Chapter 215

* * *He stepped out to buy drinks with Daemyung. As soon as they got to the staircase, Daemyung spoke with a wary expression.“I think I gave her the wrong advice.”Daemyung was clearly very agitated.“Speak slowly. What did you tell her?”“...It was family stuff. Also personal stuff.”“Well, what was it?”Daemyung paused with a closed mouth, he looked very troubled. He must be wondering if it was okay to talk about this. He was being very considerate and polite, but now really wasn’t the time for either of these things.“I can only ask her myself if you don’t tell me, but I don’t think that’ll be easy to do. Also, my mouth isn’t very light.”“Right, of course. Hah… I don’t think I should’ve done this, you would’ve been way better than me.”Daemyung stopped talking as he organized his thoughts, he only opened his mouth when they passed the front gates of the school.“She had some trouble with her parents. She didn’t explain all of it, but I think they’re too overbearing on her. Jiyoon also had some personal issues.”“What is it?”“She says she gets really nervous at important moments, especially during tests. Or whenever she’s the center of attention. She doesn’t know what to do because her heart starts beating too fast. I told her everyone gets that, but she said it was a little different.”“Is that all? That doesn’t sound so bad.”“...I gave her some advice regarding her parents.”“What did you say?”“That they were saying these things just because they cared about you. I know it doesn’t help, but I didn’t know what else to say. You think I made it worse by saying that?”Maru looked far into the distance, everyone says advice like that. Trouble between a child and their parent wasn’t an uncommon issue, not many kids maintained a good relationship with their parents throughout their entire life. If Jiyoon’s fight with her parents was what ruined her condition today, then they definitely didn’t fight over something normal.“Jiyoon didn’t look like she got hit anywhere, did she?”Daemyung blinked for a second until the question really registered to him.“Are you...”“It’s just a possibility. I didn’t see any bruises on her.”“Me neither.”“She must’ve been hit by something big if her behavior changes this drastically overnight.”“That’s… true.”Jiyoon was in an absolute mess today, almost as if she left her mind somewhere else. They shouldn’t approach her thinking it wasn’t anything special, they might end up ruining a family if they did so.“Alright, you should talk to her one more time. If she hides things, then don’t approach further.”“What? Maru, we should help her.”“There are limits to how much you can help someone. How much do you know about Jiyoon? I just know her surface personality and her name. Do you think it’s right to dig deep into her matters just because you know that much?”“I still want to help her.”Daemyung spoke with his eyes wide open. The boy just couldn’t let her go, could he? This was probably because of how much of himself he sees in her. Maru understood the boy’s feelings perfectly well, but it still wasn’t a good idea to pry so deeply into other people’s matters. Especially if the matter at hand was about family. Jiyoon was just a normal junior, so there was no reason for them to pry deeply into anything. Of course, things would be different if she was actively seeking help, but… if she wasn’t, there was no need to help.“We’ll help if she asks for it. But if she doesn’t, just observe.”“She might just not be talking about it because she’s nervous.”“You want to help her no matter what?”“...Yes.”“Will you take responsibility if something goes wrong?”“What?”“It could be way more serious than you think. If you end up making the situation worse, all you’d be doing is making things harder for Jiyoon. I won’t stop you if you really want to help, but don’t go about it lightly. Nothing hurts more than misdirected goodwill.”“...I still want to help.”“Of course.”It could just be a simple matter, all it really came down to was to ask the person herself. The two of them bought some sodas and headed back to school. As they passed the front gates, they passed a woman with purple hair. She was looking up at the school curiously, she turned to look at them. Unlike her wild purple hair, she had a very innocent looking face.“Eh? Eh!?”Daemyung shouted in surprise. Was this someone he knew?“What’s up?”“Don’t you know who she is?”“Who is it?”“Don’t you watch dramas?”“I really don’t.”“......”The purple-haired woman walked towards them with a bright smile, as if she found someone she knew. Upon a closer inspection, Maru found that the woman didn’t look as innocent as he first thought. She looked incredibly playful, probably someone difficult to deal with.“Are you guys in the acting club?”“Yes, we are.”Maru answered since Daemyung was busy hiding behind him.“Don’t you know me?” the woman asked, pointing at herself.“Do I need to?” Maru answered.“Wow, I haven’t gotten a reaction like that in a very long time! How fresh!”The woman wrapped her arm around Maru’s shoulder out of nowhere, Maru pushed her arm away with his hand immediately.“Do you have business with the club?”“You speak like an adult, that’s so cute.”She was looking all over him like he was a strange creature. It was rude, but it didn’t feel odd, probably due to her lack of malice. Looking into it, he found a small word bubble pop up.[This kid is fun.]It’s been a while since he saw someone who spoke exactly like how they thought. These people were typically the ones that can be trusted, but…“Do you really not know me?”They’re really annoying to deal with, Daemyung pulled Maru back by the shoulder.“She’s an actress, an actress!”“An actress?”“Ahn Joohyun! You really don’t know her?”“Ahn Joohyun?”The purple-haired woman grinned.