"Aw, this is so adorable!"
Said the third year senior, the president of the Arts Club, a soft spoken unni who waited patiently as I tried my hand at drawing… something.
"You can make such cute drawings of animals! This crocodile is so sweet." She marveled.
"…It's a chicken."
"Eh? But it's got four legs."
"Those are wings…"
"But it's got those spiky things on its back."
"…those are feathers."
"But chickens don't have teeth! Those are surely teeth, no?"
"You…you are right… I shouldn't have drawn teeth…"
"Well, it's fine, hehe. Not all of us are zoologists."
I blushed. Again.
Is there really nothing that I'm good at…?
"But it's never too late to start! Don't be discouraged. If you start drawing now, you might end up becoming super good by the time you graduate."
"Tha…thanks… but I think I'm really not cut out for drawing…"
Sumi placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a comforting smile.
"It's OK, Yejin. You don't have to be 'good' at anything to join any club. It's all about doing activities together with other club members and having a good time."
"Yeah! That's totally right!"
Sigh…
I heard this a lot today.
"But… I… am really hopeless."
"No problem. If you feel uncomfortable with it, then how about starting out as a model first? I'm sure everyone would LOVE to draw you!"
I closed my eyes as those words echoed in my head.
"It's OK. You can be a manager for the softball club."
"It's OK. You can be the treasurer for the calligraphy club."
"It's OK. You can do the admin work for us."
"It's OK. You can be the mascot of our team."
Everything - and EVERYONE told me it's OK.
All that I could be was something that didn't really matter.
All I could manage was do something that didn't really fit with the club I was checking out.
Everyone basically just wanted me to be there.
What for?
What good can I bring to anyone, anywhere?
"I… I will think about it…"
"Great! Don't forget that the application ends on Friday."
"Thank you…"
With Sumi's arm around my shoulder, I walked out of the Arts Club's clubroom.
"Well, it's only Tuesday and we have a few more days to check out other places too. Shall we call it a day for now?" She suggested.
Yeah, that would be great…
I really can't take this anymore.
"Sure… Thank you."
We were heading back to the classroom to pick up our bags, then at the far end of the hallway I saw someone that I instantly recognized.
It was the weirdo from earlier.
"Eh? What's wrong, Yejin?"
Sumi asked as I hid myself behind her. For a change, it was good to be small. I could probably hide myself behind pretty much anyone.
"P...please… just let me hide for a minute…"
She looked puzzled, giggled, and then stretched herself to cover me as well as she could - not that she needed to… in any case, I stood against the wall with Sumi as my shield.
I waited like that for maybe twenty or thirty seconds, my heart beating faster each second for no apparent reason, until the somewhat familiar voice spoke.
"What the hell are you doing there?"
"Who… who are you talking to?" Sumi shot back, but she sounded clearly intimidated by this delinquent. Understandable…
"Not you. I mean the one hiding behind you."
"The-there's no one behind me!"
"Come out, you silly squirrel."
S…Squirrel?!!
"Hey! Don't be so mean to Yejin!" Sumi tried to defend me, but all I felt was someone grabbing and pulling my ear.
"Aoah…" I inadvertently let out a silly groan.
"Pfft."
"What are you doing?!" Sumi protested on my behalf.
"Why are you hiding?" The weirdo asked me after she pulled me out from behind my protective friend.
"I… I don't know… please… I'm sorry…"
"Tsk, I told you not to say sorry."
"…I'm so…"
"GRRRRR."
"SORRY!!"
With that, the girl let go of my ear and burst out laughing. But before Sumi could protest any further, she nonchalantly turned away and just walked off without saying anything at all.
"What a horrible girl! Are you OK?" Sumi asked.
"Yeah…"
"Do you even know her?"
"Ki…kind of."
"How?"
"We… never mind."
"I'm going to go report to the teacher."
"It's… OK."
"No! I can't let anyone bully you like that!"
"It's really OK."
Sumi then bent forward a little, looked into my eyes, blinked, sighed, and checked just one final time.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah…"
"Oh, poor Yejin."
She gave me a short hug and pat on my back.
I really am being treated like some sort of a pet here…
"But if she ever does that again, I'm not going to hold back! Even if YOU say it's OK, Yejin."
"O…OK."
We said nothing more as we headed back to the classroom, but my mind was still just trying to process what that weird girl was all about.