1.5 – The Day of the Decisive Battle

The day had fully broken. The empty classroom gradually returned to its usual state as students began to take their seats one by one. The sky was clear, and the weather was mild, unlike typical winter. It was the perfect day for a basketball game.

In a school crowded with growing teenage boys, inter-class soccer or basketball matches happened several times a day. The players were always the same people and the level of play was mediocre, so the only people interested in which classes were facing off or who was playing were the students of the participating classes.

But today was different. Today was the day Ryu Jae-min—the top student in the school, known for being versatile yet completely uninterested in athletics or sports—had decided to play in a basketball game for the first time. Moreover, his opponent was Oh Seung-pyo, who was perpetually second in test scores but rumored to be an excellent basketball player, having received several offers to join professional teams. In a boring school life, this was an event sufficient to make the day exciting.

“Ryu Jae-min is good too. For someone doing it for the first time, that’s a talent.”

“Even so, he’s just ‘good for a beginner.’ Class 2 is 100% going to lose today.”

Students from each class added their own comments, trying to gauge the outcome, but despite that, no bets were placed. No matter how well Ryu Jae-min did beyond expectations, the majority opinion was that it would be difficult for Class 2, with a beginner on the team, to beat Class 4 with Oh Seung-pyo playing, so no bet could be established.

“Does Jae-min even do things like basketball games? I thought he only studied hard.”

“Well, I heard his physical education practical grades are good too.”

“He’s been hanging out with Seung-pyo lately. I guess they’ve become close.”

It wasn’t just the students who felt weary of the repetitive daily life. The match between Class 2 and Class 4 after school was even a topic of conversation in the teachers’ office. The common opinion among the teachers was that the top and second-ranked students, who seemed to have no interaction at the start of the semester, had grown quite close lately, and no one disliked the friendship between honor students.

“How about this? If Class 2 wins, Mr. Kim buys coffee for the office, and if Class 4 wins, Mr. Jo does. No need for expensive coffee; there’s the thousand-won kind at the shop right in front.”

The adults’ conversation flowed in a slightly different direction than the children’s. The bet devised by the ethics teacher, who was being mentioned as the next head of department, was only enjoyable for him; it was not a welcome proposal for the homeroom teachers of each class. However, the two teachers cleared their throats, glanced at each other, and nodded almost simultaneously.

“I’m fine with that.”

“Once in a while is okay, I suppose.”

“If it’s my turn to treat, you can order frappuccinos or fresh fruit juices instead of coffee.”

The homeroom teacher of Class 4, who had Oh Seung-pyo as their ace, put forward an additional pledge. Since an Americano was a thousand won and a frappuccino or fresh fruit juice was at least three thousand won, it was a clear expression of confidence.

The homeroom teacher of Class 2 opened their mouth as if to retort but quickly closed it. It was evident they were trying to avoid a provocation that could potentially turn into a ‘chicken race.’

Supplementary classes began. Seung-pyo and Jae-min themselves seemed indifferent, as if they had little interest in today’s game. As usual, they listened diligently during class, talked with friends or went to the snack bar during breaks, finished organizing their notes, or lent homework to other students.

“Oh Seung-pyo, come here.”

“Why?”

After the third period, Seung-pyo strolled out into the hallway at his homeroom teacher’s sudden summons. The teacher had a quite solemn expression. He lowered his voice and whispered like someone conducting a black-market deal.

“We can definitely win today, right?”

“I don’t know. The probability is high, but isn’t it true that nothing in the world is certain…?”

“Do your best. If we win, I’ll buy you something delicious.”

“Did you teachers make a bet?”

Seung-pyo chuckled, meeting the eyes of the teacher who was much shorter than him. The teacher only smiled awkwardly and did not deny it.

Indeed, there was no reason to believe that Seung-pyo was the only person whose pride had been subtly wounded while remaining second in the school all year. Although it was just a basketball game played for fun, there was someone here who wanted to defeat the top student, Ryu Jae-min, before the classrooms changed upon entering the second year. Oh Seung-pyo nodded, feeling a newfound sense of belonging and camaraderie.

“I’ll try.”

“I’m counting on you.”

The homeroom teacher clenched his fist and walked down the stairs leading to the teachers’ office. Seeing his shrugging back, it seemed he was confident of victory. Seung-pyo curled his thumb and middle finger and flicked them into the air for no reason. He pictured a target in his mind: that cold, blunt face that was almost hateable.

What kind of expression would he make if he got hit right in the center of that white forehead hidden behind black bangs, with a loud snap?

The Ryu Jae-min in his head frowned slightly, showing a feeling of displeasure. It was a face he had become familiar with after encountering it several times. The agreed-upon penalty for the loser was ten finger flicks. He might be able to endure the first few by just frowning, but after two or three more, he wouldn’t be able to resist screaming.

The center of his forehead would swell up red, and this time, he might actually shed tears instead of just pretending to cry. He wondered if the rich young master, who had been the top student his entire life, could even take all ten. If he asked to have a few reduced, Seung-pyo wouldn’t necessarily refuse, but since his stubbornness was so damn strong, he’d probably never bring it up even if he were dying.

He had only been thinking about finger flicks, but for some reason, the imaginary Ryu Jae-min shifted into the image from the short video he had seen on the internet.

A Ryu Jae-min who had exposed his smooth chest and round nipples, vigorously shaking his hard, erect cock. Gasping for breath in between, his chest heaving as he paused his hand. No voice was heard and the face was cropped; if he hadn’t happened to pick up the phone, no one would have known from the video alone that it was Ryu Jae-min.

This time, the expression of Ryu Jae-min in pain from being hit by a ball flying from afar overlapped softly with the cropped video. His usually pale face had turned red from the impact of the ball, and his slightly moist eyes stared at Seung-pyo resentfully.

As he recalled the blood trickling near the lips, Seung-pyo suddenly became conscious of the t-shirt he was wearing under his school uniform. When he had taken it to the restroom and scrubbed it with cold water that day, Ryu Jae-min’s blood had washed away quickly, just as the school nurse had said. Clean, as if nothing had ever been there.

What am I doing? I’m thinking all sorts of things.

Oh Seung-pyo found himself absurd for recalling various images of Ryu Jae-min in succession. Clicking his tongue briefly, he flicked his fingers twice in the air again.

Then, he suddenly looked to the side and saw that Ryu Jae-min was already standing there. He was standing blankly in the middle of the hallway, perhaps on his way back to class after visiting the restroom. When their eyes met, Jae-min snorted as if he had seen something pathetic, then sharply turned his head and returned to his own class.

Fuck.

Seung-pyo swallowed a curse. He had been caught by Ryu Jae-min thinking about Ryu Jae-min. If he was going to do it, he should have just kept it in his head; why the hell did he flick his fingers when no one was around? Like a total loser…

Feeling a deep sense of shame, he clenched his fists and returned to his seat. Ever since he got entangled with Ryu Jae-min, embarrassing incidents kept increasing.

He had to cut this wrong connection quickly. Once he won today’s game and got the phone back, he wanted to meet him only as a name on the exam ranking poster, just like before.

* * *

After school, the winter playground was bustling with children everywhere, as if they didn’t feel the cold. Teachers were mixed in among the students standing around the basketball court and on the stands at the edge of the playground, and some teachers were looking out at the playground through the windows of the teachers’ office.

“There are so many people watching.”

“Do you think we can even play with this much pressure?”

The children entering the court chuckled awkwardly, but they didn’t seem to dislike the unprecedented attention. The only person who seemed uninterested, not even glancing around regardless of the noise, was Ryu Jae-min. And the person who smiled and thumped his chest as if to say ‘leave it to me’ when cheers like “We believe in Oh Seung-pyo!” erupted from the Class 4 students was Oh Seung-pyo.

“Hey, let’s start quickly!”

Since most of the children had packed after-school schedules, the game time was not generous. As the student who agreed to referee urged them on, the players from each class hurried to take their positions.

Today’s game was a full-court match with teams of five. Ryu Jae-min from Class 2 and Oh Seung-pyo from Class 4—the tallest two people from each class—stood facing each other across the half-line to jump for the ball to determine who would start. Both were expressionless, pretending to be unfazed.

As the referee tossed the ball high into the air, both leaped simultaneously. Jae-min gave it his all, but he couldn’t overcome the height difference. The ball hit Seung-pyo’s hand and flew away, safely becoming the possession of Class 4. Class 4 had the first move.

Jae-min immediately ran toward the goal of Class 2. There was only one thing his friends had asked of him today: to take the center position and guard the goal. When attacking, his role was to position himself under the opposing team’s goal, receive a pass, and shoot; when defending, he had the crucial task of blocking the opposing team’s shots or grabbing rebounds under his own team’s goal.

His classmates emphasized that they would handle everything else, so he just had to focus on guarding the goal. They told him that even just guarding the goal wasn’t easy, but since Jae-min was remarkably good for someone playing basketball for the first time, they believed he could do it.

Jae-min took his position under the goal and looked at Oh Seung-pyo. The other kids had agreed that it was advantageous for a tall person to be the center. According to that theory, Oh Seung-pyo should have been guarding the goal just like him, but Seung-pyo didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so.

‘Oh Seung-pyo doesn’t really do post play because he finds it boring. He’s basically a free role. He just does whatever he wants.’

One of the kids had explained it that way during the last practice. It seemed that Oh Seung-pyo’s playstyle would remain unchanged today.

As soon as the game started, Class 4 circulated the ball without any hindrance. Perhaps they had practiced quite a bit, as their passes were as natural as flowing water.

On the other hand, Class 2, who had started by pinning one person under the goal from the beginning, faced difficulties in defense. This was especially true against a player like Seung-pyo, who roamed the court so freely. From the start, the kids tried to defend Seung-pyo, shifting their gaze and positions frantically to close any gaps.

It would have been most advantageous for Jae-min, who was of similar height, to mark Seung-pyo man-to-man, but the Class 2 kids didn’t intend to demand too much from a beginner. Since they had told Ryu Jae-min to stick to guarding the goal, they planned to cover the other areas with the remaining players somehow.

“Ah!”

But the defense was breached in an instant. While the Class 4 kids were passing the ball back and forth, Oh Seung-pyo—who had been shifting positions empty-handed—found a hole in the court and positioned himself the moment the Class 2 kids let their guard down for a split second. Despite their desperate attempts to mark him, the Class 2 kids couldn’t stop Seung-pyo as he suddenly dove into the gap.

