-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Tea and Tension
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The weekend after the first vocal test since enrolling at Cheongyeom Arts High.
In the center of a luxurious garden with a completely open ceiling, tables and chairs were sparsely set up.
The cafe, boasting a setup rivaling any fine restaurant, was a spot where chaebol heirs primarily gathered for their social clubs.
With spring in full bloom, the garden tables overflowed with colorful flowers, bathed in bright sunlight.
Moon Woo-hyuk and Song Ha-na had arrived first and taken their seats.
Today was the regular meeting of the social club Song Ha-na had organized.
"Oh, you two are early."
"You're here."
Song Ha-na greeted the arriving members one by one.
As the host, she exchanged warm pleasantries with the other three, excluding Kim Sun-woo and Moon Woo-hyuk.
Every member of this social club came from prominent families.
From the clothes they wore to their phone cases, shoes, and accessories—everything was designer luxury.
Moon Woo-hyuk and Song Ha-na were also decked out head to toe in high-end brands, a step up from their usual school attire.
"Order anything?"
"It'll be out soon."
This cafe was fully reserved by chaebol families for their social events, complete with dedicated tableware managed for each gathering.
Servers soon entered, setting out dishware from luxury brands and renowned royal-supplier tea sets before vanishing.
As they caught up on recent news, Moon Woo-hyuk's perpetually furrowed brow stood out—he hadn't had a relaxed day in ages.
"Aren't you stressed out lately?"
Song Ha-na set down her teacup casually, as if the thought had just occurred to her, like a breeze passing by.
At her words, Moon Woo-hyuk's expression softened slightly as he glanced at her.
"Yeah. Woo-hyuk, your face has been looking rough since earlier."
Another member chimed in to back her up.
"Me?"
"You've been frowning nonstop. And it's such nice weather."
Moon Woo-hyuk looked up at the sky following Song Ha-na's comment.
Not a speck of fine dust—perfectly clear skies.
As he stared up, Kim Sun-woo's face entered his view.
"Hey."
"Sun-woo's here."
Moon Woo-hyuk dropped his gaze back down at Kim Sun-woo's arrival, his scowl returning.
Kim Sun-woo wasn't from a chaebol family.
As the son of a modest foundation, he had the least impressive background among those present.
Yet the members greeting him were all genuinely pleased, without a hint of condescension.
Kim Sun-woo's unique aura made it impossible to underestimate him.
Plus, with his overwhelming talent, everyone acknowledged his abilities—no fools here to shun him.
These kids had been raised from childhood to live by cold calculations.
None of them would dream of mishandling a future golden goose.
"You're here."
Only after Kim Sun-woo sat beside him did Moon Woo-hyuk acknowledge him.
"Why do you look so drained?"
"He's been pissed off one minute, moping the next—total mess."
Song Ha-na answered Kim Sun-woo's question in his place.
She lifted her teacup with an exasperated sigh and took a sip.
Kim Sun-woo, who'd been studying Moon Woo-hyuk's face intently, smiled faintly and spoke up.
"Is that so? Because of Lee Do-hyun?"
Kim Sun-woo cut straight to the point without beating around the bush.
Song Ha-na choked a little in surprise at his bluntness.
Seeing Moon Woo-hyuk's face twist at the name, the other members perked up excitedly.
"Lee Do-hyun? Who's that?"
"Yeah, is there a kid like that from the foundations?"
"Just a guy from our school."
Kim Sun-woo laughed lightly, calming their eager curiosity.
"Your school? Like, musical theater department?"
One member lit up at the mention of Cheongyeom Arts High.
"Yeah. Normal family background."
"Your family's normal. He's poor."
Song Ha-na stated it flatly in response to Kim Sun-woo.
No malice intended.
By her standards, Kim Sun-woo's family was average, and Lee Do-hyun was poor.
Kim Sun-woo brushed off her comment.
He knew by now she'd just been raised that way.
The member listening in glanced at Kim Sun-woo cautiously before swiftly changing the subject.
"Why's Woo-hyuk bothered by a guy like that?"
They looked genuinely puzzled.
Moon Woo-hyuk, heir to the KH Foundation, stressing over some poor kid?
"Who's bothered?"
"Your face says otherwise."
The member across from him grinned, prompting Moon Woo-hyuk to whip his head away.
"Tch."
"What's this? Who's got the great Moon Woo-hyuk all worked up? Now I'm curious."
The group found it endlessly amusing and latched onto this Lee Do-hyun character.
"It's not like Woo-hyuk lost his spot to him or anything."
One joked while popping a sandwich from the tea set into their mouth. Suddenly, a heavy silence fell over Song Ha-na, Moon Woo-hyuk, and Kim Sun-woo.
Moon Woo-hyuk wasn't the only one who'd lost his spot to Do-hyun this time.
Kim Sun-woo, Song Ha-na, and Moon Woo-hyuk—all three had been outdone by him.
At least in this vocal test.
"What's with this vibe? No way it's real?"
The members glanced around at the trio, bursting into laughter at the sheer entertainment of it.
Who were these three?
The invincible trio who'd never lost to any peers in the musical world since childhood—and now someone had beaten all three.
