—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I clearly thought I should try to talk to her a bit more today.
Was it a physiological phenomenon that my body froze as soon as I saw her?
I greeted her in an extremely awkward tone.
“Ah… Hi? Ye-na.”
“Yeah. Hi. So, won’t you open the door and go in?”
Her tone was as if asking what I was doing.
“Ah. Yeah.”
We opened the door and entered the club room.
The size of the club room wasn’t that small, but with about 10 people here, it felt quite crowded.
“Oh! The new members are here!”
Mr. Oh Tae-su, the head of Deforme, infallibly crawled out of the blanket.
“Come on. Introduce yourselves. There are a whopping 2 new members this time!”
The president looked very proud.
“Wow~ Then we’re not a defunct club anymore, right? Tae-su oppa?”
A female senior, presumably an upperclassman, asked the president excitedly.
“That’s right!”
The long-haired president smiled too brightly.
…These people. How sincere were they about new members?
But they didn’t seem to be doing any promotion at all.
It seemed strange to see them being so happy.
“Come on! Come on! Since it’s a joyous day, let’s all go for a drink!”
The club members were generally filled with people who seemed to lack enthusiasm.
Someone was just looking at their phone, regardless.
Someone was sitting on a chair, dozing off.
Someone was looking at us with a blank gaze.
Seeing that there wasn’t a single face I knew, it meant they were people who were too old to make a name for themselves in the hunter industry.
“Hey! You people! Wake up! Come on!”
Only then did the zombie-like members start to move.
Although I wanted a slow life, this was almost close to a stopped life.
I thought the president was a lazy person too, but after seeing the members, it was an urgent moment to re-evaluate him.
* * *
The president must have been the Pied Piper in his previous life.
He succeeded in taking the sluggish members to a pub in front of the school.
I really couldn’t adapt, as in my previous life, I was surrounded by diligent and hardworking people.
A total of 4 people sat at our table.
Me, Ye-na, the president, and one female senior who was cheering loudly at the sight of new members earlier.
“Do you all drink a bit?”
It was a comment filled with the mindset of a senior trying to teach drinking for the first time.
President. I’ve probably drunk at least one more truck of soju than you.
“Ah~ I’m a bit of a drinker.”
“Wow~ I picked the right person! As expected, In-wook!”
For a moment, it felt like I had entered this club after going through numerous competitors.
In reality, there was only Ye-na, who was already recruited, and me, who came to this extremely loner club. That was it.
“Have a drink!”
At his words, I held out the soju glass with both hands.
“Thank you!”
No matter how small the club was, a senior was a senior.
I had no intention of being rude.
“Ye-na. You have a drink too.”
“I have a part-time job tomorrow.”
Ye-na told the president with an innocent expression.
“Still, just drink a few shots. It’s once in a blue moon that this many people come out.”
“That’s really true though!”
The female senior sitting next to the president chimed in.
“Nice to meet you~ I’m a second-year! My name is Kim Ye-ji! Feel free to call me Ye-ji unnie! Ye-ji noona!”
I couldn’t understand why she was here with this level of friendliness.
“Yes!”
“Alright~ Then everyone, raise your glasses~!”
The president stood up and raised his glass high.
“Now! To the bright future of our Deforme!”
“To the future~”
Wow! This feeling of even the cheers being sluggish.
It was definitely not an easy club.
What I felt as the drinking session continued was that no one was interested in us except for the two people in front of me.
Don’t they usually wonder about the new members’ names or pour them a drink?
“Senior. I have a question.”
I asked the president.
“Um… What is our activity frequency?”
The senior, who was chewing on the peanuts that came out as a snack, seemed to be thinking for a moment.
“Hmm~ So, our Deforme, you see, In-wook. Once a week.”
Maybe he was a bit tipsy, but the senior next to him, Ye-ji noona, hit him on the back.
“Oh my~ This guy! Saying things he doesn’t even mean again~”
Once a week didn’t seem like much of a problem in terms of content though?
“In-wook. This noona was also lured here by this oppa~”
As expected. She was an excessively normal senior to be among them.
“I’ll tell you frankly. We don’t have regular activities.”
“Then how is it operated?”
“We just spend the club room and support funds, and only when we have to submit results, we each draw one monster picture and turn it in.”
I already knew it was a play club, but it was more serious than I imagined.
“Rather, I’m more curious about why you joined.”
The senior’s gaze was like observing animals in a zoo.
“Can you each tell me why you joined?”
It was also a traditional question for new members, and I had no intention of hiding it.
“I joined because I like the atmosphere of this club!”
I was sincere, but her expression looked displeased.
“…Here? Atmosphere?”