Receiving the pass immediately, Seung-pyo quickly attempted a shot, and the ball flew up with frustrating smoothness, passing through the net. The kids from both classes raised their voices.

“Ah, Oh Seung-pyo is fucking good!”

“This is so annoying, seriously.”

Though they grumbled, the Class 2 kids reorganized their formation. Since they had conceded a goal, it was now Class 2’s turn to attack. Jae-min quickly crossed the court and stood firm under the opposing team’s goal.

While running to change positions, Jae-min glanced at Oh Seung-pyo. All the other Class 4 kids were gathering on this side of the court to defend, but Oh Seung-pyo remained stationary near the half-line. Standing under the goal, Jae-min looked at Seung-pyo’s broad back.

Class 2’s guard began to run, taking charge of transporting the ball. Except for the one in charge of transport, all the other Class 2 kids moved to the opposite court, positioning themselves in every corner, checking the defense and preparing to receive the ball. As players from both teams gathered in one area, half of the court became crowded.

The kid dribbling the ball was helplessly blocked by Seung-pyo, who was standing in the middle of the court. With his long limbs, Seung-pyo was advantageous not only in offense but also in defense.

When focusing on defense, it is generally common to step back as much as possible rather than stepping forward. Seung-pyo’s play, standing firm in the center of the court, was a provocation to the guard in itself. As if responding to that provocation, the Class 2 guard tried to break through Seung-pyo by dribbling this way and that, but he couldn’t get past Seung-pyo, who blocked his path as if he had read every direction, and eventually lost the ball.

Before the kids could even let out a sigh, Oh Seung-pyo charged. The Class 2 kids ran back toward their goal at full speed, but it was not enough to catch up to Seung-pyo’s speed. Running leisurely across the empty court, Seung-pyo scored once again. It was irritatingly simple.

“Whoa!”

“See, I told you they’re no match.”

As the game unfolded more overwhelmingly than expected, the watching students cheered with excitement. Even if the super rookie Ryu Jae-min was decent at basketball, it seemed impossible for him to defeat Class 4, which had the traditional ace, Oh Seung-pyo. Unless they were professional players or part of an athletic club, in the level of basketball played by ordinary high schoolers, the capability of a single ace leading the team was more important than strategy or teamwork.

Jae-min bit his lip slightly. Before even discussing whether they could win or not, Jae-min couldn’t even properly clash with Seung-pyo. No, to put it more coldly, he hadn’t even touched the ball yet. Jae-min’s expression sharpened as he anxiously clenched and unclenched his fists several times.

It was Class 2’s attack again. The strategy was the same this time. The guard transported the ball, and the remaining players received the pass to score. Since Class 2’s strategy didn’t change, Class 4’s defense remained the same. The guard was blocked by Oh Seung-pyo once again, and after a battle of pride with Seung-pyo, he lost the ball in the exact same way, leading to an easy goal. As they conceded points consecutively, the Class 2 kids lost their patience and began shouting at each other.

“Fuck, we keep losing it to Oh Seung-pyo! Stop trying to break through and just pass the ball!”

“I know, I know!”

As raw criticism rained down from his own teammates, the Class 2 guard quickly became humble. In the next attacking opportunity, instead of trying to break through the defense alone, he immediately passed the ball to a friend who was waiting.

It was a hard-won opportunity after being beaten since the start. The Class 2 kids displayed immense concentration, continuing a precise passing play they hadn’t shown until now. “Ohh,” exclamations of admiration from the crowd enveloped the court. Jae-min reached out his arm. Finally, the ball arrived in his hand.

Usually, when players get a chance to attempt a shot under the goal, they are conscious of the defense trying to block them. They might engage in a psychological battle while dribbling and shoot when they see a gap, or pass to a nearby player to confuse the defense once more. Class 4’s center also glared and tried to check Jae-min as soon as he caught the ball.

However, Jae-min, who had just learned basketball, didn’t have the luxury to worry about other things or pay attention to the defense. The only thing that mattered was that he had seized the opportunity he had been waiting for. Jae-min turned toward the goal and, without a moment’s hesitation, jumped and threw the ball as he had been taught.

A textbook-honest shot without any technique or trickery actually flustered the defense. The honestly launched ball flew honestly, and—

“Goal!”

With a loud cheer, it passed honestly through the goal.

“Ryu Jae-min scores Class 2’s first goal!”

“Wow, fuck, that’s crazy!”

As the game became increasingly exciting, the spectators became immersed, swinging their fists or clapping. Jae-min, who had finally fulfilled his role, couldn’t hide his joy and beamed a wide smile.

“Great job, Ryu Jae-min!”

The Class 2 kids scrambled to praise Jae-min. Only then did Jae-min seem to come to his senses, managing his broad smile and pretending to be composed, but his face, where his usual coldness had vanished, was overflowing with heat. While Class 2 shared the joy of their first goal, the Class 4 kids were hurling criticism at their center.

“Sigh, how could you not block that?”

“Ah, I just let my guard down. I’ll do it right.”

Despite the slight height difference, the Class 4 center, who had conceded the first point to a beginner’s shot, answered awkwardly. Seung-pyo silently watched Jae-min smiling under the goal. Even so, it was only the first goal. Class 4 was still overwhelmingly ahead in the game.

The Class 4 kids tried to find their pace again, but Class 2, having gained momentum from their first score, was not as easy to deal with as they were at first. As the power, which had been tilted like a leaning scale, gradually returned to equilibrium, the ball moved across the court even faster than before.

Incredibly, Jae-min scored two more times. Without any special strategy, he scored only with standard shots under the goal, staying true to the original plan. The Class 4 center, who had claimed he only conceded because he let his guard down, found it difficult to use the same excuse as Jae-min’s scoring continued. Although it was his first basketball game, Ryu Jae-min was slightly taller, and his jumping ability and sense of timing were better than expected, making him difficult to defend.

As similar patterns of conceding points repeated, the Class 4 kids finally shouted in unison.

“Oh Seung-pyo, you take the center!”

Despite the kids’ desperate cries, Seung-pyo answered with a bored face.

“Ah, why. I hate center because it’s boring.”

“Just do it this once. Ryu Jae-min is tall, so it’s hard for anyone but you to block him.”

Oh Seung-pyo was someone who immersed himself more than others in things he liked and wanted to do, but became more lazy than others in things he was bad at or hated doing. He clearly showed his dissatisfaction with the situation through his expression, but in the end, he had no choice but to yield to the majority opinion. After all, basketball was a team sport, and today’s game was a match with a bet that was important to Seung-pyo in its own way.

Having accepted the position change, Seung-pyo exchanged signals and ran to the edge of the court. As he, who had dominated the center of the court throughout, blocked the area near the goal like a gatekeeper, a sudden sense of pressure was felt in the vicinity. The kids from each class shouted “Fighting!” loudly, renewing their determination. Except for the two people busy bickering under the goal.

“Hey, don’t stick to me.”

“This is how you defend the goal, so what do you want me to do?”

“Don’t pull my clothes.”

“I didn’t pull them. A guy who just learned basketball is already trying to use fakes.”

While the other kids repeated attacks and defenses, breakthroughs and checks, unable to easily push through in either direction, the two centers in charge of the goal were also repeating whispered arguments.

To block Jae-min’s attacks under the goal from the start, Seung-pyo stood closely behind Jae-min’s back, moving with him like a shadow every time Jae-min moved his feet.

Jae-min narrowed his brows slightly and was more on edge than ever. It was probably an illusion, but he felt as if he could even feel Oh Seung-pyo’s breath. Perhaps because of the body heat transmitted from behind, his back felt hot. Even when he tried to shake him off by changing positions, Seung-pyo didn’t let go of Jae-min and followed him immediately.

Thinking about it, the defense before the switch didn’t seem that different, but perhaps it felt more uncomfortable because a guy he disliked was clinging to him. Once his expression distorted, it didn’t easily relax, but knowing that this was the way a center defended, as Seung-pyo said, he had no choice but to grit his teeth.

Jae-min had a personality that always focused quickly on necessary tasks. Having accepted the situation, he ignored Seung-pyo following him from behind and focused only on the ball, following the flow of the court. Once his head was filled with the thought that he had to shoot the moment he received a pass, the unpleasantness of the clinging body heat faded away.

On the other hand, the gaze of Seung-pyo, standing behind him, was still scattered, unable to focus on one place.

His eyes, which should have been moving nimbly following the situation of the court and the ball, kept landing on the black hair right in front of him. Every time Ryu Jae-min moved left and right, the hair swayed along, moving a beat late like a tail.

Every time that happened, a subtle scent—whether it was shampoo or his natural body scent—wafted from Ryu Jae-min. It would have been fine if it felt distinct like perfume, but since it repeatedly stimulated his nose and then vanished like a mirage, he kept paying attention to it, wondering if this was some kind of strategy.

Scent or no scent. Oh Seung-pyo tried his best to ignore it and turned his eyes back toward the court, but every time Jae-min moved a step ahead or followed a step behind, the slanted jawline, the nape of the neck seen from behind, and the small earlobes kept catching in his vision, making it impossible to concentrate. Perhaps because they had always talked while facing each other, the sight of Ryu Jae-min from behind was unexpectedly unfamiliar.

Despite it being winter, he could see a bit of sweat breaking out on the white nape of the neck. Seung-pyo was hot as well. Since they had exchanged several goals, they had already run quite a bit. Ryu Jae-min’s breathing had become a bit labored, as if he were out of breath. The sight of the guy, who gave off a calm feeling even when angry, panting and moving his body was slightly different from when seen from afar…

“Oh Seung-pyo, what are you doing!”

Snapping back to his senses at the kids’ urgent cry, Seung-pyo finally realized that the ball was in Ryu Jae-min’s hand. He jumped while cursing under his breath, but the timing was too late. Jae-min had already leisurely attempted another standard shot under the goal, which he had succeeded in several times, and the ball flew over Seung-pyo’s hand and cleanly passed through the goal net.

Woooah! The loudest cheer yet erupted. Even the teachers standing among the students muttered, “My goodness,” and covered their mouths in surprise.

“This is crazy, Ryu Jae-min even broke through Oh Seung-pyo!”

