Chapter 49

* * *At the play a month ago, the first thing Maru saw at the waiting room was Geunseok collapsed on the wall, with the club members looking at the boy. “If it wasn’t for that kid, if it wasn’t for him… The judges...”Geunseok wasn’t able to raise his head. He was just repeating the same words over and over again. The club members didn’t look mad at all, they looked like they needed explanation. They didn’t understand what had happened. Just what caused the perfect Geunseok to make such an amateur mistake?That day, the club split apart. Miso didn’t try to assemble the club members either.[Trying to come together on a day like this would be too cruel for that boy,] Miso had said.The club met together the next day in the club room. The members tried to console each other saying that they would do better next time. But the look of “how?” would still not leave their eyes. Geunseok’s mistake was just that shocking to them.Nothing changed since then. They spent a full week consoling each other. And on the day when the results of the competition got announced, the club met again. Taesik, the teacher, was the one who announced the results. He told the club that this was a good experience for them, and that they could do better next time. But ultimately, he said the club failed to qualify.Geunseok cried. He said in a sobbing voice that he was sorry. Daemyung was the next to burst into tears, with Yurim following the two of them. The eleven members of the club got together to console each other. Maru didn’t join in. Instead, watching from the side. He had no place with them. They could only console each other because they worked together for the full three months. Maru didn’t have the right to cry or get angry together. Joonghyuk was the first to recover, saying that they should practice for the other acting competitions coming up later this year. Namely, the college acting festival. It was nothing compared to the national one, but it was the one competition that started soon after the regionals. The competition was also well-known as the ‘losers’ festival’. As the club members nodded at Joonghyuk, Maru noticed Geunseok saying something from the corner.[If it wasn’t for that kid...]The boy was repeating the same words from before. It didn’t look like anyone else picked up on it. Right then, the two’s eyes met. Geunseok flinched like a surprised kid and lowered his head. Perhaps what he said just then was what he truly felt about the competition.After that day, the club completely disappeared from the auditorium. They met on the weekends occasionally just to do some reading, but not much else. They didn’t need much practice, since they would go into the college competition with the same play from before.There was a change, though. Miso stopped coming.Perhaps the change should’ve been expected. She was only really here to help the club along for their regionals after all.[I’m going into a different project this time. I wasn’t going to do it, but well, I have some time now,] Maru recalled her saying.She tried not to show it, but Maru did detect a great amount of disappointment on her face. She loved the club more than anyone else. The loss of the club this time was probably very saddening for her as well. Once Maru thought about this much, the door opened, and the teacher walked in. The first thing the middle-aged man said after walking in was “open your books”.Time to focus on the class.Maru took out his book from his desk.