“Heewon’s acting has energy. He’s eye-catching no matter where he’s standing on the stage. This is definitely an advantage. However, since you attract more attention, I think there’s a need for you to be clearer in your movements. Your expression of emotion looks good, but once you get agitated, your actions become hurried and you move so quickly that it’s harder for the audience to catch up. Other than that, I don’t have anything to tell you. It was good.”

After saying those words, Maru looked next to him and asked his club members if they had anything to add. Everyone shook their heads.

“Heewon, hear that? You should slow down a little.”

“I can’t do that as I wish.”

He sighed disinterestedly and looked away.

“Then I guess that’s about done. Let’s see, the time is….”

Inho took out his phone to check the time. The others also looked at their watches or their phones. It was 8 p.m. Maru thought that it was pretty late.

“I guess we should turn off the lights. I told the teachers that we’d be using it until eight. If you guys don’t have anything else to do, I think we should wrap things up here.”

Inho’s question was directed at Daemyung. Daemyung nodded his head as he stood up.

“We don’t have anything else.”

“Alright, then let’s clean up.”

Under Inho’s instructions, the first years of Hwasoo High started putting away the chairs and mattresses. Woosung High just watched them from the side. As they didn’t take out a lot of things, it didn’t take a lot of time to put them back.

They all left together after getting their bags. The people from the local soccer club couldn’t be seen anymore on the school field.

The lights between the school field and the school building turned on. Someone that looked like the security guard stared at them from the main entrance before going inside.

“Thanks for telling us so many things today.”

“Don’t thank us. We learned a lot too.”

“Why don’t we meet up from time to time like this and practice together?”

“Sounds good.”

Inho and Daemyung walked at the front. It seemed that the two club presidents liked today’s practice.

‘Ah, right. This guy was the president.’

Maru looked at Heewon, who was walking with his arms crossed. He kept saying that it was cold. When his brother Haewon took off his coat for him, he wore it once before returning it.

“It’ll be even more troublesome if you catch a cold.”

After hearing Heewon’s words, the students of Hwasoo High laughed and agreed with him.

“He’s right, Haewon. Heewon won’t be able to do anything if you’re sick.”

“Heewon-seonbae would probably come to school without eating breakfast. No, I wonder if he would be able to wake up in the first place.”

“Don’t worry about your brother and worry about yourself first. Only when you’re healthy will Heewon be able to live normally.”

Heewon grumbled, asking if he was a kid or something, but the people around him just laughed without listening to him. In the end, he agreed with them and started laughing together.

“Uhm, Maru-hyung,” Haewon said.

“What is it?”

“Can I ask you a question?” Haewon looked hesitant.

From his expression, it didn’t look like he had a simple question. Maru walked away from the main group. Haewon naturally followed.

“What is it?”

“What do you need to do to become an actor?”

“You’re talking about Heewon, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you think about it after asking for his opinion first?”

“My brother… probably won’t care. Although he finds everything bothersome, he is the type to do it when it matters. Also, it’s somewhat weird for me to say this, but he doesn’t have anything he wants to do yet. All he’s passionate about is playing games at home, I think.”

“That sounds ordinary. Isn’t everyone like that?”

“I guess that’s true.”

Haewon laughed while scratching his head.

“My brother doesn’t like starting something himself. This club and playing games at home are the same as well. He only does it since his friends around him told him to. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. He didn’t stray onto a wrong path after all.”

“And?”

“I told you right? My brother’s acting is somewhat special. Oh, how was it?”

“It was good. It definitely isn’t easy for a beginner to show so much emotion like that. I think that his expressivity is really good, too. Oh, not that I’m in a position to judge anyone. Personally, I thought he was really good.”

Haewon nodded his head.

“I talked to him before, but apparently, he feels emotions as colors. I didn’t really understand since it was such an abstract concept, but when I look at his acting, I can feel that something’s different about him. I told you about it, right? I like watching plays. He might be lacking in the technical aspect compared to people actually acting professionally in small theaters, but I feel like he isn’t losing when it comes to the feeling. No, I feel like he’s superior.”

“You sound confident.”

Maru saw Haewon being flustered and taking a step back. His face turned red.