“Now there’s no telling how this will end. Bet your money now.”

The crowd, which had doubled since the beginning, began to get excited. Some kids started betting late, and some were filming the game with their phones.

Having scored, Ryu Jae-min immediately ran to the opposite goal for defense. The Class 2 kids couldn’t hide their excitement, bumping shoulders or high-fiving Jae-min as they ran across the court together.

“Ryu Jae-min, are you actually a genius?”

“You can’t skip basketball now. We’re going to keep pestering you.”

At the kids’ joke-filled praise, Jae-min laughed out loud and clapped hands with them. It was a refreshing and clear laugh, as if a painful tooth had finally been pulled.

“Oh Seung-pyo, what’s wrong with you?”

“How could you not block that, you!”

Unlike Jae-min, who was receiving the praise and attention of everyone watching the game, Seung-pyo was surrounded by the scolding of the kids who had trusted him with the goal. However, instead of feeling embarrassed, Seung-pyo stared intensely at Jae-min, who was running away, and replied indifferently.

“I told you I didn’t want to be the center.”

“Then should we switch back?”

“No, I’ll do it properly this time.”

As he seemed to have caught a spark of motivation, the kids stopped nagging. Seung-pyo ran toward the Class 2 goal. Class 4’s attack began.

The excitement that the basketball novice Ryu Jae-min had actually broken through the defense of the ace Oh Seung-pyo and succeeded in a shot actually made the Class 2 kids distracted. As the tension that had been tight until then collapsed, the passes were connected easily this time, and the ball entered Seung-pyo’s hand in an instant.

Class 4’s scoring was almost entirely the responsibility of Seung-pyo, while Jae-min’s activity was focused on attacking under the goal. For that reason, Jae-min hadn’t even properly started defending. Like Seung-pyo, who had clung to his back and marked him closely a moment ago, Jae-min tried to block him meticulously, but it wasn’t easy despite his intentions. Seung-pyo, who was nearly 190 centimeters tall, was also agile, so Jae-min repeatedly missed his movements by a beat and had to scramble to follow.

As the ball entered Seung-pyo’s hand, Jae-min desperately closed the distance between himself and Seung-pyo. Seung-pyo dribbled while twisting his body diagonally, and Jae-min followed quickly, pressing him as if pushing him. Seung-pyo also seemed to be timing his move while checking Jae-min, taking a couple of steps backward, and then jumped high.

A panicked Jae-min also quickly reached out his arm, but the distance had already widened too much. The ball flew helplessly over Jae-min’s hand and went straight into the net, and Seung-pyo, who had jumped while leaning his body backward, landed leisurely with a smile.

“Whoa, a fadeaway!”

“Did Jordan come here?”

The watching kids cheered and clapped. Oh Seung-pyo ran back, waving to his classmates with a confident expression as if to say, ‘See?’ Jae-min kept his mouth shut and swallowed the anger surging up. He was angry that he failed the defense, but he was twice as frustrated because he couldn’t even understand what the cheers people were shouting meant.

It was Class 2’s turn to attack. Jae-min, whose concentration was much higher than before, didn’t miss the movement of the ball, changing positions here and there and accurately receiving the pass. And as he had done until now, he jumped without hesitation to take a shot.

“Not so fast.”

Jae-min wasn’t the only one who kicked off the ground toward the goal. Seung-pyo, who jumped at the same time, put power into his hand and—thwack—swatted the ball away.

It was a block that happened before he could even properly shoot. The ball dropped onto the court, and pushed by the force Seung-pyo put into the ball, Jae-min fell flat on the floor.

‘Did I just fall?’

Dazed, Jae-min couldn’t even stand up immediately; he just blinked and looked down at the green urethane floor.

“No matter how high your success rate is, your shots are too one-pattern.”

Then, Oh Seung-pyo’s voice was heard from above his head. Only then did Jae-min lift his head. Seung-pyo was holding out his hand with the corners of his mouth curled up.

Not only had his shot been blocked, but the humiliation of tumbling across the floor was more intense than he had expected. Jae-min stared blankly at his face, and unable to contain the rising anger, he frowned unconsciously. Thwack! As he violently brushed the hand away, Seung-pyo’s eyes widened slightly.

Watching Jae-min scramble to his feet and sprint back to his position, Seung-pyo muttered to himself.

“Seriously, what is with that temper?”

Regardless, the game wasn’t over yet. Seung-pyo immediately returned to his spot, and the two of them stood pressed tight against each other under the hoop once again.

The competitive streak of the top student in the school was indeed extraordinary. Despite being a novice playing his first basketball game today, Jae-min’s momentum had become as fierce as a wild beast just because a single goal had been blocked.

He might actually hit someone if I’m not careful. Seung-pyo grumbled inwardly, moving quickly to mark Jae-min. Jae-min’s movements had become even more agile, and the Class 2 players, sensing the crisis, did their best to pierce through Class 4’s defense to get the ball back into Ryu Jae-min’s hands.

With his back to Seung-pyo, Jae-min dribbled, searching for the timing to shoot, while Seung-pyo remained focused, never taking his eyes off him. The moment Jae-min turned his body, Seung-pyo leaped up to block.

However, Jae-min moved differently than before. Jae-min, who had only been shooting textbook shots, took a step backward and leaped into the air to launch the ball. Because of the distance created, the ball flew high over the defender’s fingertips. Seung-pyo’s vision was filled only with the image of Jae-min leaping lightly, losing his balance slightly, and stumbling as he landed.

The ball flew in a clean arc and passed through the net.

Thump… Even as the ball hit the floor and rolled for a considerable distance, the court remained strangely silent. Despite the successful score, no applause or cheering erupted this time.

The sound of the crowd murmuring could be heard, but not only the Class 2 students, but the Class 4 students—and even Oh Seung-pyo—were simply staring up at the hoop without blinking, expressions of shock on their faces.

‘Did I commit a foul?’

Although he had hurriedly searched for videos and articles to study, he wasn’t confident since he hadn’t fully mastered the rules or playstyles of basketball. As the silence persisted, Jae-min began to look around, wondering if he had made a mistake.

“Did he just do a fadeaway shot?”

“I thought he said it was his first time playing basketball…”

Only after someone broke the silence with a clear voice did the murmuring gradually turn into cheers.

Insane, crazy, he killed it… All sorts of aggressive exclamations burst out competitively. Surprised by the intense reaction, Jae-min froze without even smiling before hurriedly returning to his position. The Class 2 students were in a frenzy, screaming and crowding around Jae-min.

‘Is that bastard actually a genius?’

Even Seung-pyo couldn’t help but be surprised this time. The Class 4 students didn’t even nag him about why he couldn’t block the shot. To pull off a fadeaway shot while claiming it was his first time playing a basketball game was practically cheating.

Originally, many people tried to mimic this shot—famous as a technique of NBA players, especially Michael Jordan—but fewer than half of them could execute it properly. It was even more unbelievable because it seemed as though Jae-min had simply watched Seung-pyo’s movement once and copied it.

“He must have practiced,” one student muttered during a short timeout.

Seung-pyo suddenly recalled Ryu Jae-min from this morning. Since he had been brought in as a last-minute addition based solely on his height, it was obvious he would be tasked with the area under the hoop, yet he had been uselessly practicing long-distance shots.

If Ryu Jae-min had only practiced under-the-hoop shots, no matter how talented he was, he wouldn’t have been able to mimic such a high-difficulty shot after seeing it just once. Before he knew it, the playfulness had completely vanished from Seung-pyo’s expression.

“Hey, I’m going back to free role.”

“What about Ryu Jae-min?”

“You guys figure out how to stop him. I’ll do my best to keep him from getting under the hoop too. I can raise the score more if I’m the one running.”

The students nodded. The game they thought would be an easy win was becoming more intense than expected. It was a waste of resources to tie up their ace under the hoop just to stop one Ryu Jae-min.

Jae-min, who had already taken his position under the hoop, looked at Seung-pyo. He thought Seung-pyo would come back this way, but Seung-pyo showed no intention of leaving the center of the court. Only after the game officially resumed did Jae-min realize that he was no longer acting as the center.

He had ended up waiting for Oh Seung-pyo for nothing. Though it was a secret thought, Jae-min’s face flushed slightly.

The game continued, and Seung-pyo traversed the court without a moment’s leisure. The Class 2 students struggled desperately to mark him, but it was overwhelming to stop Oh Seung-pyo, who sliced through gaps as if teleporting the moment they let their guard down and shot without hesitation.

Eventually, they abandoned their initial strategy and even Jae-min left the area under the hoop, but there was no other solution. Whether from under the hoop, from afar, from close range, from the left, or from the right, every shot Seung-pyo launched resulted in a goal…

“Ah, I really shouldn’t have made a bet.”

The game ended with a few cheers and a few sighs. Despite the strong performance of Class 2, who had recruited a super rookie, it was an expected victory for Class 4, which had the ace Oh Seung-pyo.

The joys and sorrows of the homeroom teachers watching the game from behind the students were also mixed. The Class 2 teacher let out a regretful sigh and made a call to the cafe in front of the school to place an order.

Although they lost, the Class 2 students were still incredibly excited. It was because Ryu Jae-min possessed an unexpected and immense talent for basketball.

To be the top student in the school and have a talent for basketball as well. There was no spec more “cheating” than this. The students scrambled to get promises from Jae-min.

“Ryu Jae-min, you have to play in the next game too. If you practice just a bit more, you might be as good as Oh Seung-pyo.”

“If I’d known, we would’ve played together since the first semester! If Oh Seung-pyo is ‘Oh-Jordan,’ you be ‘Ryu-bron.’ You’re seriously so good.”

Amidst the cauldron of excitement, Jae-min simply responded with mechanical smiles and “Yeah, sure,” “Okay.” His smile wasn’t a real one. For an inter-class game, they would just pool some money and buy snacks from the store for the winning team, but for Jae-min, there was another bet that others didn’t know about.

He hadn’t felt he could win from the start, but since the flow of the game wasn’t bad, he had hoped a little. In the end, the result unfolded as expected, bringing a foreign sense of defeat to Jae-min, and once that passed, he became worried. Over there, Oh Seung-pyo was cracking his fingers menacingly, pretending to stretch for all to see.

