Episode 30

“No, no. If we do that, the focus will once again shift to the supporting characters.”

“……”

I didn’t want to listen to Yu Arin grumbling beside me, but surprisingly,

truly surprisingly, everything Yu Arin said turned out to be a gem.

Even though I wanted to object to it, her suggestions were really helpful for the project, so I couldn’t actually say anything.

‘They say the truth hurts the most.’

I’ve heard that smart people who speak the truth are the most annoying ones, but really, I had no clue it would be this annoying.

“Don’t forget, we’re making a 40-minute movie, okay?”

“I understand.”

As I bit my lip and reluctantly answered, Yu Arin clicked her tongue in disapproval.

While looking at the script, I wanted to pick a fight, so I said,

“But why add romance? We could just go with horror.”

“Hmm? It’s usually good to add a bit of this to help the focus.”

“Then, does it have to be a female lead? There are more men in our group.”

“What? Ah, I didn’t think of that!”

Yu Arin clicked her tongue in frustration, realizing she had been writing the script without even considering who would be playing the roles.

“Is there anyone in the group I know?”

“Most of them you would already know.”

After all, our group is made up of English Literature major students. I’m not sure about the seniors, but I began to mention Seo Yerin, Ahn Hyeon-ho, senior Han-kang, and senior Min Ju-hee.

“What?”

Yu Arin looked at me with a blank expression.

“What?”

I wondered if she found something problematic, but then she hit me on the thigh.

“Ack! Have you lost it?!”

It hurt so much, and I wondered why she was doing this, but then Yu Arin began to erase everything she wrote.

“Shit! Are you going to shoot a horror movie with those luxurious faces? Are you trying to ruin everything by casting those who live off their looks?”

“No, we don’t even know who will take on the roles.”

“As long as it isn’t you. It doesn’t matter since you’ll be editing! If Ahn Hyeon-ho or senior Han-kang take it, the male lead works, and the female lead has to be Seo Yerin.”

“…Are you the team leader or something?”

I looked at her in disbelief but she just clicked her tongue.

“You don’t know how many love calls Yerin has received from the entertainment industry since high school, huh?”

“….”

It didn’t feel like she was exaggerating either.

“These are the kids who have had things handed in their lives because of their faces, and you can’t even comprehend that.”

“Seriously.”

Although Yu Arin wasn’t as pretty as Seo Yerin, she wasn’t ugly either.

I wanted to say something but this felt like a subject I shouldn’t broach.

“Even just filming a handsome guy and a pretty girl flirting with each other is already halfway to success, and if that leads to romance, it’ll be easier for the female lead to immerse herself so let’s focus on the female….”

Saying that, Yu Arin began to write numerous things.

She’d already become accustomed to stretching her body and tapping on the computer, which was mine!

“Let’s increase the romance content from what we wrote earlier. That way, we can also carry the tension of the horror aspects.”

Although horror and romance have been combined, this time the emphasis was more on romance.

I was just going with the flow and continued watching.

“Ho?”

An interested voice came from behind the chairs.

As we turned our heads at the same time, there was senior Min Ju-hee, wearing a jersey and a white cap, an amused smile on her face.

“Senior… Min Ju-hee?”

Yu Arin was shocked, wondering what was happening, but I raised my hand slightly and said,

“She’s supposed to come over.”

Slap!

“Why are you telling me that now!”

Yu Arin scolded me and hit me on the thigh again! But I just shrugged it off.

“She said she would come meet me before I met you. Then why would I explain such a thing?”

“Ah, you’re so annoying. How did Yerin become friends with someone like you?”

“Aren’t you the problem? Interfering with someone else’s assignment?”

Despite our bickering, senior Min Ju-hee leaned on my chair and continued to read the text on the screen.

Then.

“I’m sorry, junior. What was your name?”

Senior Min Ju-hee spoke to Yu Arin directly.

“It’s Yu Arin. We are both freshmen in the English Literature department.”

“Right, sorry, we did drink together at the first semester MT, but I forgot your name.”

