Life, Once Again!

not you can make the audience laugh.”

Comedies need to follow a set code, but also needs to have a special comedic element.
That special factor can’t be annoying or intrusive either.
In a comedic play, the expressions of the actors mattered before all else.

This was a teen play.
For teenagers who only do acting in their free time, making the audience laugh with their acting was a very difficult thing.
Despite this, Miso didn’t discourage the kids from doing it.
As a matter of fact, Miso came to the club, with the intent of making the kids do comedy.

What the club needed was impact.
They would prepare as much as they could, and show those judges from spring what was up.
But to do that, she needed the kids’ cooperation.

“This’ll be harder than June.
Are you guys ready?”

“Yes!”

“This time, we’ll even record our runs and review it.
I’m serious about this.
We’re going to win, we’re going to get money, and we’re going to sweep all of the awards at that competition.
And then we’ll go for sashimi with that prize money.
How does tuna sound?”

Miso motioned the group closer to her with a clap.
It was September now.
They needed to prepare with the competition in late October in mind.
That is, the teen acting competition at the Anyang Art Festival.
Other cities could join the festival, which was exactly what Miso had in mind.

“Maru,” she called out.
The boy’s been just staring dumbly at the air since morning.

She’s never seen him like this.
Maru just came to the club today like a person who left his consciousness back home.
It wasn’t like she could ask him if anything happened, given his state.

[I don’t know what happened.]

[He’s been like this all week.]

Miso asked Dojin and Daemyung if anything was wrong, but they were just as confused as her.
Miso walked up towards him.

“Did anything happen?” she asked carefully.

“No.
I was just thinking.”

“Thinking?”

Maru nodded, gesturing at her to stop trying to pry further.

“You’re alright?”

“Yes.”

“If you happen to need help…”

Right then, Maru looked up to stare at Miso.

“This is my business.”

Miso wasn’t able to say anything.
Looking at Maru’s crestfallen face made her realize how rude she sounded when she offered her help.
Right then, she got annoyed at the fact that she just got intimidated by a kid and tried to say something.
She immediately felt bad about how crestfallen he was though, and closed her mouth.

‘Surely this kid is older than my dad or something.
Surely.’

But the same quality was what made the boy so tempting for her.
Well, she was an adult.
She needed to give him some advice regardless.

“If you need to think, try going somewhere with a good view.
For me, that would be Hyehwa station.”

“Hyehwa station?”

That’s when Maru’s expression changed a little bit.
Almost as if he realized something he didn’t even think of before.
How interesting.

‘Maybe I can use this…’

“Instructor.”

As she started thinking to herself, Maru spoke out.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“W-what?”

“Hyehwa station.” “Ehh?”

Miso was clueless, but it looked like Maru had resolved himself somewhat.
His expression had relaxed a lot more to return to his normal self.
Was there something up with him and Hyehwa station? Miso decided not to think about it, and turned back to look at the club.

‘Good.’

Miso decided to change the schedule.

“Everyone, change your clothes.
It’s time for a field trip.”

“Field trip?”

“We’re going to the sanctuary of all actors, Hyehwa station.”

* * *

“Woow.”

“So this is Hyehwa station.”

“Where’s Marronnier park?”

Even the second years seemed amazed by the atmosphere for their first visit.
Everyone was looking around with curious eyes.
The first years, too, were already taken aback by the pantomime show at the entrance to the station.
Maru stepped back from the group and stepped into the streets.
When Miso mentioned Hyehwa station, he had remembered something unusual about himself.

‘It’s when I met that ticketing man.’

The high school girls who were pressured into buying tickets from an intimidating man.
At that time, Maru decided to involve himself into the situation, which was fairly unusual.

‘I normally wouldn’t have done that.’

He could’ve just told the girls about the tickets and left.
But that day, he decided to involve himself further than necessary.
Was it because he didn’t like the man? Maybe.
But that didn’t explain his agitation.

The only explanation for that were the high schooler girls…

‘Why?’

What made him care so much? Why did he get himself involved? As he thought, he noticed a group of high school girls stepping up the stairs towards him.
They were all wearing red jackets over their uniforms.
Maru found him naturally starting to focus on one of the girls in the group.

“Ah.”

Maru realized why he got angry at that place, why he helped the girls, and why he was still in the acting club to begin with.
It was obvious.

Even if his memories were sealed, his soul still remembered.
And it whispered to him to stay in the acting club.
It told him that if he did…

“Look at him, I think he’s looking at you?”

“Eh? No way.”

“No, really.”

Maru continued staring at the group, particularly focusing on the girl in the group in front of him.
Focusing on a name he couldn’t remember, and a face he couldn’t remember… It all came back to him.
The woman in the white suit was right.
Maru did recognize her.

She was…

“Stop it, he’s probably looking somewhere else.”

She, who was smiling shyly, was…

[Giving up acting is a little saddening, but at least I can be with you.]

Still…

[We’re not just two people anymore, we’re three.
We need to earn a lot of money from now on.
For our child.]

Charming.

Her eyes so fragile it looked ready to tear up with just a touch, her nose reddened slightly into a hue resembling a strawberry, and her lips that were colored like a ripe peach.

Everything about her was still the same.