There wasn’t much time to share the joy of victory or the sorrow of defeat. The students had to scatter to their academies, tutoring sessions, or homes. “See you tomorrow,” “Make sure to treat us at the store tomorrow.” After exchanging greetings, the students grabbed their coats and bags and ran busily toward the school gate.

“Aren’t you going to your academy?”

Seung-pyo, who had lingered until all the students left, finally asked Jae-min, who remained behind just like him.

“I have to go,” Jae-min replied, as if he were being asked something obvious. The reason he hadn’t left was to settle the bet with Seung-pyo.

Seung-pyo shoved his hands into the pockets of his padded jacket and looked at Jae-min with a smile full of mockery.

“You’re in trouble, huh? You acted so cocky, and now it looks like you’re going to get a hole poked in your forehead.”

“…”

“Follow me. If I hit you here and the teachers see, they might think I’m bullying you and chase after me. And you’ll probably be sobbing because it hurts anyway.”

Jae-min wanted to snap back and tell him not to be ridiculous, but fearing that might actually happen, he decided to keep his mouth shut. He had thought it was just ten finger flicks—how bad could it be?—but the ominous aura of Oh Seung-pyo cracking his fingers earlier was not ordinary.

He felt scared belatedly, but it was too late to take back the bet. With a face so stiff it looked gloomy, Jae-min faithfully followed Seung-pyo. Walking ahead, Seung-pyo glanced back as if checking if he was following properly, and upon seeing Jae-min standing right behind him, he chuckled as if something were funny. Jae-min grit his teeth. It was incredibly annoying that he seemed so excited at the thought of hitting him.

The two climbed the stairs and arrived at the hallway where the classrooms were. Most of the students had gone home, so the surroundings were quiet.

“Come in.”

Seung-pyo opened the door to the Class 4 classroom and gestured. His bag was sitting on the desk. It seemed he hadn’t taken his bag out, intending to come back in from the start.

Since they had been outside and were now coming in, it should have been warmer, but the empty classroom felt exceptionally chilly and cold. It might have been his imagination. Jae-min gave a secret shiver.

Seung-pyo was warming up, rotating his arms and pulling his fingers back. While slowly loosening up his body, he began the final confirmation.

“We promised, so you have no complaints about taking ten hits, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Bring your phone tomorrow. And delete the recorded file.”

“Got it.”

After the short conversation ended, Oh Seung-pyo strode up to Jae-min.

Their eyes met up close. The winner of the bet wore a relaxed, faint smile, and the loser, unable to smile, tried his best to face that smile with a gaze that hinted at his will not to lose.

Seung-pyo once again formed the hand shape he had been adopting frequently lately. After joining the tips of his middle finger and thumb to make a round circle, he brought the fingertip right in front of Jae-min’s face, causing Jae-min’s eyelashes to flutter reflexively.

Watching the tension and fear that he couldn’t completely hide cling to the tips of his eyelashes as if it were amusing, Seung-pyo warned in a low voice.

“You’d better close your eyes.”

Jae-min swallowed hard and closed his eyes. Even though he tried not to, his brow furrowed naturally. Tension flowed into his hands, and he clenched his fists tight.

But even after that, the classroom remained silent. He felt it would be more relieving if he just hit him quickly, but Oh Seung-pyo didn’t launch his finger immediately. He just stood still without a word or a sign of movement.

It wasn’t that he wanted to see the moment of the hit, but waiting with his eyes closed only increased the tension. His fingers twitched inside his clenched palms. The moment he couldn’t take it anymore and was about to open his eyes, Seung-pyo’s voice was heard.

“I’ll hit on three. One, two.”

Jae-min quickly closed his eyes again.

“Three!”

Swish! Before the sound of the finger cutting through the air and snapping could even be heard, Jae-min, frowning, unconsciously jerked his head back.

Startled by his own reaction, Jae-min snapped his eyes open. Seung-pyo also widened his eyes in surprise, but soon his face became openly full of mockery. Letting out a snickering sound, he beckoned with his index finger as if calling a dog.

“Uh-huh, what do you mean, you dodge? Hurry up and stand straight again.”

Seung-pyo’s fingertip, which had flown with force, had barely grazed Jae-min’s bangs rather than his forehead. But the force felt from that alone was immense. When the thought occurred that the tall tale about breaking a wooden board with a finger flick at the Taekwondo gym might be true, he started to break into a cold sweat. If he took ten hits with that kind of force, wouldn’t his head crack open?

However, what was currently tormenting Jae-min’s inner thoughts wasn’t the fear of pain, but the embarrassment of having instinctively fled because he couldn’t handle the fear. After all, it was Jae-min himself who had insisted on the bet, telling Oh Seung-pyo—who had readily returned his phone and said let’s just stop—that he couldn’t end it like this.

Of all people, he had to show such a pathetic side to Oh Seung-pyo. Now that his fear had been exposed, Jae-min felt ashamed and couldn’t say a word, his face merely stiffening. Not wanting to make a lame excuse, he straightened his posture, and Seung-pyo stepped closer, pressing in.

“If you’re that scared, should I give you a discount? Try begging prettily for a discount. Then I’ll only hit you five times.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Yeah. I figured.”

Whether he had just been joking, Seung-pyo actually giggled. Jae-min grit his teeth. No matter how much this was his own doing, he couldn’t help the impulse to kill the provocative Oh Seung-pyo.

“I guess just letting you stand there won’t work. I’ll have to hold you here so you can’t run away.”

Before he even finished speaking, Seung-pyo reached out with his free left hand and firmly gripped the area between the nape of Jae-min’s neck and the back of his head. A chill ran down Jae-min’s spine at the touch. It felt as though this large hand with sturdy knuckles—the hand that easily threw and bounced a basketball larger than a human head—could strangle him right now without it being strange.

Since his neck was held, he could neither move his head nor step backward. This time, like a man entrusting his fate to the guillotine, Jae-min gave up everything and squeezed his eyes shut. Still, he couldn’t help the tension; a thin layer of cold sweat soaked his clenched fists, and his lips and eyelashes were still trembling slightly.

“This time, I’ll hit on five. Oneee… Twooo…”

The countdown began. Seung-pyo seemed to enjoy watching the frightened Jae-min, counting the numbers more slowly than before. As the speed slowed, the fear and hatred Jae-min felt surged twofold. Jae-min squeezed his eyes shut even tighter.

“Threeee… Fouuuur… Five!”

…But this time too, only the sound of a finger snapping was heard, and no head-splitting pain followed.

‘I didn’t dodge…? Did he miss? If he missed, then Oh Seung-pyo made a mistake, so I should say it counts as one hit.’

Jae-min hesitantly opened his eyes, considering various possibilities.

The first thing that entered his vision was, naturally, Seung-pyo’s face. His handsome face was full of mischief, and he had been holding back his laughter with his mouth tightly shut, but the moment his eyes met Jae-min’s, he burst into loud laughter.

“You’re seriously hilarious! If you were going to be this scared, why were you so confident in making the bet?”

“…”

“You’re shaking so much I can’t even hit you because I feel bad, man. It makes me look like the bad guy.”

Seung-pyo was enthusiastic about teasing Jae-min, even mimicking a pitiful expression and trembling. Jae-min’s complexion, which had been slightly flushed from tension, gradually turned cold.

…There was nothing he could do now. Since there was still a lot of high school life left, the day would come to kill that bastard before graduation. Now that winter break was ending, the day was not far off when he would once again crush the three letters of ‘Oh Seung-pyo’ right beneath his own name on the poster for the first exam of the second year. He replied through gritted teeth.

“You are a bad guy. Then are you a good one?”

Oh Seung-pyo barely managed to compose his chuckling and straightened his posture. If he had hit him properly without useless pranks, there would have been more than enough time to finish all ten hits. Becoming impatient, Jae-min looked at the clock and spoke bluntly.

“Stop playing around and just do it. I told you I have to go to the academy.”

“Then stop shaking.”

“If you don’t like it, you close your eyes and hit me then.”

“You’re shaking like a leaf, yet your mouth is still alive and acting tough.”

Seung-pyo again curled his finger into a circle and placed it against Jae-min’s forehead. Perhaps because annoyance and anger now preceded fear, Jae-min’s trembling had calmed down. Jae-min stared straight at Seung-pyo without even closing his eyes. Seung-pyo also warned him once more with a solemn expression.

“Then this time, I’m going straight in.”

“Fine.”

“One-two-three.”

A fast count. And finally, Seung-pyo’s finger flew and hit Jae-min’s forehead.

At the touch of the fingertip against his bare skin, Jae-min flinched his shoulders slightly, but he didn’t scream or cry.

That was because he couldn’t. Seung-pyo’s finger had merely tapped Jae-min’s forehead lightly. That was all. Puzzled, Jae-min frowned slightly. Did this count as one hit?

“…What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Seung-pyo dropped his shoulders and gave a bitter smile.

“Forget it, kid. I’ll let you off with this. Let’s just act like that bet never happened.”

“…”

“If I hit you ten times properly, would your forehead even survive? Then what, your parents would just stay quiet? I’m playing along right now because you threatened to send me to the School Violence Committee, so it’d be a waste of effort if I get investigated for school violence because I got caught up in a bet you made.”

Jae-min just stared blankly at Seung-pyo, who was packing his bag while spouting sophistry. He couldn’t think of a response to the sudden change in attitude.

Seung-pyo slung his bag over his shoulder and turned his gaze toward Jae-min, who was still standing rooted to the spot. Despite all the snickering from before, he now had an awkward expression as if he had never done such a thing. He hesitated uncharacteristically, like someone trying to bring up a difficult topic, before opening his mouth.

“Hey, and.”

“…Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. You told me to apologize.”

“…”

“I was just… at the time, you said you’d show me your notes, that you’d let me lose the exam, and stuff like that, so I got pissed off and did it. I had no intention of threatening you with that, nor any intention of carrying it out. Since I didn’t give you the finger flicks, you let me off too.”

It was an even more difficult thing to respond to. Jae-min remained as silent as a mute who had eaten honey, merely blinking without any expression.

He was the one who had set the condition that the loser of the bet had to apologize. Since he had received the apology he wanted, it was technically a success, yet for some reason, instead of feeling happy, his face flushed hot, as if he were embarrassed.

Jae-min hesitated, swallowed hard, and finally answered.

“But you… not my photo, but you said you had photos of me saved. Those…”

“I don’t.”