“Sorry. I said something strange, didn’t I? I know that the entertainment industry isn’t something that you can stive in with confidence alone. I was just all excited by myself and….”

“I didn’t say it with a bad meaning, so you don’t have to panic so much. I just thought that you really care about your brother.”

There shouldn’t be that many younger brothers that were so seriously worried about their elder sibling’s future. While Maru felt that he was rather awesome, at the same time, he found it weird.

Maru gestured for him to come closer. Haewon carefully approached him.

“I think we strayed off for a bit. So, in the end, you’re saying that Heewon’s interested in working as an actor, right?”

“Hm, rather than explaining, I’ll just show you.”

Haewon called out to Heewon. Heewon left the group and asked what was up.

“Hyung.”

“Uhm, yeah?”

“I’m serious about this. Think about this carefully before replying.”

“Wh-what’s this about?”

He flinched and looked at Haewon and Maru alternately.

“Hyung. I want you to become a doctor.”

“A doctor? What is this about so suddenly?”

“Hyung, I know you’re smart. You have good grades too. You told me that you’ll become a doctor and look after me in the future.”

“D-did I, now?”

“So, how about it? Becoming a doctor, that is.”

“Even if you tell me that so suddenly….”

After twitching his lips, Heewon fell into thought for a moment before replying.

“Alright, then. I’ll try. But isn’t becoming a doctor really hard?”

“You can do it.”

Heewon closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before saying ‘alright’ in a small voice. Maru laughed when he saw that. Haewon just shrugged.

“Lee Heewon,” Maru called Heewon.

“What?”

“Are you seriously going to try to become a doctor if your brother tells you to?”

“It’s not like there’s something I really want to do. I never went wrong listening to his words. I’ll have to do something to make a living. A doctor doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Where’s that confidence coming from? Can just anyone become a doctor?”

“I’m quite good at studying.”

“Quite good, you say….”

Saying that, Maru looked at the banner hung at the front of the school. He didn’t see it when he was walking towards the hall. The content was about a list of names that went to certain universities, but those universities weren’t really ordinary.

There were at least five of the top universities in the country, the National Police University, the National University of Transportation as well as various prestigious medical schools and law schools. Next to those education facilities was a list of student names.

Maru pointed at the banner.

“Oh, that? That’s the list of students that passed the examination tests for those universities last year. They hung that up for two months before the CSAT. Apparently, it’s for motivation. Once we get this year’s, they’ll probably renew it with this year’s entrants,” Haewon explained.

If any of Woosung Engineering High’s students got into any of those universities, there would probably be a party. Perhaps that person might get called out by the principal himself and be introduced as the person that made Woosung High shine. Yet here, there were two digits worth of students that passed the exams to such universities.

“Do you always send that many to those universities?”

“Hwasoo High is quite well-known in the area for its high advancement rate into higher education. I barely made it here as well. I had to study quite a lot to go to the same school as my brother.”

Maru looked at Haewon, who smiled in embarrassment, before looking at Heewon.

“You guys… are really good at studying.”

“Just a bit.”

“I guess I do decently.”

Maru palmed his head.

“Fine, become a doctor. And forgive me for laughing at you just a moment ago.”

“No, Maru-hyung. My brother is more suited to become an actor.”

Heewon interrupted, asking what it was about.

“Actor?”

“Hyung, you said that you find acting fun, right?”

“It is, I guess.”

“I never saw you say that something is fun with a bright smile like that before. I want you to strive for a dream that you like.”

“Wh-what about a doctor then?”

“To become a doctor, you would have to study really hard. I guess becoming an actor is the same, but acting is fun, isn’t it? How about it? Between a doctor and an actor, which would you rather be?”

“Uhm, thinking about it like that, I’d rather be an actor.”

“Then you’re going to become an actor, right?”

“Fine then. I’ll become one.”

When Haewon raised his hands and cheered, Heewon followed.

To Maru’s eyes, they looked like a dolphin and its trainer. He understood what Haewon was trying to say.

“His future career has been changed in just a minute.”

“That’s also one of his good points.”

“Hey, what are you two on about, you called me all the way here.”

Heewon, who was listening to their conversation, made a sour expression. Maru turned around to look at Heewon.

“Your brother wants you to become an actor. Are you really going to do it?”

