Chapter 11
“Ta-da—!”
Minji was standing in front of the mirror. Kim Su-jin, the second client, was sitting in front of her.
Her reflection in the mirror looked completely different from before.
Her pale skin and subtle blush, along with the dark lashes that complemented them, drew the eye.
“Whoa, whoaaa······.”
She seemed surprised herself, unable to close her mouth properly.
Senior Minji twirled the mascara wand around her finger and proudly shrugged her shoulders.
“How is it? Totally different, right? You have a great base, Su-jin. Even changing your makeup technique a little can completely change your vibe.”
If she had previously been a slightly awkward beauty because of her heavy makeup, now she was the complete opposite.
Was this what they called natural-looking makeup?
They said a woman's transformation was innocent, but I hadn't known it was a realistically achievable skill.
“···This is kind of amazing.”
Sol froze in a dazed pose when she saw her, startled.
“How did you even do that?”
“You know I dabble in art.”
So, being good at art really did mean being good at makeup too, apparently.
“Thank you, unnie!”
Kim Su-jin grabbed Senior Minji's hands and bounced up and down.
“Have confidence, Su-jin. You can do it. Fighting!”
Senior Minji boosted Kim Su-jin's confidence as she headed out of the counseling room.
Her steps were strangely full of confidence. She looked ready to seduce anyone.
Is this the power of (physical) counseling?
“······.”
Well, we'd sent out the last client too.
“Phew······.”
“Hup······.”
I leaned back against the sofa. At the same time, Sol sprawled out on the one opposite me.
“···It's finally over.”
Maybe it was because it had been a while since our last counseling session, but I was completely drained.
How had we ended up with something like this on the very first day?
There was never a day that went by easily.
“Do we usually get this many counseling cases?”
Sol, who had been burying her face in the sofa, turned her head and asked me.
“Not······ not exactly none, right?”
I had been about to say no, but changed my wording.
Thinking about it, we did seem to get more than ordinary counseling cases.
At this rate, maybe we should change the name. To the (Love) Counseling Club.
“So? How was your first counseling session, Sol?”
Senior Minji, who was organizing the papers in the counseling room, sidled over to Sol.
“Hmm······.”
Sol thought for a moment at the question, then—
subtly raised the corners of her mouth.
“It's way more fun than I expected.”
“Really? That's a relief~”
Senior Minji let out a sigh of relief at the answer.
“I was worried about what I would do if you found it difficult, Sol. Some kids have a hard time just sitting still and listening to people talk.”
“···Could it be that I have a talent for counseling?”
After just one compliment, she was immediately full of herself.
Senior Minji gave a small laugh as she watched her.
“Maybe you really do.”
Had they already become close?
They really were fast. I might even be a little jealous of that.
“So? What are you planning to do now?”
I tilted my head at Sol's question.
“···What do you mean, what am I planning to do?”
“I mean, those two. Is it really okay to send them off like that? Shouldn't we do something for them?”
Someone who went through life thinking everything was a hassle was unusually motivated.
Maybe it was because this was a love story.
Sol was a girl too, after all, so she seemed to like this kind of thing.
···Though she seemed to have misunderstood something.
“We're a counseling club, not fixers. Our role is only to advise them on which direction to take.”
“Huh? We don't fix it for them?”
“···Why would we do that for them? They have to handle it themselves.”
That's what counseling was supposed to be.
You offered a certain amount of help, then let them do it themselves.
If we compared it to sports, the client and counselor were probably like a player and a coach.
It was like a coach not throwing the ball himself just because a baseball player was god-awful at pitching.
“···I guess that makes sense.”
Sol soon nodded, apparently convinced.
“Then we really aren't going to do anything now?”
“Yeah, we've done everything we can, haven't we?”
In response to her question, I laid out everything we'd done so far.
Three possible courses of action, taking the clients' wishes into account.
“First, advise Kim Su-jin on how to win over Kang Han-sol. ···We've just done that.”
This was the plan for the second client, Kim Su-jin.
If she could win over Kang Han-sol, the problem of the love triangle would essentially be solved.
Senior Minji had helped with this part.
She had taught Su-jin basic makeup techniques and tips for seducing a guy herself.
The club president was quite popular herself, after all.
Senior Minji had defeated the rivals around her and risen to her current position. Her expertise in the field was reliable.
“There are two possible directions for Kang Han-sol.”
This part was simple.
“Either Kang Han-sol persuades Jinuri to return to the club, or he gives up on Jinuri.”
“So this is really about what Nuri decides to do, isn't it?”
“That's right.”
Her choice would change the situation, so our advice could only go so far.
In other words, we'd pretty much done everything we could.
After listening to the client, empathizing with them, and comforting them—
we'd put up signposts to help them make the best choice.
“All that's left is to watch.”
Then we'd continue counseling based on the results.
There was no such thing as counseling that was solved in one session.
Therefore, there was nothing we could do for the time being.
At most, the best thing we could do was go home, stretch out our legs, and sleep.
***
Ah.
This fucking sucks.
Shin A-young sighed inwardly.