So the two briefly met at the MT.

For the record, I didn’t go to the MT.

My ex-girlfriend didn’t want to go because she hated the idea of me being around other girls, so we just hung around together.

“Have you eaten? I was planning to eat with Woojin, want to join us? I’ll pay.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but could you send me what you wrote there to my email? I would like to discuss that.”

“……”

Seeing me anxious, Yu Arin smirked.

I found her look so annoying that I immediately flipped her off.

Yu Arin then cheerfully flipped me off with both hands.

“Sigh.”

Senior Min Ju-hee said it would be chicken, but we ended up at a pork belly restaurant.

Eating pork belly and looking over the rest of the script was annoying me.

Even though the script was sent in just one day, this was not a fairy tale nor anything close.

The romance was too emotional with many explicit scenes and the horror was full of absurdities.

Compared to the scripts Yu Arin had just written, the difference was significant.

“What nonsense is this…”

Mumbling to herself, senior Min Ju-hee slammed down her empty soju glass and exclaimed.

“Right! Look at these jerks, just scribbling down something to skip the assignment. I even had to remove one because it was plagiarized.”

“Oh.”

“If you want to plagiarize, at least do it to a smaller extent. Copying a trending drama is… sigh.”

Senior Ju-hee complained as if it couldn’t be helped. It seemed there were people bolder than she had expected.

“Moreover, Han-kang… did this guy even include a scene where the male and female leads kiss? And then he says he doesn’t want to be excluded. He might have just said that he wanted to kiss Seo Yerin!”

‘When did she drink so much?’

Glancing ahead, the bottles were piling up like dominoes. Naturally, as we ate pork belly, we had to order soju.

While I was sipping a few glasses and reading the script, it seemed like Senior had gone all out.

“Ha! Yerin hasn’t even had her first kiss, how can it be done there?!”

And Yu Arin, who was pacing with me, was beside me.

‘How many glasses are these? Two, three, four, five…’

Looking at the two of them, completely drunk and uttering nonsense. Even though I’d drunk one bottle, these two had downed two bottles each.

“In comparison, the script you wrote is good! Our Arin should have been a member of the team.”

“Me too! I should have signed up for that lecture too!”

“Woojin will edit, Arin will write the script! Ah, if only we had just those two beauties, then everything would be so much easier!”

They were both speaking in high spirits, clearly in sync with each other.

Since there was still some meat left from what we ordered, I was grilling it, thinking we should eat up and leave.

“Look at our beauty working again! Isn’t he just adorable!?”

Min Ju-hee, drunk, pulled up a chair next to me.

It was rare to see her arm-in-arm with me, with a smile.

“Yah! I heard everything! All agreed, right?!”

“Ah, well. Yes.”

Come to think of it, the thugs who hit me were all acquainted with Senior Min Ju-hee.

“Seriously! Kind! Seriously, man! King!”

Senior, arm-in-arm, lifted her hand to pat my head. At this rate, I’ll lose all my hair too.

“Is the meanie really being nice?!”

This time, it was the opposite.

Yu Arin pulled the chair next to me, offering a bottle and a glass of alcohol.

“When did you even order another bottle?”

While being patted by senior Ju-hee, I glared at her in annoyance, and Yu Arin stuck her tongue out.

“My treat!”

She poured the alcohol into the glass and was about to gulp it down.

“…But why am I the only one drinking?”

She suddenly questioned her act.

“You should have one too!”

With a swift movement, Yu Arin offered her glass to me. I sighed, thinking that today I have stepped into trouble and took the glass.

If she drinks any more, she won’t be able to walk home. Then I’d have to take her home.

‘And I hate the thought of that.’

I’m not a gentleman who takes care of a drunk girl who’s not even my girlfriend after just a few conversations.

“Gulp! Gulp!”

After downing the alcohol, I put the fully cooked pork belly into my mouth. It was supposed to be a pleasant occasion of getting a free meal.