“I’ll try. It’s not like there’s anything else I want to do anyway.”

“I’m not sure if you’re cool about things or if you’re just a simpleton.”

In any case, they were definitely an interesting pair of brothers.

“If you want to become an actor, you should look into acting schools first. The easiest way is to find an opportunity for an audition through those academies. If you’re tall enough and good-looking, you can look into street casting, but Heewon’s not that good.”

“I think so too,” Haewon agreed.

“You’re quite rational about it. I thought you’d find everything about your brother good.”

“I’m able to discern that much.”

“Hey, what the hell are you guys on about?”

Heewon muttered from the side, but the two lightly ignored him. Heewon felt that he was unnecessary and just pouted.

“There’s also the method of going to places that are looking for high school student background actors, and then catching the leader’s eyes to become a minor actor, but I don’t recommend this method. You’ll just be used as a background actor after all. There won’t be an opportunity to display your skills.”

“Then the most realistic method is to find and enter an acting school?”

“That’s right. Knocking on the doors of an agency is also a good way, but I heard that being good-looking is really important for child actors. Though, that goes for adults as well.”

“Thanks for telling me this. I’ll talk about it with my brother.”

Heewon[1] smiled as though he was done with the matter. Maru tilted his head and asked,

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“Really? I thought you’d try to get me to introduce someone to you.”

Heewon[2] gave an awkward smile.

“I’m not so shameless to ask you for that much. That was still very helpful. I’ll try to make something out of it after talking to my brother about it.”

Shame, huh. Maru really liked that word. So, he decided to give them one more act of kindness.

“I’ll recommend you an academy. There’s an academy called Film in Gangnam. When I looked last time, they were recruiting for a special class. You have to do various menial chores in compensation for not paying tuition, but you can try your hand there. Of course, just going doesn’t mean that you’ll get in for sure. They’ll probably do a test. If you pass, you’ll land yourself a pretty good opportunity.”

Hearing those words, Haewon bowed to him. Maru wrote him the academy’s number. He wasn’t planning to directly connect them to Miso. That was outside of his abilities. Introducing them to a place they could grab an opportunity was the best he could do.

Haewon returned to the group, and just as Heewon was about to follow suit, he stopped and turned around.

“Hey.”

His face was filled with curiosity.

“What?”

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“You brothers sure have a lot of questions. What is it?”

“That stage. Did you find it fun?”

“Fun?”

“Yeah. For me, I stand on the stage because I find acting fun. But all you’re doing is the extra roles. I also feel like you’re holding yourself back even though you can do better.”

“You could tell?” Maru asked in surprise.

Heewon just replied ‘somewhat’.

“Maybe your brother is right after all. Maybe you really do have the talent. Well, to answer your question, it’s not that fun.”

“Then why do you do it? There’s no reason to do it if it’s not fun, is there?”

Maru pointed at Haewon who was walking ahead.

“What about my brother?”

“When your brother told you to become a doctor, you said you would try, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s not something fun. Then why did you say you’d do it?”

“Because that’s not something I should find fun in. Being a doctor is about earning money. I have to look after my brother, no matter what. It doesn’t matter whether that’s fun or not.”

“This has been on my mind before, but what about your parents?”

“They should be doing well somewhere.”

There was faint rage burning on Heewon’s face as he said those words. Maru nodded once.

“It’s just as you said. I’m the same. It doesn’t matter whether it’s fun or not. This work will be the thing that will feed my family.”

Heewon looked as though he had understood a little.

Maru added,

“Also, I’m saying that it’s not as fun as when I’m playing the main character, not that the play is not fun at all. The stage is not something one person can create alone after all. Someone will have to become the floor, and if doing it myself is the most efficient way to do it, I just do it. There’s no fun in the acting itself, but there’s the fun of completing the whole play.”

“The fun of completing the play, huh. Hm, I don’t like that because it sounds too bothersome.”

“I can understand that too.”

“Also, can I ask one more thing?”

Maru said ‘sure’.

“Do actors have to wake up early in the morning?”

Hearing that question, Maru laughed and shook his head.

[1] See [2]

[2] Author has put Heewon (elder brother) for both of these lines, but they’re clearly meant to be Haewon (younger brother).