“…Huh?”

“I just said that to scare you. I never had any from the start. …It’s not that I intentionally didn’t, but my account suddenly got nuked while I was in a keyboard battle with some perverts, so I didn’t have time.”

While Jae-min stared blankly at Seung-pyo, blindsided by the unexpected confession, Seung-pyo strode over to turn off the classroom lights and gestured from outside the door.

“Hurry up and come out. You said you have to go to the academy, too.”

That was true. Regardless of the circumstances, academy class times do not wait for the students. Jae-min hurried out of the classroom. The two walked side by side down the hallway in silence, descending the stairs quietly.

Perhaps because evening was approaching or the weather was about to change, the once brilliantly clear sky had turned a hazy, light gray. The clouds were thick, yet it was the kind of weather that dazzled the eyes the moment one looked up. Upon reaching the first-floor entrance, Seung-pyo didn’t even look back at Jae-min; he just peered up at the sky and spoke first again.

“To be honest, I thought it was kind of funny when you suggested the bet. I figured a guy who’s never played basketball was taking it way too lightly.”

“…….”

“But you worked your ass off and you were actually good. I think I’m the one who took it too lightly.”

“…What?”

“Just everything.”

After leaving behind those ambiguous words, Oh Seung-pyo took the first step away. Jae-min didn’t follow him, remaining still in front of the entrance.

Seung-pyo, who had been striding ahead with his long legs, suddenly whipped around and shouted toward Jae-min.

“Make sure to bring my phone tomorrow!”

For some reason, a heaviness settled deep in Jae-min’s throat, making it difficult to speak. He merely nodded and answered a beat late.

“I will!”

Having heard the answer, Seung-pyo turned back around and began to run.

Jae-min, who didn’t leave immediately but stared down at his feet, gave a small pebble rolling around the entrance a casual kick before crossing the playground. Perhaps because it was winter with short days, the sun had set considerably more than it had during the game.

* * *

Having avoided being late to the academy by a hair’s breadth, Jae-min finished his classes and arrived home after 9 PM. Still, since it was vacation, he was returning home earlier than during the semester.

Between draining his energy playing basketball with the kids during the day and using up his remaining strength bickering with Oh Seung-pyo, he felt exceptionally tired today. However, perhaps because the matter that had been a burden on his mind for several days had finally been cleanly resolved, he felt better than usual.

As Jae-min entered the house humming a barely audible tune, he was met at the entrance by the housekeeper. She seemed to be just about to leave, as she was in the middle of putting on her shoes.

“Oh, Jae-min…”

“I’m home. You’re staying late today?”

Jae-min greeted her cheerfully, but he soon read a sense of incongruity in her expression. She looked anxious, as if something worrying had happened.

“Is something wrong?”

Just then, a voice calling Jae-min echoed from the living room.

“If Jae-min is here, come in quickly.”

It was his father’s voice. He was usually a strict man, but today there was a clear edge of anger in his tone. The housekeeper gave him a quiet signal with her eyes, urging him to go inside quickly.

It seemed the one with the problem wasn’t the housekeeper, but himself. Sensing acutely that something had gone wrong, Jae-min pushed aside his refreshed mood and, in a state of high tension, took off his shoes and stepped onto the white hallway.

He wondered if he had been caught for breaking his appointments with the pickup driver several times and being late to the academy to practice basketball with the kids. He had thought it was possible, but the thought of being scolded made his vision go dark. Jae-min slowly headed toward the living room.

Both of his parents were sitting on the long sofa. Before he could even ask what was happening, Jae-min spotted an object on the tea table in front of the sofa.

While he stood there unable to say a word, his father asked in an even stricter voice.

“What is this?”

Lying on the table was Oh Seung-pyo’s phone.

He had no idea why the object he had hidden deep in his desk drawer was sitting here. Instead of explaining the situation, he stared blankly at his father and mother, and this time, his mother spoke.

“I found it while cleaning. Where did you get this? It looks like the phone Somin used to use; did you get it from Somin?”

“Cleaning…?”

Was she saying she had opened his desk drawers while cleaning? Unable to immediately accept this, Jae-min merely blinked, then managed to compose himself and began a belated excuse.

“It’s not mine. It belongs to a friend.”

“A friend’s phone? Which friend?”

“Oh Seung-pyo. He’s in another class, and he’s the second-ranked student in the whole school.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll have to verify this with this Oh Seung-pyo personally.”

“…How?”

Since Seung-pyo’s phone was right here, he couldn’t even try calling it. Furthermore, although he had the phone, Jae-min didn’t actually know Seung-pyo’s phone number, let alone the contact information for his family.

“I can just check with the school. If I send a message through your homeroom teacher, I can get confirmation from this child named Seung-pyo.”

Jae-min didn’t answer. Of course, it wasn’t impossible to verify through the homeroom teacher. The question of whether his father really needed to go that far swirled in his mouth, but it failed to become a voice and was swallowed back into his stomach.

Since he had resolved the bad blood with Seung-pyo in his own way, even if Seung-pyo were asked if he lost his phone or if he knew Ryu Jae-min had the lost item, he wouldn’t give an answer that would put Jae-min in trouble.

If this had been a while ago, he would have been anxious that Oh Seung-pyo might intentionally say something strange to get him in trouble, but not anymore. Right now, the person upsetting Jae-min wasn’t Oh Seung-pyo, but the parents in front of him.

“But I promised Seung-pyo I’d return the phone tomorrow. I have to take it tomorrow.”

“Really? Did you pick it up at school? Or at the academy?”

“…I happened to run into him on the way to the academy, and he dropped his phone as he passed by, so I picked it up.”

Jae-min’s father and mother exchanged silent glances. Jae-min glimpsed blatant distrust in their eyes. This time, his mother spoke.

“It looks exactly like the phone Somin used to use.”

“Yes, the model and the case are the same as the one Noona used to use. It’s a popular model and a common case, so it’s possible they overlap.”

Because the device design and the case were identical, the phones had been swapped, and he had become unexpectedly entangled with Oh Seung-pyo, experiencing things he could never have imagined. Just over a week of truly strange days. Looking back, Jae-min felt momentarily dazed, as if he had visited another world.

He had his secret exposed for an absurd reason to Oh Seung-pyo, a boy he had never even had a proper conversation with; they had glared and argued every time they met; he had stubbornly decided to participate in a basketball game he didn’t even like because he was angry at the brat’s brazen behavior; he had exchanged contact information with classmates to practice basketball every day; he had gone out from dawn to practice shooting under the pretext of self-study; and just a few hours ago, he had sweated through a game together in the cold weather.

During that time, it felt as if Ryu Jae-min hadn’t been Ryu Jae-min. Just a few hours ago, he had been cheering and high-fiving classmates, and on the way home, he had unconsciously hummed a tune, but the Ryu Jae-min before entering this living room felt separated from the current Ryu Jae-min, as if he had departed for another world that had now become the past.

“If he’s a friend, he’ll understand if he gets it back a day late. I can’t return this until I’ve verified it. No.”

“…Even if you return it, you can still verify it separately with the teacher.”

“Jae-min, do you remember what your father and mother intended to do with your phone when you entered high school?”

At his father’s words, Jae-min fell silent. He had used a smartphone without any issues until middle school, but upon entering high school, his parents had suggested switching to an old-fashioned phone that couldn’t use messengers.

Exactly three years. They told him to study hard for three years without getting distracted, and once the college entrance exams were over, he could do whatever he wanted.

Honestly, he hated it, but Jae-min was a high school student. He couldn’t buy a phone on his own without a guardian’s permission. Just as he was soothing his heart by imagining the three years later as his parents suggested, he was fortunately able to keep his smartphone thanks to his tutor at the time, who mentioned that it would be difficult if they couldn’t communicate directly via messenger.

“If you picked up a friend’s item, you should have returned it immediately. Instead, you hid it in the back of your desk drawer, and now that you’ve been caught, you expect me to just believe your word? Not until I verify it.”

His father’s tone was firm, as if he had already concluded that Jae-min was lying. The reason he couldn’t purely protest his innocence was that Jae-min had always been lying to his parents. Consistently, whether big or small.

He had been taught since childhood that there was nothing worse than stealing and lying, but why was it? Before being caught in a lie, the anxiety pooling in a corner of his heart felt as if it would soon overflow, making him nervous; yet, while being scolded like this, he felt no emotions like guilt or apology. Instead, his body, head, and heart felt colder, almost as if he were becoming calmer. Perhaps it was because he was “precocious,” as his father occasionally said.

“I put it there because it wasn’t my item. So that I wouldn’t accidentally drop it or lose it.”

His father pressed his lips together so tightly they were almost invisible. It was a signal that he was starting to get angry.

“Enough. This conversation is over. Stop worrying about it. I will deliver this to the boy named Seung-pyo myself.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it just a matter of delivering it safely? I’ll handle it, so stop being interested and go to your room and do your work.”

His father put the phone straight into his own pocket. His mother gave a light sigh and turned her head with an expression that suggested she was displeased but didn’t want things to get more troublesome.

Jae-min bowed his head and headed to his room. A father who couldn’t trust his son’s word and stepped in personally just to return a lost item. Others would laugh at it, but it couldn’t be helped. He would just have to explain it as best as he could when he met Oh Seung-pyo tomorrow.

‘How?’

What explanation would be convincing? That I was keeping your phone safely in my desk drawer, but my parents searched the drawer without permission and found it, and even though I explained it was your phone, they didn’t believe me and decided to verify it with you personally before returning it?

Of course, he had no intention of telling it exactly like that, but he could already envision Oh Seung-pyo’s reaction if he explained it this way. He would widen those eyes that looked fierce with their slightly upturned corners, frown his handsome brow in disbelief, and although he might not say it out loud, he would probably think this:

That he acts all high and mighty as the top student at school, but lives trembling like that at home. That it figures he’s a weirdo, because his parents seem like weirdos too.

“While cleaning.”

Normally, he would have quietly entered his room by now, but Ryu Jae-min, standing before the door, finally spoke up.

“Hmm?”

“Why did you look in my desk drawers while cleaning? I can organize the drawers myself.”

“Are you dissatisfied that I organized the desk of a son who is busy studying? The housekeeper worked hard today doing a deep clean.”

