Their first meeting was interesting. Everyone was flabbergasted at Suyeon’s appearance, even Taesik.

“Why didn’t you put on makeup from the start if you were going to disappear to put it on anyway?”

Suyeon managed to fix both her skin and hair perfectly in a flash, she did this in only ten minutes after hearing that Taesik would come.

“I barely put on anything. This may as well be my natural face.”

Suyeon smiled like a fox, she introduced herself quickly to everyone in the club before coming out to talk with Maru separately.

“Why did you decide to teach the acting club?”

“Don’t ask. I didn’t ask for it either. Mr. Junmin told me to, so I had no choice.”

Suyeon stretched with a small frown.

“Can you do it?”

“Don’t know. I don’t think it’ll be hard though.”

“Knowing how to do something and knowing how to teach something are two different things.”

“You always have to start somewhere to do anything. No one’s a teacher from the start.”

“True, but our club doesn’t need another new learner in our midst. We need a teacher. If you want to do it, I won’t stop you. But you better try your best.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one to tell you that? You’re the one who’s going to be on stage. I might get sick of your lack of talent first before anything. I do have experience teaching as well.”

Was she talking about Geunseok? Maru still didn’t know why Junmin sent this woman, but there was no point in worrying about it now.

“I’ll be in your care from now on. Please teach me a lot, both as an actress and an instructor.”

Maru bowed slightly as a greeting.

“I’ve been thinking this since a while ago, but you really are frightening.”

“How so?”

“You form relationships based on need. You separate work and personal life with a very clear line. Humans always begin relationships with logic, but end them with emotions. Just like with the many men I’ve met. You don’t seem to be the case though.”

“I think they’ve been very logical until the end.”

“Really?”

“If the rumors are true, then the men all left with what they originally came for. Sure, they might’ve gotten the short end of the stick, but since both sides left with something, I think there was still logic involved.”

Suyeon’s smile widened at the word ‘rumor’.

“What rumors?”

“Exactly those that you’re thinking of right now.”

“I’m not thinking of anything though?”

“Well, they must’ve just been baseless rumors then.”

“You like to play with people, don’t you?”

“Did I play with you, or do you just feel like you got played? Personally, I’ve no intentions of playing with you.”

“Wow, what manners. Boys that confuse girls aren’t popular.”

Her smile was widening, but her eyes were getting colder. Maru became certain that Suyeon wasn’t just a nymphomaniac. She was a businesswoman in high demand and an actress filled with ambitions. She knew what it meant to make progress through her friends and didn’t let morals stop her in getting what she wanted. If the rumors about her he heard from Ganghwan were true, then she was a very dangerous person indeed.

“What’s the reason a woman puts on makeup?”

Suyeon asked as she stepped forward.

“The biggest reason would be to show off more to others around them.”

“Then what does it mean when a woman doesn’t put on makeup?”

“There’s no need for them to look better.”

“Nope.”

Suyeon grinned.

“I look better with no makeup.”

“Hair roller included?”

“How do you keep coming back like that?”

Suyeon slipped back into the classroom as if nothing had happened. Maru tried to get some information out of her to no avail, even the word bubbles beside her were identical to her speech.

“Hey guys! Nice to meet you. Let’s try our best for this year. I might be a little lacking in experience, but I’m sure we can achieve some satisfying results if we work hard together. Ask me anything you want whenever you get stuck. I’ll try my best to answer.”

A bright voice spilled out of the classroom, the woman really was great at making herself look friendly. Even back at the villa, Suyeon approached Gwak Joon multiple times despite multiple warning gestures from the man. Most people would’ve given up after several attempts, but Suyeon continuously approached the man as if she was just playing. She did eventually realize that smiles alone wouldn’t help her get close to the man. So, she started fighting with him like they were old enemies.

She seemed to instinctively understand how to deal with people. In the end, Gwak Joon told Suyeon his real name. Maru found that out when he called the author last time. Back then, Gwak Joon described Suyeon as ‘a jam stuck on your hand’. In any case, Suyeon managed to open the man’s mouth and embed herself deep into his memories.

Most men are foolish enough to start wondering if a woman likes them if they look into each other’s eyes. Suyeon could become friends with most men with just half the effort she put into Gwak Joon, she might even be able to turn these men into slaves if the rumors were true. Perhaps she really was born to be an actress after all. Becoming friends with others meant that you needed to understand what the other side wanted out of you, a very important talent for actors.

“Come inside, Maru.”

Suyeon was calling him over with a soft wave, Maru stepped inside with a slight sigh.

“Don’t be embarrassed, senior!”

“Senior! It’d be troubling if you got embarrassed by our instructor’s beauty!”

Aram and Bangjoo teased with playful expressions, Suyeon must’ve said something while he was outside. You couldn’t win in situations like these; getting mad would just make the situation awkward, accepting it would make you seem annoying, staying silent would only make you get teased more. Maru turned to give Suyeon a slight glance, the woman gave him a playful wink in return.

“Maru must’ve been surprised. I was kidding, guys.”

Everyone laughed at Suyeon’s words, they must all think Suyeon made that joke to lighten up the mood. She must’ve been quite the annoyance for other female students back in her school days, especially with her being the type that always turned the situation around so that she couldn’t be spoken badly about.

