He roughly raked his hair back. It felt unpleasantly sticky. The pajamas he was wearing were soaked through from the sweat covering his back.
When he checked his phone, there were still ten minutes left before the alarm was set to go off. Kang-woo let out a deep sigh and forced his heavy body upright. Through the slightly parted curtains, he could see the outside wrapped in dense darkness.
Once again, a new morning had arrived. As always, it meant the start of another worst possible day.
***
Kang-woo’s day began a little differently from that of an ordinary high school student. Waking up to the morning alarm, preparing for school, and leaving the house were the same as anyone else. But after that, things diverged slightly.
The first place Kang-woo stopped after leaving home was a convenience store. He was a regular there. The reason he deliberately favored this particular store—even though it was quite far off his usual route to school—was simple.
It was the largest convenience store in the neighborhood.
Standing in front of the ready-to-eat food display, Kang-woo spent several minutes seriously contemplating his options. After a long while, the pale fingers buried deep in his pocket finally moved.
Among the neatly lined products, he picked up a newly released sandwich. The filling didn’t look skimpy, so it seemed decent enough to serve as a substitute for a proper meal.
“Student, why do you always choose things so carefully every time? It feels like it takes you at least five minutes just to pick one thing.”
When he added a freshly squeezed juice and set everything on the counter, the convenience store owner—an older woman—laughed softly and spoke to him in a friendly tone.
“You must be the type who likes trying new things. I’ve never seen you buy the same item twice.”
“…Haha, I guess so.”
Kang-woo gave an awkward smile at the nosy but well-meaning woman and handed over his card.
After finishing the payment, he hurried out of the store, worried she might try to continue the conversation.
Only after the glass door closed behind him did Kang-woo let out a sigh of relief. His steps grew noticeably lighter as he walked toward the bus stop.
Although Kang-woo had a personal driver assigned to him, he used public transportation when commuting to and from school. It had already been over three years since he started relying on the bus.
When Kang-woo arrived at school, he placed the sandwich and drink he had bought on the desk beside him. After finishing everything he needed to do, he quietly opened a workbook.
The scratching sound of a mechanical pencil broke through the silence.
The classroom, with the heater still turned off, was chilly. The cold air that cooled his head wasn’t unpleasant. Kang-woo felt most at ease concentrating on problems in an environment that kept his body tense.
But the moment of peace didn’t last long.
As time passed and the sun slowly rose, students gradually began filling the classroom. Even then, Kang-woo kept his nose buried in the workbook without paying attention to anything else.
“Ugh, it’s cold. The classroom’s this chilly—why isn’t the heater on?”
Along with someone’s groan, the heating system was turned on. The previously quiet classroom atmosphere broke apart, warmth slowly spreading as signs of conversation began to stir.
Without hesitation, Kang-woo rummaged through his bag and pulled out a pair of earphones.
He put them in both ears and turned on the noise-canceling function. Instantly, the surrounding noise was completely cut off.
He played a playlist filled only with instrumental tracks. The voices of the kids laughing and chatting were completely buried beneath the monotonous melody of the piano.
Thus, he immersed himself fully in his own world, concentrating for dozens of minutes.
Then Kyung-wook arrived late to school.
The moment the classroom door opened, Kang-woo sensed his arrival as if by instinct. His eyes were still fixed on the arithmetic sequence problem before him, but every nerve in his body reacted to Kyung-wook.
A familiar pheromone scent spread to the tip of his nose.
As the scent grew stronger, tension tightened along Kang-woo’s spine.
“Baek Kyung-wook, you’re here.”
“Yeah, hi.”
Kyung-wook exchanged casual greetings with some of the classmates before walking past Kang-woo and dropping into the seat beside him.
Even then, Kang-woo’s gaze remained stubbornly fixed on his workbook. His hand moved mechanically as he held the mechanical pencil.