Jae-min looked at his father without even blinking. Only after a few seconds of silence was he able to ask back.

“The housekeeper?”

“The house seemed a bit cluttered lately, so I asked her to do a deep clean for once. I told her to be sure to tell me if she saw any problematic items.”

“…Are you saying the housekeeper went through my drawers?”

“She did it at the parents’ request, so what’s wrong with that?”

Ha. Jae-min let out a hollow laugh mixed with a sigh without realizing it. The reason the housekeeper’s expression had been full of anxiety earlier wasn’t because of some special event, but because she had happened to run right into him on her way home after finishing the deep clean.

“What’s with that attitude?”

“What?”

“Where do you think you are, sighing in front of your parents? Are you saying that in your eyes, your parents’ actions are unsatisfactory?”

“…I’ve never had my grades drop since coming to high school, and I’ve never caused any trouble, so I am curious why you suddenly decided to inspect my belongings.”

Jae-min said everything he wanted to say, even while casting his gaze slightly downward. The atmosphere was already ruined and his father was as angry as could be, so he wondered what the point of reading the room was now. As the words exchanged between father and son grew truly thorny, his mother waved her hand.

“Honey, do this later. I’m starting to get a headache.”

“You go in and rest. I’m going to talk with Jae-min.”

His mother let out a long breath and finally stood up from the sofa. Jae-min stared blankly at her back as she headed to the bedroom without looking back, and then, this time without lowering his gaze, he faced his father.

Only after the bedroom door closed did his father speak again.

“Do you feel wronged because you had your belongings inspected without reason?”

“…….”

“Is there really no reason? Are you that honest with your father and mother lately? Is that it?”

Jae-min just stood there in silence. He couldn’t tell if his father actually knew something, or if this was a leading question intended to make Jae-min confess something out of guilt.

At times like this, his father’s methods and way of speaking exhausted Jae-min. He was like a gloomy spider, digging a pit and waiting for the other party to fall in. Perhaps because he had seen and learned this since childhood, he sometimes felt disgusted with himself when he realized he was acting the same way.

His older sister, now an adult, had chosen to leave the spiderweb-like house and live on her own because she no longer needed to follow their parents’ ways. But Jae-min, a high school student, could not yet leave home, and so he reached a conclusion. No matter why his father was so angry, he would pretend not to know until the end.

“Yes, I don’t know why you’re doing this.”

“I got a call from your academy teacher. They said you’ve been late frequently lately.”

“I’ve never been late. Self-study is more effective at school, so instead of studying at the academy, I stayed in the classroom to study a bit more before leaving.”

“I’ll find that out too when I verify the phone with the homeroom teacher while returning it to that friend named Seung-pyo.”

This time, Jae-min was truly speechless. Everyone in the school had seen Jae-min immersed in basketball practice from early morning until just before leaving school for the past few days. Including the teachers.

When Jae-min didn’t respond further, his father sighed as if he had become melancholy.

“Think about it carefully until you go to sleep, and if you think there’s something to reflect on, come to the study and talk to me.”

“…Then will you return the phone?”

“Ryu Jae-min.”

He replaced the answer by calling his full name sternly and stood up to head toward the study. Once the study door closed, following the bedroom door his mother had entered, Jae-min was finally left alone in the living room.

Jae-min couldn’t enter the study, nor could he enter his own room. He remained in that spot for a long time, like a person who had lost their way, or a child being punished. His neat face remained expressionless, but his pupils wandered slowly here and there, faintly revealing his owner’s distress.

Finally, Jae-min made a decision and entered his room instead of the study. He changed his clothes and then headed to the bathroom.

From taking a shower and brushing his teeth to finishing his remaining studies and finally going to bed, Jae-min never opened the door to the study where his father was waiting. He did so even though he knew that by passing tonight in silence, his father’s anger would not subside, but would instead grow even larger than it was now.

* * *

Class 4 happened to have the homeroom teacher’s lesson during the first period. He seemed to be in a good mood from the morning, conducting the class more cheerfully than usual, and with about five minutes left until the end, he casually brought up a topic of conversation.

“Yesterday was fun, right?”

“Yes!”

As the students answered in unison, he clapped his hands first.

“Let’s give a round of applause to the friends who worked hard playing basketball yesterday.”

The students giggled and joined in the applause. Since the news that the Class 2 homeroom teacher had handed out coffee to everyone in the teachers’ office had reached the students, no one felt resentful. While no one particularly disliked Class 2 or their teacher, there was no need to reject the luck of belonging to the side that could enjoy the superiority of the winner.

“Teacher is treating everyone to a hamburger today.”

“Wow, really? Awesome!”

The children, who had spent the game merely watching and were now poised to get free hamburgers thanks to the inter-class basketball match, cheered even more fervently. The kids who had actually played the game, on the other hand, merely shrugged their shoulders in silence.

The homeroom teacher must have really wanted to win, Seung-pyo thought, letting out a small smirk as he looked out the window. The empty playground and basketball court were desolate, as if yesterday’s heat had been a mere illusion. He had played basketball with the kids countless times over the past year, but today, as if suffering from the aftereffects of a particularly large tournament, moments from yesterday kept flashing back to him, drawing his gaze to the court. It had been a more interesting game than expected, after all.

Though it was now break time, Seung-pyo didn’t leave his seat, instead stealing glances toward the back door. This was the first break of the day after the first period of supplementary classes. Perhaps because he had burned too much passion during yesterday’s match, he felt more lethargic than usual this morning.

Normally, he would have vacated his seat the moment the bell rang to wander here and there, but today he sat guarding his desk, waiting silently. However, several minutes passed after the bell, and no one came for him. He had let the guy go easy, even though he could have left a lump on the other’s forehead; it should have been enough for the guy to come find him the moment he arrived at school, offering his phone with both hands. Yet, it seemed the school’s top student was still keeping his nose high today.

“He’s really something else.”

Muttering to himself, Seung-pyo finally stood up. Reciting the proverb a thirsty man digs the well to himself like a mantra, he stepped out into the hallway. Just then, he saw the kids from Class 2, who had played in yesterday’s game, hanging out on the indoor benches. Seung-pyo approached them and asked.

“Where’s Ryu Jae-min?”

“Ryu Jae-min isn’t here yet.”

“He’s not here? First period is over.”

At Seung-pyo’s words, one of the kids spoke with a slightly worried expression.

“Right. You don’t think he got caught playing basketball with us and got scolded?”

“Nah, why would he skip school just because he got scolded? I heard his parents are strict. They wouldn’t let him miss school.”

“That’s true. Is he sick? The homeroom teacher must know, right?”

“The teacher didn’t say anything even after seeing Ryu Jae-min’s empty seat. He probably contacted the school.”

Seung-pyo, who had been listening to the conversation among the Class 2 kids, suddenly looked up toward the other end of the hallway. Someone who had just come up the stairs was walking toward them.

“There he is.”

“Huh?”

The children all turned in the direction Seung-pyo was staring and waved welcomingly toward Ryu Jae-min.

“Ryu Jae-min! Did something happen?”

“We thought you weren’t coming today.”

Jae-min approached them with a smile. He looked the same as usual, not appearing particularly ill.

“Something came up at home this morning, so I called the teacher to say I’d miss first period. It’s just supplementary classes anyway.”

“Phew, we thought you got scolded at home for playing basketball.”

“It’s not like that. I’m just going to drop off my bag.”

After reassuring the kids that it was nothing, Jae-min’s eyes met Seung-pyo’s a beat later.

Since only the two of them knew about the swapped phones, it was awkward to bring it up in front of the others. Neither Seung-pyo nor Jae-min spoke; they simply stared at each other in silence. Turning back toward the classroom, Jae-min whispered briefly as he passed by Seung-pyo.

“See me after class.”

It’s not like it’s some contraband we have to trade in secret like cigarettes. Why wait until class is over just to return a phone?

Seung-pyo thought this, but decided against arguing. He didn’t want to act overly close in front of the other kids, and since the famous model student had skipped first period, he figured there must be a reason and let it slide.

Since I’ve already been lenient, I might as well be lenient one more time.

For lunch today, they decided to go to the snack bar together with the kids who participated in the match after eating the school meal. The Class 2 kids made a fuss, insisting that each person should only pick items within 3,000 won, while the Class 4 kids threatened that it should be at least 5,000 won. After taking a seat in the cafeteria, Seung-pyo looked for the missing person before even picking up his utensils.

“Where’s Ryu Jae-min?”

“I guess he really isn’t feeling well. He said he’s skipping lunch today.”

“Maybe he overdid it for a few days after never playing basketball before.”

Seung-pyo didn’t ask further and began his meal. Usually, he would have chimed in with chatter, but today he was quiet, as if he had something on his mind.

That didn’t mean he slowed down his eating. As usual, Seung-pyo emptied his tray quickly and cleanly. As soon as he arrived at the snack bar, he grabbed sausage bread, pizza bread, snacks, and ice cream. He ignored the screeching voices telling him not to pick too much.

While the Class 2 kids grumbled and paid the price for losing the bet, Seung-pyo lingered around the drink and snack shelves. Remembering something he’d missed, he nonchalantly picked up a chocolate milk. The moment he placed the milk carton on the counter, the Class 2 kids erupted.

“It’s over, it’s over! Payment’s done. No more additions!”

“I’ll pay for it with my own money.”

“Oh, really?”

They had only been teasing him; it wasn’t as if they couldn’t squeeze in one 600-won milk among the mountain of snacks already piled up. However, as if he weren’t joking, Seung-pyo immediately paid for the milk.

The children performed the joyful ritual of piling the snacks on the snack bar table and tearing open the packaging all at once. Being at the age of peak appetite, they lunged at the food like people who had been starving for three days, despite having just eaten lunch.

However, among them, the one tall boy who seemed to need the most fuel appeared uninterested in the snacks today. Seung-pyo picked at a few crackers for appearance’s sake and soon withdrew from the snack party.

“I’m going up first.”

“You’re not eating more?”

“We’re having hamburgers later.”

“If you’re not eating with us, why did you pick so much?”

“If you lost the bet, you have to buy them even if I don’t eat.”

As he teased them with a chuckle, the Class 2 kids shouted that he was annoying, but Seung-pyo acted as if he didn’t hear them. Instead, he reached for the table and picked up one of the snacks.

“Then I’ll just take this.”

