“Please wait just a bit.”

Sora left the clubroom. She had apologized before leaving and gave him some snacks and drinks, so Maru thought that the treatment of guests was pretty decent here. He picked up a bite-sized cookie so that he wouldn’t get crumbs all over the place, and ate it before drinking a bit of orange juice.

“What kind of movie are you guys looking to make?”

He had asked Ando, who sat opposite him. Ando, who was eating snacks just like him, made a complex expression after receiving that question.

“We haven’t thought of anything specific yet.”

“You haven’t?”

“We never intended to make one in the first place.”

Ando sighed as though he was grieving about his fate. A new student at the school was eager to work, while the club president was unmotivated. It seemed that there were a lot of circumstances behind this club.

“Then why did you want to see me if you don’t plan to make one?”

Just as Ando was about to say something, the door opened again and Sora came back. She opened a thin notebook in front of Maru.

“This is the synopsis.”

When Sora returned, Ando just reached out for some snacks quietly again. Maru looked at the notes for now.

“I’m thinking 20 minutes.”

“Can I read it out loud? That lets me focus better.”

“Sure.”

Maru started reading from the first sentence.

“Minho is being bullied at school. He didn’t know why he was being bullied. When he realized it he was already bullied. He was afraid of going to school every day, but the alarm that woke him up every morning pushed him to the school. Then one day, a transfer student came to the school. Since the transfer student was shy and had a small voice, he soon became a target.

Minho decided that he should help. It was because he understood the pain of being bullied more than anyone. He gathered up the courage to talk to him first. They ate lunch together and went home together. Eventually, Minho realized that he had made a friend. When he realized that he had a friend he could talk to no matter what the others did, Minho gained strength.

After that, Minho was no longer afraid of going to school. That was because he was able to endure all the bullying and teasing just by talking to the transfer student. Minho became brighter by the day. He started talking to a lot more people instead of just the transfer student. Just like how he didn’t know when the bullying started, Minho didn’t know when he had gotten a lot closer to everyone.

After some time, someone told him that he should stop hanging out with the transfer student, that a decent guy like him shouldn’t hang out with a strange kid like that. The moment he heard those words, Minho somehow thought that the transfer student looked poor and stupid. He didn’t even understand why he hung out with such a guy in the first place.

From that day onwards, Minho intentionally ignored the transfer student. He went further and started teasing and swearing at him. A week after that, the transfer student no longer talked to him, and a few days after that, the transfer student transferred to another school.

Minho no longer had any memories of the transfer student. What remained was only his own, joyful class.”

Maru closed the notes. It wasn’t possible to put a lot of content into a short story. In cases like this one, actors would have to absorb as much of what the director was trying to say in as short a time as possible. In that sense, this was good in the perspective that it focused on the emotional changes of just one character. Had she gone and put all sorts of characters in it despite it being a short skit, he would’ve closed it without even reading it.

“What do you think?”

“Is this supposed to be a satire on society?”

“Yes. Bullying is a social issue these days. There are even many different types and it has even been made into a documentary.”

“Are you following the trend then?”

“There’s that too, but I want to show that bullying doesn’t happen because of some kind of intention or reason, and to show the abstractness of the victim and the bully. Lastly, I want to ask the audience if they are entitled to insult Minho for his actions.”

Maru tapped on the table and thought about it. He was quietly going to stand up and leave if this turned out to be all talk and no action, but that girl was trying to make a movie with clear intentions. The synopsis which she had printed and pasted in the notebook, the notes at the bottom listing the characters, as well as the specific plot points she wrote herself on the next page. Although the specific plot points didn’t seem to be completed yet, it was enough to see that she had some concrete plans.

“What do you think?”

Maru asked Ando, who sat in front of him. Ando looked rather dazed.

“I think it’s good, unexpectedly.”

“Sounds like this is the first time you’ve heard about it, am I right?”

“Yup. This is the first time.”

