Maybe because I lived with my older sister, I’d been particularly fond of web novels since I was young. Even now, well past twenty, I still occasionally looked up and reread the web novels I used to enjoy—so-called internet novels.
That day, really, was no different from any other. I was walking down the street when I got a KakaoTalk message from my sister. She recommended an internet novel titled This Kind of Ending, saying it was a masterpiece. I opened the link she sent and started scrolling down…
Hooooonk—.
A blaring horn, the kind you’d only hear in dramas, filled my ears, and then—thud—my body was flung into the air.
Before the pain even had time to register, I saw my phone flying out of my hand.
Crash!
My body hit the ground along with the falling phone. In my dizzy vision, I could see the shattered screen, letters drifting across it, and then a murmur—voices rising noisily around me.
Through the throbbing pain that arrived a beat too late, the noise began to fade out like a slow dissolve.
Kang Sihyeon.
My dimming vision clung to a single name. That was the last thing Sihyeon saw before his eyes closed.
***
The face in the mirror felt unfamiliar. Staring at the spotless reflection, Sihyeon’s expression darkened as he faced the boy with blue eyes looking back at him.
The skin covering the face was pale and flawless. Every time he blinked, long, delicate lashes dipped down and rose again softly.
His ‘original body’ hadn’t been ugly, but compared to that, the ‘Kang Sihyeon’ who was six years younger was—put bluntly—so striking that no one could dare call him unattractive.
A face with enough plausibility that if he lied and said he was an actor or idol on the street, people would believe it without question. Sihyeon pinched that face, then frowned as sharp pain followed.
It wasn’t a dream. Which meant—this situation was reality.
He had transmigrated into a novel.
Something that only ever happened in fantasy stories… and yet, it had happened to him.
From February 7th, when he first woke up in an unfamiliar bed, until March arrived—Sihyeon had wasted an entire month denying reality. It was only now, with the high school entrance day—of a school he had already graduated from—looming tomorrow, that he could finally accept this wasn’t a dream.
No matter how many times he slapped his cheeks, he never returned to being ‘Yoo Sihyeon.’ No matter how many times he fell asleep and woke up, the ceiling never changed. At one point, he even tried to jump off the roof in desperation, only to be caught by some random middle-aged man who dragged him back and gave him a lecture.
His last memory had been a car accident…
Maybe he’d died and gone to heaven. Or maybe, after reading so many internet novels, he’d ended up trapped in some kind of internet novel hell.
Lost in such absurd thoughts, he had shut himself in his room, ignoring the knocks of complete strangers. It had been a week like that. After barely stopping Kang Sihyeon’s parents from calling the police because they thought he might be dead, Sihyeon finally came out and headed to the bathroom, letting out a sigh as he ruffled his black hair.
In the mirror, pale blue eyes shimmered faintly. No matter how many times he saw them, they felt eerily unfamiliar.
Despite every attempt, his body never changed back, and time kept passing. Now, left with no choice but to accept it, his eyes slowly rolled as he examined the person in the mirror in detail.
Soft, almost excessively silky black hair. Blue eyes that looked as though they had been mixed with the sea. Slightly upturned eye corners. Faint double eyelids.
All of it belonged to ‘Kang Sihyeon’—the second male lead of the internet novel This Kind of Ending, and the female lead’s childhood friend.
“…I wish I were just crazy instead.”
If he were crazy and hallucinating, he could at least jump for joy. But over the past month, he had come to realize painfully that this wasn’t the case.
Tomorrow was Kang Sihyeon’s entrance day. His first day of high school. Gripping the edge of the sink, Sihyeon clenched his fist and pressed his lips together as he stared at himself.
They say even a dog that stays at a village school for three years can recite poetry—he had been reading internet novels for over ten years now.
If he was already stuck here with no way out, then he had to use every bit of knowledge he had to live quietly and find a way back to his original world.