“Ah, cutie! You eat so well! Eat more! More! Please bring us two more pork servings here!”

“No! Don’t give it to us! No!”

Senior Min Ju-hee insisted on ordering more.

“Yah! Why aren’t you drinking! Another bottle of soju here, please!”

“No! I’m not drinking, don’t give it to us!”

Yu Arin kept pouring alcohol into the glass like a spring that never runs dry.

‘Ah, I’m so tired.’

I wanted to go home.

“Ah, seriously!”

Leaving the pork belly restaurant, I had somewhat anticipated this.

“Why has it turned so heavy, seriously! I’m dying!”

Struggling through the night streets, sandwiched between the women who had guzzled down their drinks.

Both of them are close to being dragged along, leaning on me, and it was utterly annoying.

“Where is Yu Arin’s house?! Senior can just go to the dorm, right?!”

Since the senior lived in the dorm, I could take her there, but Yu Arin was the problem now.

“I know! Know! The dorm address!”

“Uh?”

Senior Min Ju-hee flailed her arms in the air.

“Curfew!”

“Curfew?”

She nodded, satisfied with my understanding.

‘Ah, I’m going insane here.’

I was going to take Yu Arin home first and then think about this later.

“Kuak.”

Before I knew it, she was leaning on my shoulder, drooling in her sleep.

The drool stains my clothes, and without intention, I gripped Yu Arin’s hand tighter.

“Ah, shit…”

Should I just leave them both here and go?

The moment the impulse struck me.

I thought of a solution.

It was too wasteful to leave them both at a motel and too risky to abandon them on the street.

But then, my house didn’t have enough space either.

So.

I took my phone out.

A few minutes later.

We arrived in front of the villa.

A girl with a bob cut was glaring at me, arms crossed and looking displeased.

“Haha, hello.”

When I greeted Choi Yiseo awkwardly with a smile, she turned her head slightly and asked.

“What hello?”

“……”

“Are you bragging about drinking with two women?”

She was in a really bad mood.

Maybe I shouldn’t have called.

“Uh? You ignored my text about working out earlier, but now you call?”

“Ah, did you text? I was too busy to see it.”

I was so distracted by those two earlier that I didn’t properly check my messages and just made the call, leading to the disaster.

“So? What now?”

To Choi Yiseo, who was even colder than when we first met, I awkwardly smiled and replied.

“Well, since your house is big, I was wondering if you could let two people stay over!”

“Haa! Such a pretty face and your cheeks are so squishy!”

Senior Min Ju-hee stretched my cheek, causing my pronunciation to go off. Seeing this, Choi Yiseo strode over and took Min Ju-hee.

“Minji! Help me out here!”

Minji, who had been to the police station.

It seems she got off with just a fine, and she too, hurried over and took Yu Arin away.

“Ah, hello!”

I responded to her awkward greeting and then glanced at Choi Yiseo.

“Wow, really, thank you. If it weren’t for you, I was about to drop those two off at a motel.”

“You weren’t planning on doing anything weird, right?”

“Me? To those two? Have you lost it?”

“…Then forget it.”

Upon her firm response, Choi Yiseo dismissed her doubts and helped Min Ju-hee lean on her.

Perhaps due to her workouts she was strong, so it didn’t seem that difficult for her.

“Tomorrow is your day off, right?”

Choi Yiseo inquired.

“Yes, Friday is my day off.”

Since tomorrow was Friday and I had the day off, I confirmed, and then she hesitated before suggesting.

“Do you want to go somewhere with me tomorrow if you’re free?”

“Hm?”

“Not to some weird place… just something I want to do together.”

Seeing her speak shyly, I felt curious and agreed.

“Sure, let’s do that.”

“Really? No backing out then!”

As if concerned that I might change my mind, she quickly left with Min Ju-hee.

‘What is it? Where does she want to go?’

I pondered, but then I thought it was a good opportunity since I’d be bored tomorrow, so I started humming a tune.

The next day.

“Damn.”

The place Choi Yiseo brought me to was a gym.