The large cola, snacks, and bread had already been torn open, but the small chocolate milk he’d added at the end remained untouched. Since it was a snack Seung-pyo had paid for separately, no one complained about him taking it.

Seung-pyo walked down the hallway, shaking the chocolate milk. Perhaps because it was lunch break, the hallways and classrooms were sparsely populated. Instead of going into his own class, he peeked through the window of Class 2. Since most were eating, snacking, or out playing, only a few students remained in the classroom. Ryu Jae-min’s seat was also empty.

Did he go to the library again?

Seung-pyo quietly opened the back door and entered. A few students who were dozing or looking at their phones cast a brief glance at him but quickly returned to their own interests. Without hesitation, Seung-pyo approached Ryu Jae-min’s seat and placed the milk on the ownerless desk.

Only after seeing the milk standing alone on someone else’s desk did Seung-pyo feel a strange sense of awkwardness. It wasn’t as if they were close enough for him to worry about whether the other was starving or not. But it seemed ridiculous to take back something he had already given. Before he could be noticed by other students, he stepped back into the hallway and hurried back to his own seat.

The children who had been huddled together enjoying snacks in front of the snack bar rushed back to their classrooms just as lunch break was ending. They didn’t forget to toss a word or two to Jae-min, who was already in his seat.

“Ryu Jae-min, you feeling okay?”

“There’s one bread left, you want it?”

The kids who asked soon discovered the chocolate milk on Jae-min’s desk. Since they had seen Jae-min drink the snack bar’s chocolate milk occasionally, it wasn’t a scene that sparked particular suspicion.

“This is…”

Instead of drinking the milk, Jae-min held the carton in his hand, showing signs of wanting to ask something. Before he could ask, another student said with a laugh.

“Oh Seung-pyo bought this too. Does drinking snack bar chocolate milk raise your grades? I should start drinking this too.”

“Oh, you’re right. Both the 1st and 2nd ranked students in school like chocolate milk.”

At the giggling jokes shared around him, Jae-min didn’t continue and quietly set the milk down. The kids urged him, handing over an unopened piece of bread.

“Why aren’t you eating? I’ll give you the bread. Eat it quickly before class starts.”

“In a bit.”

Before they could talk further, lunch break ended. As the teacher entered the classroom, the students who hadn’t yet taken their seats scrambled and ran around the room. The chocolate milk remained on one side of Jae-min’s desk, like a still-life painting.

* * *

Supplementary classes during vacation are boring to begin with, but the reason today’s classes felt exceptionally long was likely because he had an appointment after school.

As soon as class ended, Seung-pyo was the first to rise from his seat and head into the hallway. Peeking through the window, it seemed Class 2 was still in the middle of their closing announcements. Seung-pyo leaned his back against the wall and waited for the announcements to end.

“Oh Seung-pyo, aren’t you going?”

“Yeah, I’ve got something to take care of.”

Classmates running through the hallway tossed a word or two to Seung-pyo. After exchanging a few greetings, students finally began pouring out of Class 2.

Seung-pyo waited for a long time. This was because Jae-min was the very last to leave the classroom. Seung-pyo frowned slightly and complained.

“Why are you coming out so late?”

“It’s easier to talk once the kids are all gone.”

What kind of grand conversation is needed just to exchange a phone? His attitude had been suspicious since morning, and it felt like he was trying to twist the situation again. Seung-pyo glared at Jae-min without hiding his suspicion. However, Jae-min started walking without any explanation, and since Seung-pyo didn’t know the reason, he followed for now.

The place where Jae-min stopped was in front of the archives room at the end of the hallway, which had somehow become their secret meeting spot. As Seung-pyo entered, Jae-min firmly closed the door, as he always did.

“What do you have to say that we had to come all the way here? Isn’t it over once you just give me the phone?”

At Seung-pyo’s question, Jae-min remained silent for a moment before rummaging through his pocket and handing over a phone. Seung-pyo snatched it and pressed the power button, and after checking the screen, he turned a hollow gaze toward him.

“This isn’t mine. What are you doing?”

“Can’t you just have this one?”

“What?”

“The model is the same, so the age should be similar. I think you can just factory reset it and use it. If you’re okay with it.”

“I’m not okay with it. What about my phone?”

Jae-min looked at Seung-pyo cautiously, then dropped his gaze with an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry. I lost your phone.”

“What?”

Seung-pyo’s eyes widened. While it was a phone that could just be replaced, wasn’t it completely wrong to drag things out without returning it and then wash his hands of it with a single sentence saying he lost it?

Suddenly, the thought occurred to him that perhaps Jae-min had lost the phone from the start and had used the bet as a trick to buy time. Considering the side of him he’d seen at first, he was exactly the kind of guy who would do that.

The thought that he had been played by Ryu Jae-min instantly soured his mood. The budding, raw affection he’d felt withered away in an instant. Seung-pyo frowned.

“Are you kidding me? What the hell did you do with someone else’s phone to lose it?”

“I tried to keep it safe, but when I went to take it out again, it was gone… The cleaning lady said it might have been swept up with some discarded items.”

“If you’re going to compensate me, do it with money, or if you’re giving me a phone, buy the same model. Where do you get off offering some worn-out thing as a replacement? You have no conscience.”

“…I’m sorry. I don’t have that much allowance that I can use on my own.”

“I heard your family is rich. Tell your parents and have them compensate me. If you can’t do it, I’ll tell them, so give me your father’s or mother’s phone number.”

Jae-min couldn’t answer and became visibly crestfallen. But Seung-pyo had no intention of being fooled by that expression. For a Ryu Jae-min who had once pretended to cry to screw him over, this level of acting would be a piece of cake.

It seemed he was making a miserable face because he couldn’t tell his parents; if he were questioned too closely, it might lead back to that absurd SNS story, so from the perspective of the school’s top model student, he probably didn’t want to open his mouth at all. It must be agonizing to try and settle the situation while hiding all the previous details.

He was a ridiculous guy. If he had just agreed to exchange phones and act like it never happened, it would have been over long ago. He had acted brazenly, insisting he had to receive an apology, and now he was playing the victim? He really hated how he flipped his attitude like the palm of a hand whenever it suited him.

I almost thought he was a decent guy just because we played a bit of ball together.

Seung-pyo steeled his heart. There was no need to listen to a guy who thought lightly of stabbing people in the back. He had to be harsh, or he didn’t know what trick the other would use to make a fool of him again.

“This won’t do. No matter how long it’s been used, you lost it through your own mistake, so I don’t need to be compensated with a used one.”

“…I understand. Then I’ll tell my parents. I just mentioned it because I thought it would be better if you were willing to do that.”

The fact that he backed down so easily actually made Seung-pyo feel worse. It felt like because he had been lenient, the other now saw him as a pushover and was testing the waters to see if he could just give up if it didn’t work.

If he’d known it would be like this, he shouldn’t have been lenient; he should have given him all ten finger flicks. A surge of spite rose within him. Seung-pyo held Jae-min’s phone by the fingertips and shook it, as if picking up something filthy.

“And why would I use a dirty phone like this? I know full well this is the thing you used when playing with perverts. I don’t even want to touch it because it’s gross.”

“……”

“Did you lose my phone while doing some slutty things outside again? You can just make a new account anyway.”

“Are you crazy? No.”

Jae-min denied it with an incredulous face, but Seung-pyo didn’t care. There was no way he would honestly admit it here, and he wasn’t even curious about the truth.

“I saw before that there are plenty of guys who want to give you money. If you don’t want to tell your mom and dad, take your clothes off one more time and squeeze some money out of those people to buy one. Do whatever you want.”

“Hey, Oh Seung-pyo. I’m sorry I lost the phone, but I said I’d resolve it. Why do I have to hear that from you again? Didn’t you say you were sorry for threatening me yesterday?”

“Fuck, I was sorry. Until you started looking down on me.”

“When did I—”

Jae-min, who tried to protest, seemed to lose his words and fell silent. Tension entered his sharp jawline, and his tightly closed lips trembled slightly.

He tried to return to his usual expressionless face, but it didn’t seem to work well, as the area between his brows kept furrowing. If it wasn’t acting, it seemed Seung-pyo’s spite had hit its mark. The tension in his jaw seemed to fade, and Jae-min’s voice sank low.

“Fine, I was wrong. I should have been honest with my parents from the start instead of talking nonsense and asking you for a favor.”

“I guess you thought talking bullshit to me would work better than telling your parents. You made such a fuss about your home being strict, but I guess you’re scared of your parents? You’re scared of them, but you weren’t scared of doing that kind of shit with strangers on the internet?”

“…It’s not that I’m scared, it’s just a hassle to explain everything.”

“Oh, really? Even if it’s a hassle, you have to do what needs to be done. You misjudged me. Do you think I’m crazy enough to keep being lenient with your situation while my phone is completely gone? What’s so pretty about a whore-like thing like you?”

Jae-min lifted his dropped gaze and looked Seung-pyo in the eye. His wavering expression had, before he knew it, settled into a cold, sculpted mask.

His complexion was paler than it had been before entering the archives room. He had been unusually lively during the match, but facing Jae-min’s expression, which had frozen like a plaster statue in the hallway, Seung-pyo felt a strange prick of guilt in his heart.

“What are you staring at?”

Even though he frowned harshly and snapped for no reason, Jae-min didn’t even bat an eyelid. In the black gaze that stared back without blinking, there was an unpleasantness, as if he were trying to dig through the other’s insides.

Until just a moment ago, he had been pretending to be wronged and sorrowful, his lips even trembling, but he had returned to the Ryu Jae-min that Oh Seung-pyo had observed for a year. The chill felt when facing a white wall that looked almost blue, the arrogant expressionless face that seemed to say, I’m superior, so it doesn’t matter what someone like you does.

It was a situation where it wouldn’t have been strange for him to bolt out of the archives room, but Jae-min instead took a step closer to Seung-pyo. His face and gaze drew so close that it felt as if they would collide with just a bit more movement. Just as Seung-pyo was about to tell him to get his eyes out of the way, Jae-min spoke first.

“Does the fact that I’m a slutty whore turn you on?”

The words that calmly escaped those tightly closed lips were far beyond his expectations. So much so that they weren’t even immediately processed by the brain of the school’s second-ranked student, Oh Seung-pyo.