“A-young. I think it would be better if this part got a little more emotionally intense.”
Senior Jung Jae-hoon from the drama club was acting out the movements as he looked over the script.
All the while, he subtly edged closer and casually kept an eye on her.
Look at him. This wasn't his first or second time doing this.
“······.”
Shin A-young was on the verge of letting out a sigh at the sight of him, but—
she couldn't let that show.
“Ah~ I know what you mean.”
···Let's keep smiling.
Shin A-young responded lightly and continued giving him half-hearted reactions.
“Now, if you look at the next scene···”
···This bastard. How long was he planning to keep this up?
She wanted to spend the time practicing alone, but Jung Jae-hoon simply wouldn't leave her alone.
Normally, this was when the club president would show up and rein him in, telling him that was enough, but—
no one was stepping in now.
‘···It seems to have gotten worse since the club president was hospitalized.’
She suddenly missed the club president.
The senior who had originally led the club had been hospitalized after a serious traffic accident.
Fortunately, there was no major problem, but she couldn't come to school for the time being.
As her replacement, Jung Jae-hoon, a fellow third-year and the loudest voice in the drama club, had taken over as club president.
It had been like this ever since.
‘I just want to quit alreadyyy······.’
If she'd known it would be like this, she would have joined a different club from the start.
···No, would another club really have been much different?
No matter where she went in the school, there was nowhere comfortable for Shin A-young.
······Of course, there was someone she'd grown a little more comfortable with recently.
“···Senior. Don't you need to go over things with the other members too?”
Go somewhere else.
That was the meaning behind her question.
“Oh, the other kids···?”
Jung Jae-hoon turned slightly to look behind him, then gave her a light smile.
“Of course it'd be nice to go over things with them too··· but the chemistry between the leads is the most important, you know?”
“That's··· yes, you're right.”
Ugh, let's give up.
It didn't seem like anything she said would get through to him.
Maybe her best option was to practice quickly and get out of there.
······
It was finally over.
Shin A-young stood up the moment club hours ended.
‘Ult AA W Q E AA Ult AA Ult.’
Her head was filled with combos.
I should hurry over and warm up my hands on the Howling Abyss map.
“······.”
···That was when it happened.
A shadow slid across her path.
Not completely blocking it—just enough to make it difficult to get past.
When she looked up, Jung Jae-hoon was standing there.
“A-young. We decided to go to karaoke with the others after we're done. Want to come?”
“······.”
Here we go again.
The other male students chimed in after him.
“Yeah, A-young. Come hang out with us.”
“It'll be my first time going to karaoke with you, A-young.”
“You skipped last time because you had homework. You need to take a break with us today.”
This was a somewhat difficult request for her.
“Ah, well··· I have another appointment today.”
Shin A-young gave them an ambiguous smile.
It was true that she had plans.
“Another appointment?”
At that, Jung Jae-hoon slightly furrowed his brow, then raised the corners of his mouth as if he'd had a good idea.
“Why don't you invite that friend here, then?”
“What? No···.”
“It's fine. We'll pay, so just tell them to show up. If they don't like karaoke, somewhere else is fine too.”
“···The thing is.”
Shin A-young's expression stiffened slightly.
She needed to refuse more firmly··· but she just couldn't bring herself to.
Because she was afraid her evaluation would drop.
Because she was afraid it would reach her parents.
“Umm······.”
···What should she say to refuse?
Every time this happened, it felt like her heart got slightly twisted.
She could talk perfectly well inside her head, but getting those words out was difficult.
They got stuck tight below her throat.
“······.”
···This was driving her crazy.
Whenever she saw herself like that, she couldn't help but mock herself.
“···Then.”
Just as Jung Jae-hoon was about to say one last thing to Shin A-young—
Bzzz—! Bzzz—!
Her phone vibrated inside her pants pocket.
Ah···!
The name on the screen was Lee Seung-ho.
Come to think of it, they'd exchanged phone numbers a little while ago.
She answered it somewhat urgently.
— “Hello?”
His voice came from the other end of the phone.
A voice neither high nor low, utterly laid-back.
“Hello? Are you done with club?”
— “Yeah, we just finished. Are you still there? If you're busy right now—”
“No, I finished too. I'm coming right now.”
She quickly cut him off.
Shin A-young couldn't let this opportunity pass.
“Where are you now?”
— “The first-floor main entrance.”
“I'm coming down right now.”
Shin A-young hung up and let her eyebrows droop.
She put on an apologetic expression toward Jung Jae-hoon.
“I'm sorry, Senior. I really have something important to do, so I'll go ahead.”
Shin A-young passed him, his face flustered, and headed for the clubroom door.
She walked as quickly as she could.
“Huh? A-young isn't going?”
“She says she has plans.”
“Who is it? Is it a guy she's seeing?”
“Come on, it can't be that···.”
The men stirred as they watched her leave.
“I'm sorry. I'll head in first.”
Shin A-young closed the clubroom door after those words.
Then she quickly crossed the hallway.
‘Insane! You pretty little thing~ You'd better wait right there!’
A satisfied smile crept across Shin A-young's lips.