Meanwhile, Kyung-wook naturally picked up the sandwich sitting on the desk. After inspecting the outer packaging for a moment, he peeled it open with a careless hand.
And even while finishing the entire sandwich, Kyung-wook remained silent.
It seemed the taste wasn’t too bad.
Kang-woo felt relieved inside. The way Kyung-wook reacted to the breakfast Kang-woo prepared was practically a forecast for how the rest of the day would go.
If Kyung-wook happened to be in a bad mood from the morning, he would have thrown the food Kang-woo carefully chose right back at him—or tossed it straight into the trash.
After that, he would’ve ordered Kang-woo to go buy something new from the school store.
And if that happened, today would become twice as miserable as usual.
So, the conclusion was simple.
Kyung-wook had definitely been in a decent mood—at least until this morning. Considering he’d had an unpleasant experience over the weekend, he hadn’t even bothered Kang-woo with petty excuses the way he sometimes did.
Because of that, Kang-woo let his guard down.
He carelessly assumed the peaceful morning would pass without incident.
***
Unexpected variables could arise at any time.
The starting point of the problem was gym class.
After finishing some simple warm-up exercises, the activity for the day was badminton. Because badminton required two players per match, Kang-woo ended up pairing with another student.
However, there was one small difference from usual.
The student with the number ahead of Kang-woo was absent due to illness, which caused the pairings to shift and resulted in an unusual combination.
Most of the students in the class felt awkward around Kang-woo because he didn’t talk much. He wasn’t oblivious, though—he understood well enough that they felt uncomfortable around him and tried to avoid him.
So he deliberately kept his distance. He let them continue feeling that way.
In truth, Kang-woo hadn’t always been like this. Up until middle school, he wasn’t much different from any other kid.
But the moment doubts arose about the normal life he believed he had—and the moment he recognized a difference he couldn’t overcome—people naturally began to shrink into themselves.
Of course, the existence of Baek Kyung-wook couldn’t be ignored when it came to the background of Kang-woo’s withdrawn school life.
Kyung-wook didn’t like Kang-woo associating with other people, and he made no effort to hide it.
He openly pressured Kang-woo. Using the excuse that Kang-woo’s traits made it dangerous for him to mingle among ordinary people, Kyung-wook personally cut off Kang-woo’s relationships one by one.
Thanks to that, Kang-woo’s attitude grew more and more passive with each passing year.
At least it was fortunate that Kang-woo had never been the type to obsess over relationships in the first place.
Or rather, it was easier on his mind if he chose to think that way.
If you convinced yourself something didn’t matter, eventually it really wouldn’t.
As long as Kyung-wook held Kang-woo’s weakness in his hands, there was no way for Kang-woo to escape him at school.
If a situation couldn’t be corrected, then the only choice left was to grow used to it.
The relationship between Kyung-wook and Kang-woo had long since strayed far outside the boundaries of anything normal.
Kang-woo knew Kyung-wook regarded him as something like a pet dog.
No—perhaps that comparison was too generous.
In reality, he was probably closer to a toy that could be played with and then discarded.
Whenever he wasn’t focusing on studying, thoughts like these crept in.
It became a time to slowly retrace the tangled path of his life.
Where exactly had everything gone wrong?
No matter how many times he thought it over and retraced his steps, he couldn’t pinpoint a clear answer.
At the same time, another thought surfaced—finding the starting point wouldn’t change anything anyway.
Because things were always going to end up like this.
A sense of helplessness washed over him.
At times like this, it was better to move his body instead.
Kang-woo swung the racket with all his strength.
Tak.
The shuttlecock flew far away after being struck cleanly. The opposing student shouted, “Ah!” and stretched his racket toward the floating shuttlecock, but he missed completely.
The shuttlecock, which had soared forward in a long arc, dropped to the floor with a dull thud.
If they had been playing on an official court, it would’ve actually given the opponent a point instead.
Kang-woo’s partner braced his hands on his knees, panting heavily, before collapsing onto the floor.
