“I’d never have thought I wouldn’t feel any annoyance about going to school on a Sunday. What a travesty.”

Maru spoke as he changed into a pair of slippers. The weekend was a government mandated day of rest. A kind of day where the law allowed you to watch TV after waking up late in the morning, eat brunch, and spend the afternoon with a cold beer.

“It’s so sad that I’m not part of the working class.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Dowook stepped up the staircase first with a glare, Maru licked his lips as he followed behind the boy. It was slowly transitioning to mid-April at this point, a season known for its lethargy. Maru felt especially worse around this time. He had plenty of time to sleep last year during this season since he was just a stage manager, but not anymore.

“Why are you looking so tired today?”

“You try being as old as me. You’ll realize how disgusting it is to have to work over the weekends.”

Maru yawned loudly. Hopefully, he’ll be back in peak condition after this week. After arriving on the fifth floor, Maru and Dowook opened the door to their club’s classroom.

“No one’s here yet.”

“Not even Daemyung?”

Maru looked around as he asked. Daemyung was always on time, he was never late last year either.

“Oh, there’s his bag,” Maru discovered.

“You’re here?”

Daemyung stepped up behind them with a drink and ice cream in hand, he must’ve bought them from the supermarket near the school.

“Dude, you’re gonna get fat again like that.”

Dowook said as he bit down on the ice cream bar Daemyung gave him, Daemyung’s been drinking a lot of soda recently as well. He lost quite a bit of weight back when Miso was training them, but he gained all of it back during the winter break.

“I-I should lose weight. I can do it. Probably...”

Ahh, the thing that countless women like to say all the time. To this date, Maru could count the number of women he’s seen actually succeed in losing weight with just his hands. Maru pat Daemyung’s shoulder as a gesture of encouragement. It’s alright. Men just need their wallets to be thicker than their belly.

“Lord, we’re getting lazy.”

Maru laid back on the class floor with a bar in his mouth, the coolness of the floor in contact with his back was a pretty welcome one. Maybe he could enjoy what little of the weekend he had with this.

“Dowook, you didn’t get to see the props yet, did you?”

“Props?”

“They’re right behind the container behind the school. Want to see?”

“No, it’s annoying.”

“I-It’ll be good to take a look at.”

Daemyung was full of energy ever since he stepped up as club president two days ago. He said he couldn’t do it when Maru first talked about it, but he finally gave in after a bit more persuading. Objectively speaking, the boy was more empathetic than Maru. He would be better at communicating with the kids, he should be able to take care of any issues that arise very easily as well.

‘I can just give them a scary look every once in a while.’

Good cop, bad cop. There was no better position than this. Also, the role of a club president just had too much work that came with it. Maru had no reason to take the role since he had nothing to gain from it either. He would’ve continued with it if Daemyung was dead against it, but thankfully that was not the case.

“You were supposed to be support staff, so of course you need to see it. You should get a grasp of what you need to make in the future.”

Maru gave Dowook a slight nudge as well. In the end, Dowook rose up from his chair with furrowed eyebrows.

“Fine, fine. Ugh, the two of you are just...”

Daemyung took Dowook downstairs. Dowook had a surprising amount of sense in him, it’d be nice if he could fix that attitude of his. The boy wasn’t swearing as much anymore, but the delinquent air about him hadn’t gone away.

“Is he trying to look like a gangster?”

Well, he was popular with the girls. He seemed to be getting along with the all-girls high school next to Woosung High still. It looked like he stopped talking to them for a while after the Changhu incident, but that’s changed since winter. As a matter of fact, the girls from that school would even come to find Dowook at their school on occasion. A lot of students asked Dowook to set dates for them as a result and Dowook was able to use that to melt back into the classroom.

Bada’s face quickly crossed Maru’s head, but he quickly dismissed it. She asked him a while ago to introduce her to Dowook. Maru said no right away, but she was persistent. She was silent since the new semester began, thankfully, but Maru still got chills on his back whenever she came to him with a smile.

Dowook was a good guy, for sure. He would make a great boyfriend. He wouldn’t hesitate to give Dowook’s number if anyone else asked for it, but not his sister.

Honestly, Maru didn’t really care who his sister dated. He hoped that she would meet a good person, but that was just hopes in the end. He trusted that Bada could take care of things well. He’d keep a close eye on her since he already knew she’d divorce in the future, of course, but he had no intentions of doing anything during her school years.

‘Not Dowook, though. Nope, never.’

A friend of his, dating his sister? Good lord. What a terrifying thought. The saying about how friends should never become family was a saying for a reason, he didn’t want to be caught between the two’s relationship at this odd middle ground. His sister would tell him, “You know, Dowook…” and Dowook would go to him, “You know, Bada…” He’d have to constantly mediate their fights.

If a person he didn’t know at all made his sister cry, he could fight any day of the week. But if that was a friend? Maru felt his head go blank just thinking about it. The two of them both had quite the temper as well. It was Maru’s duty as an older brother and a friend to keep the two from ever meeting each other. Plus, he needed to survive.

“I’m sleepy.”

He felt sleepiness wash over him as he thought about stupid things. Mid-april was a tiring month indeed, it was so difficult trying to stay alive when energy was being constantly sapped out of him. He dazedly looked out the classroom door, the walls were beige and the floor was made of marble. Right then, he noticed a round head poke into his vision. It was Jiyoon, walking up towards him from the staircase. Watching her leaning on the wall for support was a dreadful sight.

Maru stared at Jiyoon, she hadn’t noticed him just yet. She was looking forward, but her mind was clearly preoccupied. She’d probably get into an accident walking like that. Indeed, he noticed Jiyoon trying to take another step up after coming to the end of the staircase. She’d lose her balance doing that.

