Life, Once Again!

"You're proactive, seonbae."

Yuna said those words as she looked at Maru right when the train made a loud noise as it went through a tunnel. She remembered him walking over to the pojang-macha. Maru continued to hold a conversation with the owner and his wife, who were cleaning up the store, and he eventually managed to bring both parties to the negotiation table. When he returned with a deep breath and said to the producer that the owner of the pojang-macha was willing to hear what she had to say, Yuna, who was standing next to Jayeon, was deeply impressed, and at the same time, disappointed in herself. When the producer said that they should go, she just left, feeling disappointed. She thought that they could always try again next time.

Maru-seonbae was different. He immediately walked over to the owner of the pojang-macha as though there was no next time and started talking to him. While she was thinking about a 'next time', Maru-seonbae took action and brought back good results. Even if he failed, his action of approaching the owner without hesitation was definitely worth respecting. Yuna was envious of his proactivity, his skills, as well as his confidence.

The train escaped the tunnel. Yuna's ears felt a little numb. Just as she opened her mouth wide to take a deep breath as though to yawn, she felt Maru-seonbae's gaze. Yuna quickly closed her mouth. She felt awkward because she felt like she had shown something she shouldn't.

"Isn't everyone like that?"

She thought that he wouldn't have heard it because of the noise, but it seemed that he had heard it all, Yuna fidgeted as she replied,

"I'm not like that though. I don't think I have the confidence to do things myself like you did. It was like that just before too. Talking to the owner didn't even cross my mind, but you were different."

"That's because I have more social experience. That wasn't something amazing like courage. It's a fight of chances, and if I think I can do it, I will try to do so. What I did was just provide suitable flattery; not something grand like courage."

Yuna thought to herself as she heard those words. They were in their 1st year of high school and 3rd year of high school respectively. Was the gap of 2 years that amazing? Normally, it wouldn't be. Maru-seonbae wasn't someone who quit school and focused everything into the entertainment industry. He was working as an actor after taking all the regular classes at school. From the perspective of time, there wasn't that much of a difference between the two. In fact, she invested more time when it came to acting-related stuff. Excluding school classes and acting classes, the rest should be what he referred to as 'social experience', but was two years enough to justify such a drastic gap in experience?

Maru-seonbae was different. She might be feeling reliant on him because he listened to her worries but even putting aside personal reasons, this seonbae felt different from others of his age. Like today, the thought of trying something like that never crossed her mind, yet he went straight for the crux of the issue and solved the problem. When she was thinking that doing nothing was the natural course of action, this seonbae faced the matter straight as though what-ifs were meaningless. He also crossed that difficult stage of persuasion. Did he have some extraordinary qualities?

"I don't understand. I also wonder if I can act like you in two years."

"I think 'like me' is a little difficult?" he replied without hesitation.

He didn't seem like he was boasting. In fact, he seemed to be feeling pity instead. What was so pitiful?

"Your skills in dealing with people will increase whether you like it or not with the more people you deal with. It will increase rapidly once people tell you off for your attitude. What can I do to be hated less? How can I reply so that I earn the goodwill of the other party? There will come a day where you think about such things in front of other people."

"Is that the moment when you become an adult?"

"Rather than becoming an adult, I would say you're becoming better at hiding your weaknesses. Honestly speaking, I find you even more amazing."

"Eh? What about me?"

"Because I can't speak like you. I don't have the confidence to reveal what I'm thinking or talk about my worries without holding back. That's because those things will become my weaknesses. People who have difficulty believing others will not talk about what's inside them. It's the same when it comes to talking about your worries. They don't have the courage - The courage to believe in others."

Maru yawned before turning his head away. An apartment complex that was under construction was flashing past. Red lights flashed on the tower crane. Yuna stared at the construction zone that was becoming distant before speaking,

"Do you say what's inside you to the people you believe in?"

"I do. I'll be like a chatterbox."

"Do I count as one?"

"To a certain extent."

Yuna somehow liked what he said because it felt neither distant nor close. She looked at his face. It was neither far nor close. There was a sense of relief stemming from the suitable amount of distance. She was worried about how to face him after confessing to him, but she felt at ease right now. Perhaps because of that, she thought of a rather bold question.

"Uhm, seonbae. Can I ask how you and Gaeul-seonbae met?"

"Me and Gaeul?"

"Yes."

"Two years ago, when I was in my first year, we met for the first time in Daehak-ro."

"Through an event held by your acting club?"

"No, we just came across each other on the street. We just passed by each other and she caught my eyes."

"Does that mean you fell in love with her at first sight?"

"At first sight, huh? Maybe you can call it that."

It was a rather vague answer. Yuna tried picturing it. The scene where the two came across each other coincidentally and then became conscious of each other felt like a scene from a drama. Maru and Gaeul were definitely a couple that suited each other. They had a clear sense of their objectives and were producing results in their field. Yuna thought about Gaeul-seonbae and thought that she should try harder. Though, try harder at what, she did not know.

"Did you confess first?"

"They say everything's hard the first time, but it becomes easy the second time… you feel like you forgot about your embarrassment. It was just a few days ago when you boldly confessed to me."

"P-please forget about that. I did it without knowing. Why did you have to make me feel embarrassed again by bringing that up?"

"Because I feel grateful."

"What?"

