Chapter 72

* * *Practice began at 11am. Miso decided to dedicate an hour for physical training, saying that the club was being too lazy. As a result, Maru was leaning on the walls huffing madly.‘This feels like I’m back in the military...’He could almost hear the faint sounds of whistles blowing in the background.“Get ready!”“Yes.”The club members stood up immediately. Miso would only work them harder if they looked tired, so they needed to move it. Miso opened her steel chair in the middle of the auditorium, and the club members lined up outside the green tape.Maru was on the left side of the tape. Some things had changed since they started practicing three weeks ago. One of them was when Maru started, he would appear in the very first scene. Of course, he still didn’t have many lines at all.“We’re doing this from start to finish with no breaks. If you make a mistake on stage… Well, I trust you’ll be able to handle it. We have two weeks left until we get on stage for real. Making a mistake should be impossible. If you do so regardless, you’ll have a lovey-dovey time with me, so be prepared, got it?”Maru heard someone swallow right behind him. A one on one with Miso? Just thinking about it was terrifying. The woman was becoming more and more hysteric as time went on. They couldn’t even joke with her at this point, it only goes to show just how much this play meant to her. Miso was the captain, the captain of a ship called Blue Sky. In its first voyage, the ship was stopped right at the docks. That must’ve hurt her pride a lot, enough to make her cry like a baby in front of Taesik. This was to be Blue Sky’s second voyage, she probably wanted the crew to be ready enough to weather any kind of storm.“Geunseok!”“Yes.”“You know what I’ll do if you make a mistake again, right? We’ll abandon you. I’m not joking.”“I’ll do well.”Miso was especially vicious towards Geunseok. She probably wanted to make the boy as strong as he could get during this practice. She would cut out any praise, and beat the boy as much as she could. Thanks to her tough love, Geunseok had grown pretty vicious himself, in a good way. He was still craving praises, but he wouldn’t overtly ask for it anymore. As soon as he finds another reason to act, surely he would become an amazing actor.‘That is, only if he finishes his play properly.’Miso sent them the ready signal as she watched the clock, this was the beginning of the run. Maru’s eyes met with Miso’s briefly. For some reason, looking at them made him think about what happened right before they went into practice.

* * *Maru carefully observed the man in front of him. He wore a flat cap, sitting with a little poodle on his lap, and looked close to being fifty. “Senior, you aren’t supposed to bring a dog here.”“But there’s no one who can take care of it. I asked you, but you refused.”“We can’t have dogs in our house.”“Then don’t even complain. You expect me to just leave this little thing alone in my house? Look at it, the poor thing can’t even move properly.”The man patted the poodle lightly as he spoke.“He’s always like this, you’ll have to understand.”Miso shook her head annoyedly.“So why did I come here again?” Maru asked.“I told you. I wanted you to meet someone.”After looking at the poodle for a few more seconds, the man left the puppy to a staff member nearby. As soon as the dog disappeared, his previously tender expression grew serious.“Name?”“It’s Han Maru.”“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Junmin.”“Nice to meet you.”The two of them briefly shook hands. Maru noticed that the man had a very thick, vibrant voice. Probably the result of practice. “You look a little confused.”“Well, instructor Miso dragged me here without telling me a thing.”“Me too. She treats her seniors too badly.”“I understand that sentiment.”Junmin smiled happily at that. Seeing how the man still maintained a polite attitude despite speaking to a junior of Maru’s age, he was probably a businessman. Junmin handed Maru his business card.“JA Productions?”Maru instinctively reached for his own business card.‘Oh, right. I don’t have one.’The business card on the table had two things on it. The name ‘JA Production’, and Junmin’s name. A production company… Seeing as how Miso seemed to be involved, it was likely related to acting. Maybe a management firm?“I think I deserve an explanation from instructor Miso.”“No, I can explain it. I’m a bit surprised myself, but I think I know what’s going on.”Right then, Junmin’s phone rang. The man answered the call with annoyance and spoke angrily. Maru made out a few words about plays, times, and locations. After giving a few instructions, Junmin turned off his phone.“I apologize.”“It’s fine.”“Now, allow me to explain. You performed at a cafe a while back, yes?”“Yes.”“I was there that day. I saw you and your friends act, because my little junior here called me out.”“You were there to see us?”“That’s right. Miso told me to help out one of the twelve kids there. She looked very confident.”“Could it be, that one kid was...”As soon as Maru said that much,“I said I was surprised before, right? It was because I saw you. I actually had my eyes on two different kids. I was going to tell Miso this today, but it looks like she was in too much of a hurry.”Miso frowned.“You didn’t have your eyes on him, senior?”“Yeah. I was looking at the others.”“No way.”“I hate to say it, but I didn’t feel much from this friend when I saw him the other day. He was neat, but he’s still an amateur.”Maru realized this was a meeting made from a mistake.“So I can leave, then.”“I’m sorry.”“It’s alright. I’m actually relieved.”“Relieved?”“Yes. Chances only belong to the desperate. I’ll leave, then. Thank you.”Maru stood up from his seat and left.