The stinging early-summer sunlight streaming in through the windows.
The laughter and chatter of students already making vacation plans were full of anticipation and excitement, lending the room a lively air.
Of course, it didn’t last long.
“All right, attention!”
Because our homeroom teacher came into the classroom and banged on the blackboard.
“Hey, Kim Yeongchan~ Look at your teacher, punk. Keep staring at Dohee and your eyes are gonna fall out.”
“Yeah, Yeongchan. You’re going to wear my face out.”
“N-no, I’m not! Sir, why are you making things up!”
“If you’re not, then you’re not. You cheeky little rascal, are you getting mad at your teacher now?!”
“Come on, sir!”
Laughter burst out here and there.
“Just ’cause it’s summer, you’re all getting caught up in your youth and romance, huh. Now ain’t the time for that. Do you know finals are right around the corner, or don’t you?”
“We knowww…”
Deflated voices came from all around.
“But you’re all slacking off just because the practical exam is over. Do you know your practical score isn’t everything, or don’t you? Answer me!”
“Yes…”
“Goodness, look at this. If you miss your school grades, no matter how good your practicals are, it affects rolling admissions, you know that or don’t you? It’s big, you brats. Universities look a lot at English scores too, you know that, right? English is essential, essential!”
“Yes…”
“Phew, those answers are weak. First-year grades count for twenty percent, you hear? And here I was thinking of giving you a few hints on the exam.”
“Nooo!”
“Good grief, only at times like this do you answer loud. I’ll give you five exam questions. Now, first, page 85…”
After finishing his briefing like that, our homeroom teacher turned around.
And as he left the classroom, he stuck a sheet of paper on the notice board and called out indifferently.
“Oh, these are your practical exam scores. Check ’em and sign~”
The kids in class ran to the front of the room in a line.
And as they checked their grades, they let out all kinds of sound effects.
* * *
Hyeona sprawled over my desk and grumbled.
“Dohee…”
“Yeah…?”
She’s been like this ever since seeing her major practical score.
If I said anything for no reason, it would sound like I was teasing her, so it was hard to say anything.
“Why are you Dohee…?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Why does Dohee-Dohee have a perfect practical score…? Even though you’re busier than us…”
“Hmm… I guess because I worked hard when I was little…?”
“Ha… I knew it. I hate Korea, this country of early education…”
At last, Hyeona banged on the desk in indignation.
“Yeah, I know too! Most geniuses all started playing piano at four or five! Early education is the answerrrr!”
“No, Hyeona… Liszt! Liszt learned piano when he was nine. If you think about it that way, it’s seriously not too late yet?”
“…Really? No, but Mozart composed a minuet when he was five in the first place! This is a battle of talent, waaah.”
This was the current mood of our class.
Wails coming from here and there.
Everyone was bouncing between depression and mania over their major practical scores.
‘Ha… Maybe I should’ve just held down the bottom after all.’
Honestly, I had even wondered whether I should deliberately get a lower score.
Because I was worried I might be taking away the other kids’ chances.
The practical exam was part of our school record too, so it was graded on a curve.
But if I did that, it felt like deceit, or some kind of elitist charity.
Who did I think I was?
So I did think it was right to simply do my best, but…
“Waaah, why are you Dohee, Doheee.”
This is a little… hard to deal with…
* * *
Seoyun stretched out on the practice room sofa, sipping her iced Americano through a straw.
‘Ah, nice.’
In the headset over her ears, the Debonair title track she had recorded with the members a while ago was playing.
‘The music’s good too.’
Seoyun enjoyed this leisure within just the right amount of silence.
Especially on days like this, when there wasn’t even a schedule, she was truly free.
Her set daytime routine was only English lessons, Japanese lessons, and vocal lessons.
The rest was up to her.
At times like that, Seoyun would go to Pilates with Naeun unni for flexibility, or warm up a little by trying out newly trending choreography, and sometimes she would even go out to have fun.
‘And the best thing of all is…’
Her ears were so very comfortable.
Because they weren’t here.
Of course, “they” did not include U-a.
She wasn’t even on the same level.
Chiyo and Dohee, those damn rabid dogs.
Just as she was savoring that pleasant mood for quite a while,
the sound of unwelcome footsteps reached her ears.
Seoyun lifted her eyes and checked the time.
‘Ha… It’s about time she came.’
The practice room door opened.
—Tap, tap.
Dohee, much more polished than when they had first met six years ago, was walking in while dancing their current choreography.
‘Back then, she was just pretty and so cute… Is it because we got close…? The kid’s a little… sigh.’
“Kinda cool? As in, am I kinda cool?”
“Kinda not. As in, you’re kinda ugly.”
“Hing.”
Putting aside the fact that she seemed to be in a good mood,
the look on Dohee’s face right now was the expression she wore when she was full of narcissism.
‘She must’ve done well on some test at school again… sigh.’
Seoyun let out a deep sigh.
What was the point of a kid being so capable?
When everything she did was so stupid.
* * *
One week later.
Hyeona sprawled over my desk again and grumbled.
“Ha, finals are already the day after tomorrow…”
“Yeah, they are.”
I calmly skimmed through the exam range.
It was routine.
“Dohee, teach me this.”
“Korean? Ah, yeah, this is…”
While also answering the questions other friends asked from time to time.
