“Well done today as well. It’s quite cold today, so don’t just take off your tops when you play ball. Also, these days, many students get caught smoking in the park, and I’m not sure about drinking, but don’t ever smoke. Ordinary-looking folks like us don’t look cool even if we smoke, so you really shouldn’t. You’ll really regret it later.”

“Are you smoking because of the taste, then?”

Someone sitting in the 2nd column asked in a joking manner. Taesik, who was the homeroom teacher, chuckled as he ended the school day.

“Maru, see me for a sec.”

Taesik called out to Maru as he left through the front door of the classroom. Maru put his bag on his desk and approached Taesik.

“I saw you on TV. I did watch your acting quite often, but looking at you through a TV does feel quite different.”

“I looked really awkward, didn’t I?”

“Of course not. Even a clueless person like me thought that you were good.”

Taesik walked out to the corridor. Maru walked next to him.

“So from what I see, you decided on your career path - an actor, right?”

“Yes, I’m going to try. I’m going to go at it head on without any room for regrets.”

Of course, it wasn’t that Maru didn’t have a place to run away. Maru’s iron rule was that he should always have...