot of things.â
âSo a famous star is famous for a reason.â
âWhoâs famous. Rather than that⌠I think thereâs a bigger reason than skill.â
Sooil made a strange smile as he spoke.
âBut whatâs senior Ganghwanâs style like? I never acted with him before.â
Hearing Sooilâs question, he thought back to the days when he went to the practice room in Anyang. The atmosphere there could be summed up with the slogan on their wall. The quality of a line uttered a hundred times is different from the quality of a line uttered once. He told Sooil that line.
âJust hearing that makes me feel tired already.â
âHeâs just an average neighborhood Joe usually, but he completely changes when it comes to things related to plays. It was hard practicing for a short skit before the preparations for the stage, and if you want to stand on the stage properly, I canât even imagine how far youâd have to go to do that.â
âAh, maybe I shouldâve said no?â
âFrom his expression, it looked like he had already settled the deal with the president. At the bottom of the ladder, I do what Iâm told. Ah, I guess youâre higher up in the ranks?â
âI donât know either. Rather than that, Iâll be playing first then.â
âAlright. Go ahead.â
âOh, wait.â
Sooil collected the trash gathered next to the billiard table as well as the empty cups before bringing them to the counter. There was a small commotion there. It seemed that they confirmed that he was the person they were thinking of.
After being held by the ladies for a few minutes, Sooil returned with some snacks in his hands. It seemed that the high school girls gave it to him.
âIs that your way of managing your image?â
âIt is a habit of sorts, but youâre not wrong. I canât let people find faults with me.â
âItâs hard being a celebrity.â
âItâs not entirely because Iâm a celebrity, you know?â
Sooil chuckled before standing next to the billiard table with the cue.
âMaru.â
âYeah?â
âItâs a bit boring to play just like this. So letâs make a bet.â
âJust play. Youâll be crying later.â
âEven a simple one is fine.â
Maru sighed with a smile.
âFine, do whatever you want. What do you wanna bet? We have drinks already.â
âThe winner can ask the loser to do one thing.â
âWhat? Thatâs such a grandiose condition.â
âNothing hard though. Something that you can do.â
Maru stared at Sooil, who had a smile on his face, for a while before nodding.
âFine, letâs do it. But since weâre betting, Iâm playing this properly as well.â
âPlease go easy on me.â
Sooil smiled and got into position.
* * *
âDamn him.â
When he looked at the symbol for the billiard hall outside the window, he thought back to what happened an hour ago. He had to notice it when he saw that guy push his butt right out and measure the angle. He didnât realize that heâd be watching for the entirety of 30 minutes.
âIf thatâs fifty, Iâm just one, goddammit. Seoul players go too hard.â
Even on Jeju island, and in Incheon, where it was known to be hard to get scores, Sooilâs self-proclaimed âfifty pointsâ would be way understated.
-Youâll have to listen to a request from me in the future then.
He flicked away the words that echoed in his mind with a laugh. He was the first one to look down on him, so he couldnât make any excuses either. Even if he did play first, he wouldnât have been able to finish the game in one go, making it Sooilâs turn, and that would mean game over for him. It was impossible to win against him anyway.
Beep, the buzzer rang. Maru got off the bus and opened his phone. Ganghwan sent him the date and place of the appointment through text.
âPlays are good.â
He would have to see for himself what he was going to do and with what kind of people, but the fact that he was going to stand on stage made him feel excited already. Plays and dramas. The two were similar in the aspect that they both required acting, but they were two totally different things when you dug deep enough.
Acting was supposed to be done live. Just because they made a mistake, it wasnât possible to shout cut and start over. Mistakes just happened and they would have to continue the play regardless. The actor would grow amidst those big and small accidents. This was why he agreed with the words that actors had to try out plays in order to gain a variety of acting experiences.Â
âSounds fun.â
His palms heated up. The nervousness he couldnât feel from dramas could be felt even now. Maru smiled as he started walking. The date was this Friday. He didnât have to wait long.
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