Chapter 9

“You’re not doing it?” Su-hyeon asked in disbelief.

Yoon-seok stared in shock. “You’re quitting the club?”

“Quitting what?!” another student exclaimed.

Jumping forward, Su-hyeon cried out, “Rian, for real?!”

When Rian confessed with an apologetic expression that it would be difficult for him to continue with the theater club, all eyes snapped toward him simultaneously. Just moments earlier, they had been engaged in a heated debate over where to go for lunch.

Had it even been three days since he joined? For Rian—who had just proclaimed in the group chat how much he looked forward to the club activities—to abruptly quit out of nowhere was thoroughly bewildering to them.

Among them, Su-hyeon sprang to his feet to press the matter.

“Rian, did we do something to upset you?” Su-hyeon asked anxiously. “Why are you doing this all of a sudden? You were totally fine this morning.”

“Uh, the thing is…” Rian stammered awkwardly.

Rian bit down hard on his lower lip with an embarrassed, distressed look. Pinched tightly beneath his cute front teeth, the flesh swelled as though a drop of crimson blood might burst forth at any second.

The classmates’ gazes drifted quietly from his eyes down to that lower lip. Among them, Kim Taeju’s stare was particularly persistent.

“Just be straight with us,” Yoon-seok urged. “We told you we wouldn’t assign you any roles until you felt ready so you wouldn’t feel pressured, didn’t we?”

Yoon-seok spoke with earnest gravity, and Su-hyun nodded in agreement.

“He’s right. You don’t have to do a single thing. Just drop by to hang out whenever you feel like it. Actually, scratch that—you don’t even have to show up. All you need to do is leave your name on the roster.”

“We’ll work everything around your schedule,” Su-hyun added eagerly.

As if they had coordinated in advance, every eye in the room fixed solely on Rian.

“Hold on, you’re going to terrify him. Everyone sit down first,” Yoon-seok said, holding up a placating hand.

Seeing Rian shrinking beneath the oppressive weight of their stares, Yoon-seok moved to hold the other club members back.

Taeju clicked his tongue, demanding bluntly, “Why the hell now of all times?”

“Well, it’s just…” Rian faltered, his voice trailing away.

Among them all, only Kim Taeju regarded Rian’s face with cold indifference. He looked utterly unimpressed, wearing an expression that suggested he had anticipated this outcome from the very start. Taeju had opposed letting Rian join the club in the first place—had he already seen this coming?

A heavier wave of guilt welled inside Rian. Faced with an entirely unnecessary situation that demanded an apology, Yu-gyeom’s words echoed back to him—the warning that he would have to take full responsibility for his own decisions.

“I don’t think my schedule will work out, and…” Rian began tentatively.

“Now you’re just making lame excuses,” Taeju cut in sharply.

Kim Taeju cut Rian off before he could scrape together another faltering justification. Resting his chin on one hand, Taeju peered up at Rian through languid, half-lidded eyes—a gaze drenched in cynical satisfaction, as if he had expected nothing from him from the beginning.

“Huh?” Rian blinked, his eyes widening in confusion.

Taeju’s reaction was completely unexpected. Unaccustomed to facing that kind of hostility from peers, Rian stared in disbelief, wondering if he had somehow misheard.

“Isn’t it pretty damn rude to flip your decision upside down in three days flat?” Taeju challenged.

“Hey, Kim Taeju! Watch your mouth!” Yoon-seok snapped.

Yoon-seok was the one who stepped in to check Taeju’s sharp tongue. Already drowning in guilt, Rian dropped his head even lower at Taeju’s scolding. He had no excuse to offer.

“I’m not giving him shit for no reason,” Taeju retorted. “I’m just telling him to be honest.”

Yoon-seok fired back, “Honest about what, you crazy bastard? We’re the ones who dragged Rian in against his will!”

Both Yoon-seok and Su-hyun scrambled to restrain Taeju before he ruined everything. But Taeju refused to drop the subject, pressing his attack against Rian.

“He’s got zero sense of responsibility,” Taeju sneered. “Didn’t I tell you from day one not to let him in?”

Yoon-seok stepped between them, scolding, “All right, Kim Taeju, that’s enough.” Turning toward Rian, he added in a gentler tone, “Don’t let it get to you, Rian. That bastard is an insufferable stickler.”

“Stickler, my ass. He looked like a totally spineless weakling from the start, and I hated him from day one,” Taeju spat.

“You psycho! Get the fuck out of here, you demon-possessed sewer mouth!” Yoon-seok shouted.

Unable to stomach any more, Yoon-seok lashed out in fury, prompting Taeju to shove his chair back and rise with irritated violence. Startled by the abrupt commotion, Rian flinched and looked up. The gaze staring down at him was laced with a scathing sneer.

After staring coldly down at Rian’s tear-rimmed face for a lingering beat, Kim Taeju let out a mocking snort and swept out of the lecture hall without looking back.

Flipping middle fingers at the back of Taeju’s head as he walked away, Su-hyun and Yoon-seok finally turned back to examine Rian’s pale face, offering consoling words.

