By Zephyria 
As expected, Ban Seo-yi wouldn’t come to a school where she had bad relationships. It was typical of her cautious personality, not wanting to risk any potential danger.
“Ah, hello.”
“Hello.”
The girl waved stiffly when she saw me. I slowly approached her.
“Did you put the note there?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What’s this about?”
“Well, that…”
Thinking she was just another contact person related to Ban Seo-yi, I was utterly taken aback when I saw something she was hiding behind her back as she hesitated.
A heart shape? No way…
‘Is she going to confess?’
A realization struck me belatedly.
I had only thought Ban Seo-yi had called me, so I was flustered by a scenario I hadn’t considered. My mind froze for a moment.
“Here, please take this.”
The girl, her face flushed crimson, steadfastly held out a letter along with a name tag. So bewildered, I accepted them without thinking.
“A name tag?”
Thinking it was indeed a confession, I flipped over what I received, but it was truly the name tag worn on a school uniform. The stories about kids confessing with name tags, which I’d overheard recently, finally clicked.
Without any control over my expression, I looked at the girl, thinking, ‘Why a confession all of a sudden?’ Her face was still as red as an apple, and she trembled slightly, spewing words rapidly.
“Next time, please… tell me your answer when you return it.”
Seeing her tremble, I felt nothing but pity, even though someone was confessing to me. I was bewildered, but it was purely because the situation was unexpected; there were no other reasons. She was so nervous, and I felt surprisingly… sorry and bothered.
“Um, I…”
“Then I’m leaving!”
“Huh? Hey!”
As soon as I tried to refuse, the girl bolted away from the spot. I tried to grab her, but she was too fast.
Holding the heart-shaped letter and name tag the girl had thrust into my hands, I stood alone at the deserted back gate. I was bewildered by the sudden turn of events. Looking down at the troublesome items, I realized.
‘…How am I supposed to return this?’
If I lost my name tag, wouldn’t they just use this to identify me to the disciplinary committee?
This wasn’t the first time I’d received a confession. I’d had my fair share of ordinary confessions via KakaoTalk or text messages, with drinks and notes, or even from a friend during an evening walk.
But this was my first time experiencing such a classic method. Being asked to come out via a note, or being handed a confession letter and then having the person run away. At least I’d heard through the grapevine that kids these days confessed with name tags.
‘Still, how could she just shove this onto me and leave?’
It was someone else’s property, so I couldn’t just throw it away. With no other choice, I headed back to the classroom, clutching the letter and name tag. As I approached the building’s rear entrance, I saw a familiar silhouette walking out. With that kind of slow, handsome build, there was only one person it could be.
“Hae-jun, hi…!”
Jeon Jae-hyung was the first to greet me. He was slow.
“Oh. Hi.”
My gaze was drawn to the large black object in his hand. It was a heavy, full black garbage bag. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘He’s carrying that alone?’
He seemed to be on garbage duty, heading towards the incinerator, but it was usually a role assigned to two people. Perhaps it was because it was a chore students avoided, so more people were assigned, but the main reason was that it was physically impossible for one person to carry it. Kids threw all sorts of things into the trash cans, from tiny eraser crumbs to slippers and textbooks. A full garbage bag was much heavier than it looked.
And he was carrying it alone? It was something I, a mere human, could never do alone, but Jeon Jae-hyung, being a sturdy guy, seemed to manage it with one hand.
“Are you on garbage duty alone?”
“The others… are bothersome…”
I could read between the lines of his overly concise words. My ability to do so felt remarkable.
“But, what’s that…?”
Jeon Jae-hyung, who hadn’t missed what I was holding, glanced over curiously. He had a surprisingly curious side. He had a gentle, puppy-like quality, like a well-behaved dog meeting someone at his grandmother’s house in the countryside.
“This? A name tag.”
“Whose…?”
“Huh?”
“Is it someone you know…?”
“No? Some kid I’d never seen before gave it to me.”
“Then why did you take it…?”
“I didn’t want to take it, but they shoved it at me. They left too quickly for me to return it.”
Jeon Jae-hyung’s expression turned serious. Of course, when that guy’s face turned serious, it was just a slight change in the angle of his eyebrows from his usual sleepy look.
But why was he taking this so seriously? It suddenly struck me as funny. This situation.
‘Is me receiving a confession that big of a deal?’