“Hey, take it easy! I’m dying here chasing after that shuttlecock.”
Only then did Kang-woo realize he had been swinging the racket with far too much personal emotion behind it. A belated sense of guilt surfaced.
He went to retrieve the shuttlecock that had fallen far away, picking it up in place of his partner who was still sitting on the gym floor.
“Sorry. I won’t send it that high anymore.”
He approached his still-breathing-hard partner and offered an apology.
“No, no. I mean, I’m the one who couldn’t return it properly anyway, so there’s no need to apologize. Just take it a little easier.”
Waving his hand dismissively, the guy then asked Kang-woo a teasing question.
“I’m just asking in case… you don’t have some kind of grudge against me, right?”
A mischievous smile curled at his lips as he idly tapped his foot.
Kang-woo blinked.
Triggers could be surprisingly simple. Like this moment now—talking with someone he had spent over seven months in the same class with without ever exchanging a single word.
So he’s friendlier than he looks.
Thinking that, Kang-woo shook his head.
“It’s not like that. I just didn’t control my strength well.”
“Oh, what’s this? So you’re bragging about having good muscle strength right now?”
“No way.”
“Anyway, go easy on me. Chasing the shuttlecocks you send flying is about to set my feet on fire.”
Making an exaggerated expression, the guy bowed dramatically.
Faced with his cheerful attitude, Kang-woo found himself smiling faintly without even realizing it. The guy who had been sitting on the floor widened his eyes slightly before suddenly reaching out a hand toward Kang-woo.
“Hey, don’t just stand there staring—help me up.”
Kang-woo quietly looked at the hand for a moment before gripping it firmly and pulling.
“Up we go,” the guy said with a grunt as he stood, brushing off his backside.
“Alright, alright. Let’s resume the match. That was just the warm-up until now. This time I’m definitely not going easy on you.”
While the guy shook the hand holding the racket and stretched exaggeratedly, Kang-woo turned around to return to his position.
Then his eyes met Kyung-wook’s. At the same time, his body froze.
Since when had he been watching from over there?
Kang-woo read the coldness in Kyung-wook’s gaze.
Kyung-wook stood still in place, watching every single one of Kang-woo’s actions. Kyung-wook’s sharp jawline stood out prominently. His tightly closed lips reflected the tension twisting inside him. The moment Kang-woo sensed the shift in his mood, his body stiffened.
“Hey, Kim Kang-woo, what are you doing? Hurry up and hit it.”
Hearing his partner urging him, Kang-woo forced himself to turn his head.
After sending a serve, he swung his racket automatically toward the shuttlecock that bounced back after hitting his opponent’s racket—but his mind was somewhere else.
It felt as if a piercing gaze from behind was constantly watching him.
Perhaps thinking Kang-woo wasn’t a bad conversation partner after all, his badminton partner tried speaking to him a few more times. But Kang-woo deliberately cut the conversations short with brief answers. Before long, the two spent the remaining time quietly swinging their rackets.
With the clear ringing of the bell, the uncomfortable gym class finally came to an end.
“Kim Kang-woo.”
At the voice calling him in a familiar tone, Kang-woo turned around.
“Come here.”
Kyung-wook crooked his finger and gave a short command.
Kang-woo swallowed dryly. When he forced strength into his heavy legs and approached, a muscular arm with veins standing out pressed down onto his shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
Heavy.
The suffocating feeling around his neck made him want to escape from that arm, but Kang-woo said nothing as Kyung-wook led him back toward the classroom.
The hallway during break time was noisy. Students chatting loudly rushed past them.
Everyone around seemed completely carefree, yet Kang-woo felt like he alone was walking on thin ice.
When he glanced sideways, he saw Kyung-wook’s stiff expression. Kyung-wook still looked to be in a bad mood.
Quietly, Kang-woo adjusted his pace to match Kyung-wook’s wide strides.