“Hey, do you even see anyone else besides me right now?”
“Am I dating you?”
“I don’t know, just hurry up and sympathize with me.”
“You’re right. It must be really hard for you, Hyeona.”
“Wow, there is seriously no soul in that. Must. Be. Hard. You have zero empathy…”
The sensitivity of a high school girl is no joke.
“Sigh… Yeah. You have schedules, idol practice, and you’re preparing for exams separately too… I picked the wrong person to whine to from the start…”
“No, I get it too. Arts high students are busy.”
“Oh, this time even your tone feels a little sympathetic?”
“Because I really sympathize.”
I’m having a hard time too, you know.
Honestly, even just the arts high curriculum is busy.
Classes are classes.
On top of that, we have to do competitions, improvement concerts, and practical exams too.
‘If I’d gone to the practical music department, it would’ve been a little easier.’
After all, the practical work would’ve been the same as what I practiced at the company every day.
Of course, students at regular high schools must be busy too.
Their remaining time goes to self-study and academies.
Wherever you go, being a high schooler means being destined to be busy.
“At least I’m not entering any competitions. So that’s one less thing to worry about.”
At those words, Hyeona buried her head in the desk again.
“That’s because you won the grand prize, sigh.”
“Is that how it works…?”
“Haa, Dohee, your very existence is a wound to my delicate heart. You broken character…”
When I talk to Hyeona, I start wondering if maybe I really do lack empathy.
Come to think of it, I haven’t really empathized much with the SEVEN members or with my unnies now either.
Maybe I’d been treating my unnies too carelessly under the excuse that I was comfortable with them.
Somehow, I felt sorry.
Starting today, I’ll treat them well.
For real.
* * *
Lee Dohee felt unfamiliar.
“Ah, sorry. My timing just sucked. Let’s do it one more time.”
“No, it was a move I kept messing up when I practiced alone yesterday too.”
“Ah, uh… okay.”
Naeun unni and U-a were taking it in stride, but…
“Dohee, you’re speaking so prettily today~”
“Right?”
“Huh? I’ve always spoken as prettily and kindly as my face looks, though?”
“Sure~ Of course?”
“Aww, is that so~?”
“…Yeah.”
During break time, Seoyun moved away from Dohee.
Then, in the corner of the practice room, she stood facing the wall and put an arm around Chiyo’s shoulders.
“Hey, hey… Why has she been like that since earlier?”
“I do not know… It is scary… She is an unknown being…”
“Seriously, it makes me want to puke. You try provoking her a little. You know, that shoo-shoo-shook thing.”
“I already did… But she did not get angry… This is not normal…”
“Damn, this is severe.”
* * *
After finishing practice and returning to the dorm, I quickly washed up and sat at the desk in my room.
Then I opened a book.
I was busy preparing for the upcoming finals.
Actually, I didn’t need to study the usual curriculum separately, but the problem was my second foreign language.
For students at Hanseong Arts High, there were rotating classes they had to choose upon admission: a second foreign language.
In general, arts high students majoring in dance chose French.
Arts high students majoring in music usually chose German.
Because that was where they often went to study abroad later.
Naturally, most of the students in our class chose German.
I chose French.
-Qu'est-ce que tu amies?
-Moi, J`aime beaucoup le foot.
The pronunciation is cool.
There’s a reason French was the common language of high society among medieval European nobles, regardless of whether it was England, Germany, or France.
Of course, I regret it now.
‘Ha… They said German vocabulary was a little easier.’
Trying to memorize new words in what little time I had felt like my head was going to split open.
Even though I definitely learned them in class.
Even though I took notes, there was still quite a lot I couldn’t remember.
‘I’ve been too distracted composing lately…’
Since it’s a Romance language, there are many words similar to English, so it does feel easy to learn… but not so easy that you can pick it up instantly.
‘Damn it… Am I really going to miss getting 100 this time?’
—Knock, knock.
Just as my irritation was rising, a knock came.
“Yeah, come in.”
Seoyun unni came into the room with an expression like she was holding in her pee.
‘Ha… What now?’
“Dohee.”
“What?”
“Did you eat something weird?”
Kim Seoyun picked a fight with me out of nowhere.
It seemed she had come in to get on my nerves.
“No, you’re seriously weird today.”
I’m already annoyed as it is…
Still, I had made a promise to myself.
To sympathize with my unnies.
I had decided to speak as kindly as possible.
“I didn’t eat anything weird, but I can see why Seoyun unni, who usually stuffs anything she can find into her mouth, would think that.”
* * *
With a satisfied smile, Seoyun left the room just like that.
“Right, our maknae, study hard~”
Then she put an arm around Chiyo’s shoulders again.
“Wow, the way she talks is damn annoying. That’s Lee Dohee.”
“I told you. All that was just a fake concept.”
“As expected, a concept poser.”
“What one sees depends on what one is… hehe.”
Chiyo, laughing happily, was just as stupid as Lee Dohee.
Seoyun smiled in satisfaction again.
* * *
“What are you girls doing in front of Dohee’s room?”
“Who knows? But when is that not the case? If you stick around Chiyo all day, you get used to it fast. You should try getting used to it too, unni.”
“That’s the part that isn’t easy…”
Every day was exhausting for Naeun.