How could it not be hilarious?
"How's it with your dad? This is gonna blow up."
"He that good?"
Those in the know about Moon Woo-hyuk and Moon Kang-hyun's relationship voiced concern.
But it was just words.
To them, this was mere gossip fodder.
The social club existed for exchanging info on musicals and industry trends, after all.
Deep friendships? Not among these kids.
"It was just a light test. No big deal. Right, Ha-na?"
Kim Sun-woo shot Song Ha-na an SOS.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Lucky break. …But hey, we could share a stage with him someday, right?"
Kim Sun-woo was a bit taken aback by her words.
Song Ha-na, who never praised anyone, showing even mild positivity toward Do-hyun—it set Moon Woo-hyuk off.
"What? Share a stage?"
"Why are you snapping? Who said I want to? Just saying he's not total trash. Did I make that up?"
Moon Woo-hyuk's face twisted further.
"Since when are you so generous, Song Ha-na? Sharing a stage with that nobody?"
"Huh? Then you just beat him. Why take it out on me?"
"You keep obsessing over this nobody!"
Moon Woo-hyuk shot up from his seat, yelling.
It had never happened.
Not once had Song Ha-na ever suggested to him that they'd make a good stage pair—or anything close.
Sharing a stage with some rookie he'd seen perform twice at most?
But Song Ha-na wasn't backing down an inch.
Still seated, she glared up at him defiantly.
"Obsessing? You're the one obsessed."
"With that guy? Me? Ha!"
Lately, Moon Woo-hyuk had been irritated by how Song Ha-na only nagged him while seemingly defending Do-hyun.
Extremely irritated.
Kim Sun-woo hadn't expected her to dig in so hard and felt a pang of unease.
Two members watched the spat with arms crossed, thoroughly entertained.
The one with some ties to Moon Woo-hyuk and Song Ha-na tried to diffuse things.
"Hey, come on. Woo-hyuk wouldn't sweat a kid like that. Not like you."
Kim Sun-woo inwardly worried Moon Woo-hyuk might launch into his signature "What's 'like me' supposed to mean?" routine.
Fortunately, no middle-school angst flared up. Moon Woo-hyuk slumped back into his seat and picked up his teacup.
After wetting his throat, he spoke calmly—but with a cynical edge.
"He'll never get another shot like that, so I can afford to care a little. Right, Sun-woo?"
Kim Sun-woo quickly countered the precarious vibe in Moon Woo-hyuk's composed tone.
"Care about me for once. You ghost me every time you're in the dorms."
At Kim Sun-woo's words, the two who'd been spectating jumped on him.
"Aww, is our Sun-woo feeling neglected?"
Thankfully, Do-hyun was forgotten in an instant.
They spent a while chatting about foundation matters, corporate mergers, and otherworldly topics before checking the time and trickling out one by one.
Once the members had all left, only the Cheongyeom Arts High trio remained.
"Kim Sun-woo, ride with us?"
"Nah, I've got plans. Heading out first."
"Alright. See you at school."
"Yeah. Drive safe. No fighting."
With Kim Sun-woo gone, only Song Ha-na and Moon Woo-hyuk were left.
They'd come together in Song Ha-na's car that day, so they climbed into the back seat side by side as the driver held the door.
In the heavy silence of the car, Moon Woo-hyuk began stealing glances at Song Ha-na.
"Hey."
"..."
"Hey..."
"Is my name 'Hey'?"
"...Song Ha-na."
"What."
He wanted to apologize for yelling earlier, but the words wouldn't come.
"Why'd you call me?"
She urged him on, eyes fixed on her phone without looking over.
He opened and closed his mouth several times, but nothing came out.
"Why'd you call?"
"It's nothing."
"..."
Not like he was in puberty or something.
Song Ha-na genuinely wanted to smack him to figure out what his deal was lately.
***
Meanwhile, Do-hyun was spending the weekend everyone else used for outings practicing alone in the small theater.
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time."
Simply nailing the assigned script for the acting test wasn't enough.
Trying variations—similar vibes or total opposites—broadened interpretations and let him explore diverse emotions.
All drawn from his pre-regression experience, of course.
"Vocal basics are starting to settle in."
With basics sounding decent, he shifted to emotionally charged acting that demanded focus.
That was his biggest strength right now.
He kept up vocal drills, but they were far from a true asset yet.
He'd improved since right after regressing, sure—but for real control, consistent physical training was key.
"Abs are forming a bit."
Testing his voice while poking his stomach, he felt the newfound firmness.
A month of dedicated workouts, and muscles were finally taking shape.
Young bodies recovered fast, as expected.
Just then—
Screeech—
The small theater door creaked open cautiously.
Who's that?
He froze mid-practice, holding perfectly still.
He held his breath as best he could.
Mr. Huh Ji-woong had specially allowed secret use of the theater—no one else could know.
Getting caught meant demerits for him, but trouble for the teacher.
Lights were already on, and escaping was impossible now.
Heart pounding harder than during the vocal test, he stared at the door.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Read 317 more chapters ahead on NovelDex!
https://noveldex.io/series/a-rewritten-handbook-for-musical-life
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━