Maru looked at Sora. She was smiling awkwardly. He pushed the note back over to her and spoke,

“Before we talk about the details, I see that there’s something you guys need to get resolved first. The club president over there doesn’t seem to want to do anything at all, while the new student over here is burning up with passion. I hope you guys can decide on who I should be following.”

If they had the clear intent and will to create and produce a work, Maru was willing to participate. Since there was no pressure on him with this, he would be able to exchange opinions freely and gain some experience from it. It wasn’t a bad thing at all. However, the creators of the film were in conflict. This was something that had to be solved before the production started.

“We are going to create a movie. Right, seonbae-nim?”

Sora looked at Ando. Ando did not reply. Sora frowned before approaching Ando. Maru clearly saw Ando flinching.

“Uhm, Koo Ando, was it?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I ask for your number?”

“My number? Why?”

“If you don’t like it, should I call the girl next to you and tell her to hand the phone to you?”

“N-no, I’ll tell you my number.”

It seemed as though he was being completely dominated. Maru saved Ando’s number on his phone.

“Well then, please get it sorted before you guys call me again.”

“Seonbae-nim!”

He acknowledged Sora, who called out to him, with his eyes before closing the door.

* * *

“Kang Sora?”

Bada’s eyes turned fiery when she heard that name. She couldn’t understand why her brother was mentioning that name.

“From the looks of it, I guess you know her.”

“I do, I really do. That cocky, really, really cocky girl.”

“You’re quite firm on that, huh.”

“Of course. But how do you know her?”

“She goes to my school, apparently.”

“Really? That’s strange. From what I know, she’s really good at studying.”

“So you know that she’s good at studying.”

“Of course, we were in the same class. But how do you really know her? It’s not like you know the face of every single new student. Don’t tell me she joined the acting club?”

“She didn’t.”

“Then what?”

“She said she wants to create a movie, and asked me for help.”

“Ah, a movie.”

“You know anything about that?”

“She said from time to time that she wants to become a female director. She seems knowledgeable in that regard as well. Oh, do you know that she looked down on you? When you appeared in that drama briefly last time, she said that anyone can do it.”

“If it’s about background acting, then yes. Anyone can do it.”

Her brother nodded without denying it. He then put a tomato in his mouth like it was nothing. Bada really didn’t like that reaction.

“Anyone can do it?”

“Yeah. It’s more like a part time job.”

“Then what about that murderer character?”

“I was lucky. I was there for a part time job, and got to shoot through connections.”

“Ah, luck, huh. So what she said is right? Do you know how frustrated I was? And yet you say that she’s right? Huh? She’s right?”

Bada poked her brother’s leg with the backside of the fork. Her brother lifted his leg onto the sofa.

“Aren’t you upset? She looked down on you.”

“If you get upset by every little thing like that, you won’t be able to last in society.”

“Dammit.”

She was about to say more, but she didn’t. At times like these, he seemed a bit overly generous or something. Or maybe he was that idiotic.

“Did you cry back then because of her?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, you told me that someone said that the autograph is fake. That was Sora, right?”

“Yeah, it was her. I feel really angry when I think about it even now.”

“But hey. Did you take that autograph to school and say something along the lines of ‘my brother got it cuz he’s close with Sungjae’ or something?”

Bada avoided her brother’s gaze. Actually, when her brother got her that autograph and the tickets, he told her not to boast about it. He also said that it would be incredibly difficult to get one again. However, Bada wanted to boast about it and said that her brother easily got his hands on the tickets and the autograph. It was that point that Sora had made her remark about.

“Did Kang Sora say that?”

“Yeah. She boldly asked if Ahn Sungjae and I know each other.”

“So, what did you tell her?”

“I said I don’t know him.”

“Why! You do know him. You even got him on the phone for me.”

“That’s enough to say that I ‘know’ him on a personal basis. Geez, you really don’t listen, do you? Is it TTO that you like? Or do you just want everyone around you to put you on a pedestal because you have something TTO-related?”