I didn’t have many close female friends, so I hadn’t expected to receive a confession myself, but seeing someone else react like that was both amusing and bewildering.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“Are you going to… date her?”
“No?”
Jeon Jae-hyung, who had answered so readily, closed his mouth and remained silent for a long time.
“……”
‘Is he falling asleep again?’
Even though he was the easiest of the Four Heavenly Kings to talk to, I couldn’t let my guard down. He seemed to have narcolepsy, falling asleep at any time, so I carefully observed his face, wondering if he was asleep now.
Fortunately, he wasn’t asleep standing up. Although his eyes were cast down, they were still blinking.
If he had nothing else to say, I figured I could go now.
Cleaning time seemed to be nearing its end. I estimated the time and was about to say I was leaving when Jeon Jae-hyung spoke.
“…Why?”
“Why are you asking ‘why’ about what?”
“Ah… I was curious why you weren’t dating…”
Why was I being interrogated by someone who was supposed to be taking out the trash? While I found it absurd, I answered honestly.
“I’m a student. When do I have time for relationships? I have to study.”
“……”
Jeon Jae-hyung’s eyelids blinked rapidly, as if flustered. Despite his usual sleepy, languid eyes, he somehow seemed very bewildered.
“Then I’m going. Be careful with the trash.”
“Uh-huh…”
Leaving Jeon Jae-hyung, who nodded like a turtle, behind me, I headed back to the classroom, contemplating what to do with this bothersome name tag. There were still several classes left until dismissal, so I’d have to look for an opportunity.
However, I couldn’t return the name tag by dismissal. Deciding I’d have to return it tomorrow, I carefully placed it in a corner of my pencil case so I wouldn’t lose or forget it.
Seong Hae-min and the rest of the Four Heavenly Kings didn’t seem to know about me receiving a confession. It was fortunate that I ran into someone as quiet as Jeon Jae-hyung. He was certainly loyal. If someone like Min Si-hu had made a fuss about it, it would have only led to unnecessary gossip and trouble for everyone.
The problem was Seong Hae-min.
Unlike the name tag, which I had carefully put away in my pencil case, the letter was carelessly shoved into my bag. It was my fault. Seong Hae-min happened to find it while cleaning, just as I was tidying my things.
“What’s this, Hae-jun?”
I hadn’t even realized it was missing, so who was Seong Hae-min to find it! Seeing Seong Hae-min fluttering the letter and looking puzzled, I realized my mistake. But then I relaxed.
‘Well, it’s nothing big.’
There was nothing to be afraid of.
“It’s nothing. Just a letter a girl gave me at school earlier today.”
“Really? What kind of letter?”
“It seemed like a confession letter.”
“Confession?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t tell me…”
Seong Hae-min murmured softly.
“It’s not dangerous, is it?”
“Dangerous?”
“Ah, no. Just in case…”
“Why? Is there something strange about the letter? Let me see.”
While Seong Hae-min’s concern was often at odd times and places, the saying ‘what if’ can catch up to you made me feel a sense of ‘what if?’
‘Did Ban Seo-yi put some kind of code in it that I missed?’
With an anxious look, I pushed Seong Hae-min aside and examined the item. I took out the name tag from my pencil case and looked at the heart-shaped letter and name tag from all angles, but I couldn’t find anything particularly suspicious.
“Shouldn’t we check if the contents are okay too?”
Seong Hae-min urged. I opened the letter, which I had forgotten to unfold, and checked the contents. They were just rambling and obvious.
From the moment I enrolled, I heard rumors that he was the twin of Seong Hae-min, the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings, and I became interested the first time I saw him… My feelings grew stronger with his studious and responsible nature, which led me to confess like this….
It was a typical confession letter, but I peered at it for a long time, wondering if I had missed anything. I tried reading it vertically, checked the first letter of each sentence, read every two letters, examined if any characters were unusually bent or bolded, and even held it up to the light. However, no matter how I looked at it, it was unreasonable to claim there was a code.
“It’s ordinary?”
“But, you never know.”
“What makes you think there’s something suspicious about it?”
Seong Hae-min, who had been mumbling, shut his mouth uncomfortably. I tilted one eyebrow in displeasure.
Even if I were a doting fool, was there a need to scrutinize a confession letter this thoroughly? He must have something on his mind, or he wouldn’t be doing this.