“Hey hey!” Maru shouted.

Jiyoon snapped back to reality and checked her foot. She slowly put it down after a flash of realization. “A-ah, hello.”

An awkward greeting, Jiyoon stood in her place with an odd look. Maru frowned. Was she sick?

“Are you just going to stand there?”

“Ah.”

Jiyoon let out a tiny moan and stepped into the classroom. It was starting to get warmer already, but Jiyoon looked like she just ran through a snowstorm with how pale she was.

“Are you sick?”

“N-no.”

“Really? You should rest if you’re sick. You’re going to get hurt like that.”

“I-I’m really fine. I’ll stay here.”

Jiyoon spoke with her two fists over her knees, she looked very stiff from nervousness. What was wrong with her today?

“Are you really fine?”

“Y-yes.”

Jiyoon wasn’t even looking at him, she wasn’t the type to avoid eye contact in a conversation. What happened to her? He wanted to say something but closed his mouth for now, he wasn’t good at consoling people. “So there were more than that last year?”

“Yeah, we had to throw out more than half.”

“Sounds difficult to deal with, maybe I shouldn’t have come here after all.”

“Hey, don’t say that.”

He could hear Daemyung’s and Doowok’s voices coming from the hallway. Perfect timing.

“Jiyoon.”

“Yes?”

“Do you like hot chocolate?”

* * *

Daemyung looked at Jiyoon sitting next to him, she looked frail. As soon as he came back to the class, Maru asked them to go get some hot chocolate. They left Dowook to sit around in the classroom and went down with Jiyoon. As they waited for their drinks, Maru whispered to Daemyung that Jiyoon didn’t look okay.

- Good luck, pres.

Maru left, excusing himself to get a drink for Dowook. There was an awkward air around the bench next to the store, Jiyoon was just staring dumbly down at her cup.

“Um, Jiyoon.”

“Yes?”

Jiyoon raised her head rapidly, she looked surprised. Daemyung himself was surprised by her sudden response. Why was this girl so nervous?

“I don’t know if I’m just overthinking it, but you didn’t look okay today...”

He trailed off nervously, he wasn’t good at consoling people either. Maru was the one really good at this stuff… Well, he was asked to do this, so he might as well try his best.

“...Is that so.”

Jiyoon drank her hot chocolate with a nervous look, Daemyung sipped on his drink as well. He felt a bit nervous over talking one on one with a girl, but that feeling quickly subsided over the fact he was talking with a junior right now. A junior that needed help at that.

Daemyung fidgeted as an unexpected silence surrounded both of them. Did he say something wrong? Maybe he shouldn’t have asked about this to begin with.

‘Hopefully, that’s the case.’

He’d developed an immunity to misunderstandings and people ignoring him already. It was sad that a junior of his might look at him badly, but at least that would mean she didn’t have that big an issue. Just as Daemyung finished his drink and thought about leaving, the girl opened her mouth.

“Do you feel like you’re suffocating when you talk with your mom, senior?”

Jiyoon bit down on her lips.

* * *

“Agh! So hot!”

Aram flopped down on the floor as soon as she arrived. A bit of her shirt rolled up to reveal her belly, but she didn’t seem to care at all. Maru sighed as he threw Dowook’s jacket over her stomach.

“Ooh, senior, you have great manners!”

Dowook shouted at him, “hey, that’s mine!” from the side, but Maru ignored him.

“It’d be nice if Jiyoon had half the energy you did.”

“Why?”

“Do you really need to ask?”

Aram smiled at that, Dowook walked over to take the jacket back from her.

“Senior Dowook, you’re so cold! You’re not going to be popular with the girls like that.”

“Do you want to die?”

“Ooh, want to spar?”

Aram stood up and assumed a fighting stance. Come to think of it, she practiced Taekwondo, Judo, and Kendo, didn’t she? Maru gave Dowook a slight glance, the boy was stepping back with an annoyed expression. Mm, Aram seemed to be a predator to him.

“Hello! I am here!

Bangjoo stepped into the class with an incredibly loud voice, he was holding expensive looking boxes wrapped in silk on both of his hands.

“What’s that?”

“My big sis got it for us to share.”

Share? Bangjoo started unwrapping the boxes after putting it down. When he opened the cover, they found sashimi inside.

“Sashimi?”

“Yes.”

Sashimi? In a high school club? It looked really expensive. There were beautifully carved fruit and sushi inside as well, definitely not anything you could buy at a local store. To begin with, the container it came in was made from real wood as well.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your sister really gave you this?”

“Yes.”

“...Your family must be rich.”

Maru was treated with a lot of expensive foods in the past, so he had no issues getting an estimate of how much this cost. It’s cheaper than the really expensive sushi for sure, but this definitely wasn’t the type of food you treated kids with.

“This is why I said I didn’t want it, but my sister insisted.”

“...Well, might as well help myself to it.”

Maru was eyeing the eel sushi. He was feeling tired recently, so he might as well use that for some recovery. Sashimi was one of those things you didn’t want to spend too much money on even if you had the cash on hand, so this was an incredibly welcome gift. Just as he was smiling proudly at the food, Suyeon arrived. She widened her eyes looking at the shining sashimi.

“You guys are in a whole different class, aren’t you?”

Well, it was a gift, so they might as well enjoy it… that was the conclusion they reached.

“Where’s Senior Daemyung and Jiyoon, by the way?”

Bangjoo asked.

“They’ll come back soon.”

The two of them entered just as Maru finished speaking, they didn’t look so good though. Jiyoon looked as nervous as ever and even Daemyung was frowning.

‘What the hell happened?’

Maru looked at the two as he scratched his eyebrow.