“What are you planning on doing for the first day, instructor?”

Maru switched the topic around, since he had no intentions of starting a fight with the woman. He’d rather think about acting than about fighting.

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s gotta be that!”

“That?”

“Orientation!”

* * *

“Orientation.”

Maru looked outside from the veranda, their venue for the orientation was Suyeon’s house near Suwon station.

“Ahaha, big sis, you’re so funny!”

“You know it! I’m quite the comedian!”

Maru could hear the group laughing inside despite just having closed the glass door. Just how loud were they laughing? He took a bite out of the cracker in his hand. He actually welcomed an event where they got together like this, Maru didn’t want to practice so hard from the first day either. He flipped through his past memories as a businessman, looking at the cars parked in front of the station. The night scenery was beautiful, but… It reminded him of a saying: ‘the beautiful night view of Seoul was created by countless tears of businessmen that couldn’t finish their work’.

“...Senior, what are you doing?”

It was Jiyoon, she had opened the door behind him.

“Meditating.”

“What?”

“I’m just breathing in some fresh air. Why did you come out? It’s cold.”

“I-I wanted fresh air as well, I’m feeling a bit hot after laughing so much.”

Jiyoon fumbled around a bit behind her, there was a glass of beer in her hand. Maru frowned as he looked into the living room, so they decided to drink after all. He could see a big bottle of it in the midst of the boys.

“Don’t drink if you don’t want to. You didn’t drink last time either.”

“That’s why I decided to try it today. Here, this one’s yours, senior.”

Jiyoon slowly handed him a glass, he gladly took a sip from it since he was feeling pretty thirsty. Jiyoon stepped closer to him.

“Ugh… So bitter.”

“That’s why people drink it.”

“Really?”

Of course not. Korean beer only existed to fill the bellies of those who liked to eat all the food in company meals, it wasn’t something to drink for flavor.

“Don’t force yourself. It’s not good for you at all.”

“But I was told it’d be good to learn it for when I enter society...”

“Is that what the Instructor said?”

Jiyoon nodded, Maru wanted to sarcastically say that the woman was teaching such nice things. Unfortunately, he could only sigh at the fact that he had to agree. Learning how to drink really was good for multiple things, because society still demanded that you had to drink if your superiors asked you to. If you refuse? The superiors that were tamed by the Korean military culture wouldn’t let you get away with it, gender wouldn’t be a factor. If you refused or even failed to drink at a superior’s command, you’d instantly be branded with a horrid reputation as an employee that refused to listen.

“Just try one glass at first, don’t drink a lot at once, and keep taking small sips. Eat a lot of snacks in between each sip, talk a lot as well. Get a good grip of how you feel before going for another glass. Not quickly, but slowly. You’ll slowly start to feel yourself getting drunk as you do so.”

“After that?”

“Again, measure how you feel before accepting another glass. If you start feeling weird inside, stop right there. A lot of kids throw up on their first time because they don’t have tolerance.”

“T-throw up?”

Jiyoon immediately put her glass down in fright. How cute, she was the type that’d be popular between boys. Innocence was incredibly powerful in that sense.

‘Girls like these suffer a lot after a bad boyfriend.’

“You should never drink with a boy before figuring out your limit.”

“Why not?”

“No girl is more in danger than one that drinks with an innocent face. In a lot of ways.”

Jiyoon looked confused. Hah, this was troublesome. Maru would rather talk to Suyeon, it was hard to talk to kids. In the end, he could only tell the girl to take it slow.

“Uhm, senior.”

“What?”

“Do you think I can do well?”

“In what?”

“The acting club. It’s fun, but I’m pretty worried. Am I too much of a drag?”

“We didn’t even start anything, start worrying later. You won’t be able to get anything done otherwise.”

“How did you get so good at acting?”

“I’m not good at acting.”

“No, you are. I saw you. I saw you act in Anyang last year. That’s what made me register for the club. You were shining back then. You were so cool.”

Jiyoon raised her arms to the sky and spun around. She really didn’t seem like her normal self.

“...Are you drunk?”

“What?”

“You’re talking a lot better than usual. You’re not embarrassed as well.” “Me?”

Jiyoon smiled widely. Yup, she was drunk. Did the cold air get to her?

“You really shouldn’t drink. If you’re drunk after a glass, then you should just stay off of alcohol forever.”

“This is my fifth glass!”

“What?”

Maru widened his eyes as he looked into the living room. Next to Aram, he could see five empty bottles of beer. He couldn’t see Daemyung, Dowook, and Bangjoo either. Where did they go?

“Senior! You’re so cool!”

Goodness, she was definitely the talkative drunk. Maru dragged Jiyoon back inside. Suyeon, who was just laughing with Aram, looked his way.

“Where are the boys?”

“Probably sleeping inside.”

Suyeon raised a bottle of soju as she spoke. When did she sneak that in? She must’ve made them a soju bomb while he wasn’t looking. Just then, Aram fell back onto the floor. At the same time, a sound of someone throwing up came from the bathroom. By the voice, it was probably Daemyung.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t give it to the girls.”

Suyeon spoke with a very straight voice, Maru sighed as he scratched his eyebrow.

“Senior, can I really do well? Can I? Do you think so?”

Jiyoon started sticking closer to him. Goodness, he’d probably have to take care of this one first.