"Honestly, if it was someone who held it within her without saying it like you did, it might have been hard to act together. How could we act together if you can't even meet me in the eyes? In that sense, perhaps it was a blessing that it was you. Thanks to that, we can talk with ease like this. And now that I think about it, it's pretty interesting. When we first met, you ended up bursting into tears while speaking of your worries, and the next time we met, you suddenly confessed to me. You sound like a splendid character to use for a film."

"You're quite a prankster, seonbae."

"Didn't you know that? I talk about nonsensical stuff quite a lot. That's why if I say something absurd during the shoot, just ignore me. I won't get hurt by something like that. Well, if you are in a good mood then you can hang out with me."

"I don't have such a numb personality, you know?"

"Well, you'll gain resistance if you hang out with me for a while."

"I don't want such a resistance."

"I guess I can't help it then."

Yuna giggled. When she saw him at the café with the producer, she felt like the world was collapsing in on her, but now, they were talking with ease. It was probably because of Maru-seonbae's consideration. She looked forward to the shoot with him already. The shoot would probably be arduous, but she felt like many enjoyable things would make up for it.

"Going back to what we were talking about earlier, I confessed first. Actually, I wanted to confess on the day we met, but that would be a little too weird. When we met for the second time, I told her my name, and we started meeting frequently through a noona who knows her. Then, one day, I went to her house on a snowy day and confessed."

"On a snowy day?"

"It was a coincidence. I was quite reckless about it. I told her that I will barge into her house if she doesn't come out of her house."

"Did, I mean, could Gaeul-seonbae hold back after hearing that? I think she would have done a shoulder throw on you."

"She almost did that. The reason I exercise is to get hit less by Gaeul."

"That sounds plausible. So did Gaeul-seonbae accept?"

"She did. Oh, there's something I want to boast about."

Maru-seonbae put his hand inside his pocket before taking out a ring. It was a ring with a rabbit engraved on it. Yuna remembered the pale, thin finger that had the same ring on it.

"The ring that Gaeul-seonbae's wearing… is a couple ring?"

"Cute, isn't it?"

"Gaeul-seonbae bought it, right?"

"No, I did."

"Really? That so doesn't suit you."

"You really don't have good eyes. I'm a romanticist, you know?"

"Seonbae, now that I look at you, you are totally cocky."

"That's good, I feel like we're getting to know each other better. Since you're so direct with your words, shall I give you the title of 'neighborhood foolish little sister'?"

"I'm not foolish. Well, I guess I did commit two foolish mistakes."

Yuna had a look at the ring that Maru put on. She felt envious, yet at the same time, thought that they were a really fitting couple. She confessed unknowing of the two, so she could imagine how flustered he would have felt, and how much he laughed about it. She felt her face become hot again.

"Then why don't you put it on usually?"

Yuna spoke up when she saw Maru put the ring back inside his pocket. Now that she thought about it, Gaeul-seonbae always had the ring on other than when she was practicing. She also saw her treat the ring preciously when she washed her hands in the bathroom. Compared to that, Maru had not been wearing the ring whether it was the first time they met or now.

"Because it's a bother."

"Ah, okay."

Unlike the series of sweet words she heard until now, the reply this time was very casual. What mattered was that they liked each other, not the ring. Yuna looked at Maru, who kept yawning.

"Maybe you'll appear on TV as a popular celebrity couple in the future."

"I would love for that to happen, but don't you think it's quite improbable?"

"Why would you say that? Both you and Gaeul-seonbae will become successful. When I see Gaeul-seonbae acting during practice from time to time, she surprises me every time. She's not the same as she was at the beginning of the semester. Her acting skills just make me exclaim. I think Maru-seonbae is really good at acting too."

"Thanks for saying that."

Maru locked his fingers before putting them behind his head. At that moment, the train entered another tunnel, and at the same time, there was an announcement about an energy saving campaign before the lights became dim in the train. It seemed that the air conditioning was turned off as well. When she got used to the heavy noise made by entering the tunnel, Maru spoke again,

"Even if we both become successful, there's no guarantee that we would still be dating by then. You never know what will happen. Even if I continue to like her, it would be over if she says she doesn't like me. The opposite holds true as well. Romantic relationships between students are shallow after all. I like her, but I don't know how long that seriousness will last. That's just how dating is when you're young."

When he finished his words, the train left the tunnel. The dim lights turned back on and the air-conditioner started again with some machine noises.

Yuna turned around slightly. She still couldn't look at Maru straight in the face. Her heart worked harder than usual. She felt like the blood flowing in her blood vessels were moving quicker than usual. She tried putting her hand on her cheek. It was hot as though she had a fever.

"So look for someone you like. You will never be able to date freely if you don't do it now, you know? You know that, right?"

Maru closed his eyes after saying those words. He then fell asleep. His head, which was jerking back and forth, leaned sideways. Yuna had a look at her shoulder. Maru-seonbae's face was right there, breathing regularly.

The train shook as it sped across the rails. Yuna sat there without being able to do anything. She hoped for the train to go a little slower. A naughty thought raised its head inside her, but she did not put her shoulder out. His words reverberated in her ears. I don't know how long the seriousness will last - these words kept echoing inside her head.

Nothing to say this chapterEditor's Note:OK, I was just kidding before but it seems like the author is actually setting up a breakup. Which tbh I am still not totally opposed to. I mean hear me out. Not only do we get the cinnamon roll that is Yuna, we even get the adorable Bitna as a packaged 2 for 1 deal.