Suddenly, she burst into laughter.
“Hahaha. Hey, hey. In-wook. You’ll do well in social life. This noona will scout you for sure when I start my hunter activities later!”
Hearing that, I want to laugh the same way.
“What about Ye-na? How did Ye-na end up joining? With that level of drawing skills, I thought you would have made a name for yourself if you joined the biggest art club.”
I was curious about that too.
The chilling feeling when I first saw the monster drawing in the club room still lingered.
I thought she would have been successful even if she became a painter, not a hunter.
“I… like… monster…”
It was a small voice that even I, right next to her, couldn’t hear properly.
“What?”
Of course, the seniors couldn’t hear it either.
“I like monster drawings!”
It seemed to be heard more clearly than before, but it was still mumbled and not properly audible.
“Really. Sorry. One more time.”
The senior apologized to her and asked her to say it one more time.
“…I like monster drawings!”
Perhaps because she spoke in such a loud voice.
The attention of the surroundings was focused on us.
Not only that… She really joined because she likes monster drawings…?
Seeing her face turned bright red, it didn’t seem like a lie.
She seemed embarrassed by what she said, so she swiftly turned her head and gulped down the soju.
“Phew~”
Ye-na put the glass down on the table with a thud and offered drinks to the people at our table as well.
“Don’t you think the progress is slow? Won’t you drink more?”
…You said you had a part-time job. You.
She, who had been trying her best to avoid drinking until a little while ago, suddenly started gulping down glasses.
She acted tough, but I knew.
Ye-na’s alcohol tolerance was half a bottle of soju at most.
If she drank more than this, it seemed like she would reach a lethal dose…
I started to worry about her, whose face was starting to turn red.
“Wow~ Ye-na is good at drinking! Good!”
The president clapped his hands and strongly urged her to drink more because he had no data on Ye-na’s alcohol tolerance.
The senior also cheered for Ye-na, who went from being passive to actively drinking.
“Whoa~ Getting drunk~ Choi In-wook! You drink too, man!”
Ye-na filled my glass with soju to the point of overflowing.
Seeing that it was already slightly overflowing, she was definitely very drunk.
“Stop drinking, Ha Ye-na.”
I spoke to her in a serious tone.
“Who are you to tell me what to do? I said drink?”
She was stubborn.
Knowing that if she drank more, Ye-na’s memory would be cut off, I grabbed her glass instead of mine.
I downed the soju that was already filled to the brim in one gulp, and then drank the alcohol in my glass in one breath.
“What are you doing?”
Ye-na glared at me in a tone that she didn’t like.
“Let’s go.”
I grabbed her wrist.
“I’m not going.”
The seniors were watching me trying to drag Ye-na out like an audience watching a movie with popcorn.
“It’s the time of youth. Right, oppa?”
“Wow. I had times like that too.”
“Eh~ You’re sitting there being funny~ Don’t force your memories.”
No matter what conversation we had, they started giggling among themselves.
“You said you have a part-time job tomorrow.”
When I told Ye-na, she seemed to remember that fact now and shut her mouth without being stubborn.
“I’ll go on my own.”
“I’ll take you.”
“…No need.”
Creak.
Ye-na got up from her seat, staggering slightly.
“Seniors. I’ll go first because of my part-time job tomorrow. Thank you so much for today.”
The seniors nodded and told her to go home carefully, then started drinking again like crazy.
As soon as Ye-na left the pub, I got up from my seat too.
“Fighting! In-wook!”
“Do well!”
I knew in what sense they were cheering for me, but I was still worried about Ye-na, so I said goodbye and went outside.
Which way did she go…?
Looking around the street left and right, I could spot her leaning against a utility pole not far away.
“Are you okay?”
I stopped right next to Ye-na and asked.
“I told you not to mind.”
“…You seem drunk. I’ll care just for today.”
Without her permission, I put her arm over my shoulder and supported her.
She didn’t seem to dislike my touch, as she didn’t push me away with force.
“…Hey. Choi In-wook.”
While silently walking towards the station direction she told me, she spoke to me first for the first time.
“What did you do after the academy yesterday?”
After finishing the academy yesterday…
All I did was go to a cafe with Ha-rin and talk…
“…I discussed future activity plans with my pair.”
“Is that so?”
Ye-na was silent for a while.
“That must have been nice.”
Her tone sounded somewhat lonely.
“We’re almost there. You should go home too.”
She pulled my arm off and moved away from me.
“…Thanks. Choi In-wook.”
It was the first time her tone wasn’t sharp.
Soon, the bus arrived. She got on the bus, saying she was leaving.
I just watched the bus moving away from that spot.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