Her brother was making a really hateful face, but Bada couldn’t retort. It was her who did things that he told her specifically not to do after all. It was also true that she did boast about the autograph, so all the more reason she couldn’t say anything.

“Fine, it’s all my fault. I’m the bad one and I’m the one to be blamed. You satisfied now?”

When she pouted, her brother smiled awkwardly and loosened up his expression. Bada inwardly sighed in relief. She had a hard time getting adjusted to her brother since he had changed too much when he entered high school, but now she got used to handling him. When he was in middle school, he would shout at her first when something like this happened and he would even hit her, but right now, if she made a pitiful expression, her brother would loosen up first and forgive her. She inwardly laughed and looked at him.

“Are you going to do something to me?”

“No, Sora was in the bad.”

“You mean I was in the bad. Hmph.”

“Fine, fine. Here, eat this. I sprinkled some sugar on it, so it’s good.”

Her brother forked a slice of tomato and gave it to her. Bada barely held herself back from grinning from ear to ear and grabbed the hand in a delicate fashion. She was about to get a scolding, but thankfully, she managed to avoid it. Hooray. Bada thought that this was the moment and started speaking. She thought that there was a need to switch the topic at hand.

“But you told me something about Sora shooting a movie?”

“She wants to apply for the youth film festival.”

“She might be cocky, but she’s good when it comes to work. She was the class president too. Everyone didn’t want to do it, but she raised her hand and even volunteered for it.”

Bada chewed the tomato properly before swallowing it.

“So, are you going to do it?”

“I’m not sure about that yet.”

“Do you want to do it?”

“It’ll be a good experience, so yeah.”

“Don’t tell me you’re doing it because you’ve taken a liking to Sora. I’ll tell big sis immediately if that’s the case.”

“Why don’t you write a novel instead, huh.”

“Just saying. She’s not that pretty.”

“She looked cute in her own way though?”

“Oppa!”

“Just saying.”

Bada frowned and bared her fangs. Her brother scratched his eyebrows before turning his gaze.

“Should I not do it?”

“Oh? I thought you said it would be a good experience. Then you should do it.”

“But I thought you hated her.”

“Oppa, do you still take me for a middle school student? I’m not that childish anymore. I’ve grown up now. I know that Kang Sora, that girl, is a cocky one, but I can turn a blind eye to that. Also, even though she’s cocky, she was never someone who would put less than full effort into something she wants to do.”

“That’s a decent evaluation, coming from you.”

“I told you, I’m a grown up now. You should learn from me and not let your personal feelings interfere with your work, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Smack, Bada covered her head and looked at her brother. After smacking her head with the back of the fork, he took the empty plate and put it in the sink.

“Bring anything that needs to be washed.”

“I have a cup in my room!”

Bada pointed at her room when she saw her brother looking at her. He sighed before going to her room. She won this battle. Bada smiled in satisfaction and changed the TV channel.

* * *

Before Maru closed the door, he looked at Bada, who was sitting in the living room. She looked like she did her best to put up a pretense, but it was so obvious to him.

‘How cute.’

He closed the door before sitting down on his bed. He got a basic grasp of what Sora was like. She was someone who was filled with confidence. It also didn’t seem like she was just all talk. While she didn’t seem to have a good relationship with his sister, he couldn’t evaluate her personality just based on that. He needed some experience with that girl to know what she was really like. It was very dangerous to evaluate someone based on someone else’s opinions.

He took out his phone and looked for Koo Ando’s number. Since he got to know about Sora a little, it was the club president’s turn now. He had to know about what was going on in the film production club before he accepted or denied their offer.

-Hello?

Maru greeted first when he heard that voice.

“Is this Mr. Koo Ando’s phone?”

-Yes. I’m Koo Ando.

“Then that’s fine. I’m Han Maru. Can you take the call right now?”