“Don’t take it to heart, Rian,” Su-hyun said gently. “Don’t let it bother you. The whole world knows what a foul mouth that bastard has.”

“Yeah, just tune him out…” Yoon-seok agreed softly.

Rian fiddled nervously with his fingers before asking in a small, muffled voice. He could hardly bring himself to meet his friends’ eyes. When discussing leaving the club with Yu-gyeom earlier, he had never imagined he would feel this consumed by guilt. Only now, after facing Kim Taeju’s venomous reprimand, did the full weight of his own irresponsibility hit him.

“Did I put everyone in a really bad spot?” Rian asked timidly.

Just yesterday, they had talked eagerly about submitting the application for the club activity grant… Rian vividly recalled how thrilled his friends had been. If that funding fell through now, it felt as though it would be entirely his fault.

“Oh, what are you talking about?” Su-hyun waved a hand dismissively. “It’s not going to fall apart just because one person leaves.”

“The real problem is that our school struggles to draw people into the drama club in the first place…” Yoon-seok sighed.

“Yeah, exactly,” Su-hyun agreed.

“It’s all because Kim Taeju kept acting like an overbearing prick,” Yoon-seok grumbled. “That’s why all our classmates bailed.”

Su-hyun thrust another aggressive middle finger toward the door Taeju had just exited.

“If… by any tiny chance you still feel bad toward us, how about just leaving your name on the roster?” Yoon-seok ventured.

Gauging Rian’s reaction with cautious eyes, Yoon-seok floated the proposal tentatively.

“Just… my name?” Rian asked softly.

“Yeah, you don’t have to do any club activities at all. I mean, you’ve got some personal reason, right? Like someone told you not to do it… or you have other commitments. Or did another club scout you?”

“What?! N-no! It’s nothing like that at all,” Rian stammered, shaking his head frantically.

“Right? I knew it… Then could you really just leave your name on the list? Ah, it feels pathetic to beg like this, but our grant is right on the verge of being approved.”

So it really was about the grant. Even knowing that, Rian was tangled in hesitation, unable to finish his sentence.

“Well, it’s just…” Rian murmured.

Clasping both hands together in a desperate plea, Su-hyun urged, “Please, angelic Rian!”

Faced with his friends’ pitiful, pleading expressions, Rian found it impossible to refuse any further, ultimately nodding his head with visible reluctance.

“I’ll… think about it,” Rian relented in a quiet murmur.

Su-hyun beamed. “Oh, yes! You’re the best!”

“Yeah… Just let me think it over a little more,” Rian whispered.

Yoon-seok chuckled, “Okay, okay, don’t stress over it too much. It’s really no big deal!”

Right… If it’s really no big deal, why does Yu-gyeom hyung hate it so much? Swept along by his friends’ relentless badgering, Rian ended up delaying his withdrawal from the club once again.

Right at that moment, Rian’s phone buzzed. It was a text message from Yu-gyeom.

[Yu-gyeom Hyung]

—Rian, did you arrive at the lecture hall safely? Haven’t heard from you.

A sudden jolt struck Rian as he realized he had forgotten to message Yu-gyeom upon arriving. He scrambled to type a reply, but Yu-gyeom’s texts arrived in rapid succession before he could even start.

[Yu-gyeom Hyung]

—What should we eat today, Rian? It’s already been ten minutes since you should have arrived. You got inside safely, right?

—Rian, you told your friends you’re quitting the club, didn’t you?

—I miss my Rian to death.

—I told you to always let me know the moment you arrive.

—Since you broke your promise with me, you’ll have to get a spanking today.

“Haa…”

Rian let out a faint, trembling breath. It was a tiny sigh that slipped past his lips unnoticed, triggered by the barrage of texts that had poured in before he could formulate an answer. With the club issue still unresolved, he was at a total loss as to how he should respond to Yu-gyeom.

—Hyung, my lecture is about to start. I’m sorry, I was talking with my friends and couldn’t message you that I arrived.

[Yu-gyeom Hyung]

—I know. Did you really think I wouldn’t understand? I was only teasing~

All at once, an intense longing for Yu-gyeom flooded Rian. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to throw away all this exhausting stress and curl up in Yu-gyeom’s arms for an afternoon nap.

Inhaling Yu-gyeom’s scent while drifting into a languid sleep felt like the only thing that could wash all this fatigue away. Just the fantasy of being held by Yu-gyeom sent a wave of heat coursing through Rian’s body, deepening the honeyed sweetness of his pheromones.

Rian felt utterly drained by having to apologize and navigate the petty friction that seemed unavoidable around other people. Between him and Yu-gyeom, none of those awkward, taxing conflicts ever existed.

—Hyung-ah, I miss you.

Rian sent the message. Yet for some inexplicable reason, no reply came from Yu-gyeom after that. Throughout the entire lecture, Rian checked his phone obsessively, but Yu-gyeom’s texts had abruptly ceased. The deafening silence drove Rian crazy with worry.

Before he knew it, the club dilemma completely faded beneath the agonizing wait for Yu-gyeom’s missing reply. Every shred of Rian’s focus converged solely on Yu-gyeom. In the end, the only person in the world who could soothe this panic was Yu-gyeom himself.