Seung-pyo froze for a moment, then asked blankly.

“…What?”

“Right? Whenever we lock eyes, he’s dying to bring it up. I saw plenty of guys like you when I was running that account. If you don’t like it, you can just not look, but some bastards insist on seeking it out just to leave filthy comments.”

Until now, Seung-pyo had been stubbornly chewing over every single word Jae-min said, refusing to let anything slide, but this time he couldn’t find an answer. Jae-min stared straight back at him, without a trace of a sneer on his face.

It wasn’t as if a knife or gun was being held to his throat, nor was he being threatened like during their conversation in the archives last time, yet Seung-pyo froze as if he had encountered a robber. He could feel a cold sweat breaking out on the nape of his neck.

This pervert is spouting perverted nonsense until the very end. And you said that account isn’t yours and the photos aren’t you, right? His mind screamed at him to snap back like that, but Seung-pyo’s mouth remained closed as heavy as a rock, showing no sign of opening.

Interpreting the silence in his own way, Jae-min let out a faint snort. Only then did he shift his gaze slightly to glare at the empty space beside Seung-pyo before speaking again.

“Come to think of it, you said you wanted to see me jerk off, didn’t you?”

What the hell is he talking about all of a sudden? His mouth still wouldn’t open easily, and Seung-pyo merely frowned, questioning him internally. However, Jae-min seemed completely uninterested in Seung-pyo’s answer. He simply moved his hand, which had been hanging loosely, toward the front of his trousers.

As Seung-pyo watched Jae-min’s actions blankly, the sense of crisis finally reached his chin, allowing him to stammer out words belatedly.

“What… what are you doing?”

“You said you wanted to see. You said you were curious what it would be like to see the top student in school acting like a slut, so I even recorded you saying that.”

Seung-pyo took a step back, but before he could move far, he bumped into a dead-end wall. Oh Seung-pyo, who had surpassed 185 centimeters this year and now looked far more like a young man than a boy, stood with his back against the wall like a mouse cornered by a cat, his limbs stiff and awkward.

Jae-min did not take his eyes off Seung-pyo, who was pressed against the wall to avoid him. With a still composed expression, he finally undid the front of his trousers. Below the slightly lowered waistband, the band of his drawers was revealed.

“Hey, stop. We’re at school.”

The voice trying to stop him began to tremble. But Jae-min did not stop.

Long, white fingers finally pulled down the drawers, pulling out the red member hidden inside. Even the faint shadows created by the pelvic bone were clearly visible. Seung-pyo gasped.

On Ryu Jae-min’s secret account, which had since been deleted, there had been a short video. In the muted video, Jae-min had pulled down his school trousers and gripped and shook his member. He had pulled his shirt high up, exposing his firm, lean stomach and his chest with small, protruding nipples.

Though no face was visible and no sound could be heard, it felt as if Seung-pyo could hear Jae-min’s breathing. The moments when he moved the hand gripping his cock quickly and then stopped, his body twitching; the moments when he stood still masturbating and then shifted his upper body as if gasping for air while leaning his back slightly; and the end, where he trembled his white-exposed waist while staining his fingers with semen, what kind of breath he drew.

Now, Jae-min was not in a low-resolution video, but actually in front of Seung-pyo. It was a distance so close that he could see not only the face and voice but even how every single strand of hair swayed and became disheveled.

He grabbed the hem of his white school shirt and bit it with his teeth. Then, without hesitation, he gripped his cock and began to shake it.

That sequence of events looked as slow as a motion picture to Seung-pyo’s eyes.

Fuck, just don’t look! Push him away and get out of here!

His reason, clearer than ever, was screaming at the frozen Seung-pyo. But for some reason, Oh Seung-pyo, renowned for his excellent athletic and reflex skills, suddenly became clumsy, unable to move despite the signals from his brain.

The member that first revealed itself was not erect at all. Since it was neither hard nor wet, the sound of dry skin rubbing against skin leaked out drily. Far from being erotic, the cock, handled carelessly like a punching bag for venting anger, only looked like it was in pain.

Jae-min, who had been rubbing himself with his gaze cast downward, glanced up at the frozen Seung-pyo. When their eyes met, he stared briefly before closing them. Simultaneously, a faint frown appeared on his expressionless face, and a small voice leaked out from between the lips biting the shirt.

“Hng….”

The moment that voice was heard, Seung-pyo bit the inside of his own cheek tightly, just as Jae-min bit the shirt. So hard that blood almost seeped through.

Suddenly, his body grew scorching hot, and the heat rose to his head. As his head grew hot, even his eyes began to sting.

Regardless of Seung-pyo’s state, Jae-min’s hand continued to move. Ssh, ssh, ssh—the sound of skin rubbing and the increasingly ragged breathing erased the silence of the narrow archives.

While one bit a shirt and the other bit his own flesh to endure, the member that initially seemed indifferent stood up firmly. Before long, a transparent fluid beaded at the tip, and a sticky sound began to echo even within the dry palm. Jae-min’s expression was also distorting, looking more and more pained.

“Hng, mnh, ngh….”

The groaning voice, sounding as if he were clenching his teeth in pain, continued for a while, then Jae-min stopped the hand touching his member and merely gasped for air, his waist twitching. The eyelashes of his closed eyes trembled along with him.

Seung-pyo, who had been facing the sight without moving an inch against the wall, twitched his fingertips before clenching his fists tight. His knuckles turned white from the force, like someone suppressing the desire to touch what was before him. His tense Adam’s apple bobbed up and down once.

After catching his breath for a moment, Jae-min soon opened his eyes weakly and began to stroke himself rapidly again. Slap, slap, slap—more pre-cum seeped out, and it became slick, as if he were touching it with water.

Seung-pyo’s low breathing had also become ragged by now. The gaze that had initially looked at Jae-min in panic, like cornered prey, slowly filled with heat, glaring at the classmate before him as if he might strike him at any moment.

Without a word, only meaningless sounds raised the humidity of the narrow space.

“Ugh…!”

Regardless of the perceived time, the actual time until ejaculation was not long. It was shorter than the video that had been uploaded to SNS. Perhaps the anxiety of doing such a thing in the school archives, as Seung-pyo had mentioned, hurried the end.

White fluid poured from the tip of the glans, flowing between Jae-min’s fingers. Jae-min bent his waist slightly and trembled, then let out a long sigh and lifted his head. As if losing strength, he leaned one arm against the wall Seung-pyo was leaning on.

Jae-min’s crown and the back of his head were positioned near Seung-pyo’s chest. A faint red color had spread across the nape of his neck and the tops of his ears.

Jae-min stared blankly down at his hand, stained with the semen he had just expelled. Clicking his tongue like someone who found the cleanup tedious after committing the act, he lifted his head slightly to look at Seung-pyo.

“You said you wanted to see; I don’t know if it was worth watching.”

Even at the words muttered in a provocative tone, Seung-pyo only continued to glare at Jae-min in silence. Jae-min, whose breath had not yet settled, panted as he spoke.

“The reason I did that was….”

“…….”

“Because it relieves stress. Since I’m a slutty whore pervert.”

Jae-min’s eyes also flashed ferociously, as if intending to tear Seung-pyo apart. Having finished speaking, Jae-min straightened his body, carelessly stuffed his still-damp member back into his underwear, and roughly tidied his clothes.

“I need to wash up.”

Muttering casually, as if he had dirt rather than semen on his hands, he turned around abruptly as if Seung-pyo were no longer visible and left the archives without looking back. Long after the door closed with a thud, Seung-pyo let out a long, deep sigh.

Instead of quickly escaping the archives where he was left alone, he remained leaning against the wall, frowning deeply and grinding his teeth. Biting his lip, he looked down at his own lower body. Even without checking with his hand, it was obvious that the front of his trousers was bulging prominently down to his thighs.

With an expression as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have, Seung-pyo looked up at the ceiling and clutched his head as if to tear his hair out.

“…That guy is seriously a fucking lunatic….”

Seung-pyo was generally fearless. He had long since stopped believing in childish lies like ghosts or spirits. If ghosts existed, his mother, who had left the world early, would have visited him at least once to show her face.

He grew up snorting at the stories of adults who tried to make him cry or scare him, and he had never been afraid even when other children picked fights with him. That was because he had never lost a fight.

Perhaps thanks to the genes of his father, who worked on ships, and his mother, who had been a track athlete in her youth, Seung-pyo was naturally well-built and strong. As he grew rapidly during puberty, even the kids who picked fights disappeared. Moreover, Oh Seung-pyo was intelligent. There was no obstacle for a top student who was tall, strong, and handsome. The world became an increasingly kind and peaceful place for Oh Seung-pyo.

All of that became the past before he met Ryu Jae-min in high school.

His dad told him it was okay to fight bad people, but to avoid crazy people as much as possible. But what should he do when he’s too angry at that crazy person? When a psycho breaks a promise, loses someone else’s phone, and then uses him for perverted acts just because he called a whore a whore?

He had leaked it on the internet for anyone to see, and when he couldn’t do that anymore, he did it in front of him. He used him instead of the bastards who left filthy comments.

Seung-pyo belatedly stormed out of the archives. He walked with fast, long strides toward the Class 2 classroom, but he was too late. The classroom was empty, and Jae-min’s bag, which had been in his seat, was naturally gone.

Since he said he was going to wash his hands, he might be in the restroom. But the restroom he rushed to was empty. Because he had been frozen for too long in the archives, he had missed the lunatic. Seung-pyo splashed cold water over his face several times from the running tap and vowed while glaring at his reflection in the mirror.

I’m seriously going to kill him tomorrow.

Water dripping from his face, Seung-pyo headed to his seat. Just as he was about to grab his bag, he paused.

An unopened chocolate milk from the school store was sitting on his desk.

“…Fuck.”

Seung-pyo spat out a low curse and stared blankly at the object on the desk. His heart, which had been hard and heated with clear anger, crumpled into a strange shape, tightening his chest with a suffocating feeling.

He whipped his arm back, as if he were about to snatch the milk carton and throw it. But with his arm raised high, Seung-pyo remained motionless for a while.

Letting out a short sigh, he dropped his arm and trudged back to the restroom. Once he poured the milk down the drain and crumpled the carton into the trash, all traces vanished.

As he walked down the hallway to go home, Seung-pyo no longer looked like an angry person.