For a brief moment, he felt like he forgot to breathe. His breathing, which was supposed to be occurring outside the realm of consciousness, had briefly stopped for a while. He took a deep breath afterwards as though he had just become conscious of it. Following that, applause could be heard. Chihwan applauded as well. He subconsciously started clapping harder and harder. The moment he realized what he had just seen, Chihwan even cheered out loud and clapped to the point that his hands felt numb.

This was it, this was Maru-seonbae’s acting. Chihwan turned around and looked at the girls who were looking down on Maru earlier. When he met eyes with them, the girls made an awkward smile and applauded Maru louder than everyone else. Chihwan felt proud as though he was the one being complimented.

“Are we done now?” Maru said.

Chihwan nodded without a word.

“So how do we decide who wi-”

“You won, seonbae. I totally lost. You really are the best after all.”

Chihwan interrupted Maru’s words. Was evaluation even necessary at this point? When he first challenged him, Chihwan thought that he would be able to win. Maru-seonbae was definitely a splendid actor, but Chihwan believed in the hours he put into practice. That confidence continued until his act ended. No, the moment he finished his acting, his...