The problem was—he barely knew anything about This Kind of Ending.
Honestly, he’d rather have been inside a fantasy novel protagonist’s story.
Why did it have to be an internet novel he’d only read eight pages of?
Usually, protagonists who transmigrate into novels at least know the ending of the story they’re in—but Sihyeon had no such cheat. All he had was ten years’ worth of familiarity with internet novel clichés and the brief character descriptions he’d skimmed before starting.
What should he do?
Knowing elements wasn’t the same as knowing the whole. Just because you knew the common tropes of a genre didn’t mean you knew every story within it.
Sihyeon rolled his blue eyes as he sank into thought.
The only clear things he knew were the main characters of This Kind of Ending. In that case… wouldn’t it be better to avoid getting involved with them from the start?
If he didn’t fall for the female lead, ‘Jung Dawoon,’ and didn’t get entangled with the Four Heavenly Kings, then the chances of getting dragged into trouble would decrease.
“Don’t even look at a tree you can’t climb.”
Engraving the wise proverb of his ancestors into his mind, Sihyeon turned on the faucet. Only after splashing his face with the cold water that jolted him awake did his overheated thoughts finally cool.
He didn’t know how to return, nor when he could.
So, if he wanted to live quietly and comfortably while searching for a way back, the best option was to avoid key figures like the female lead. The Four Heavenly Kings—the ones who would shake up the entire story—would only get involved with her anyway. That was the golden rule of internet novels.
The rude one, the cold one, the kind one, the cute one. Thinking back on the four names listed in the character descriptions, Sihyeon wet his dry lips.
Though, considering Dawoon had been banging on his door every single day for the past week—threatening to kill him if he didn’t come out—it didn’t seem like avoiding her would be easy. Still, he had no other choice.
The determination in his eyes slowly dimmed again.
Even though he had resolved to endure until he found a way back, the uncertainty and anxiety about the future remained unchanged.
***
The sun rose, morning came, and it was the day of the entrance ceremony.
Living as a third-year high school student in Korea once was more than enough—but now, not only did he have to go through it again, he had to start all over from first year. He hadn’t even entered yet, but he already wanted to graduate.
Hellish grade competition and dozens of mock exams. Just thinking about it made him shudder, and the urge to run away surged—but there was no escaping it.
Standing in front of the mirror, Sihyeon glanced over his uniform—something that looked like it belonged on an idol. As expected of an internet novel, the spring/fall uniform of a white shirt paired with an ivory vest looked quite nice.
Well… since it’s an internet novel, maybe I can take studying a bit easy.
‘Yoo Sihyeon’s’ school days had been nothing short of hell buried in studying. Remembering how he struggled to get top admission into university, Sihyeon shuddered before grabbing the crossbody bag he had prepared and slinging it over his shoulder. At least, for an internet novel, allowing a crossbody bag instead of a standard backpack was a decent perk.
The problem was, everything else sucked.
Crossbody bag or not—he just wanted to go back to where he originally lived.
Muttering words that would never come true out of habit, Sihyeon carefully walked toward the door, then paused and glanced toward the master bedroom.
Even though it was their only son’s first day of high school, Kang Sihyeon’s parents didn’t come out.
Which was only natural.
The once lively and affectionate Kang Sihyeon had suddenly started acting cold, like a completely different person.
And for Sihyeon—whose body was Kang Sihyeon but whose mind was Yoo Sihyeon—it was nearly impossible to treat them warmly. The bond between parent and child wasn’t something that formed overnight just because the body changed.
“Sihyeon-ah….”
The voice he had ignored last night—repeating only “I’m sorry”—surfaced in his mind. Feeling oddly guilty, he shook his head. Just because he had transmigrated didn’t mean he wanted to treat someone else’s parents like his own.
Besides, that wasn’t what mattered right now.
What mattered was getting out without running into Jung Dawoon.
For the past week, she had been pounding on his door so hard it felt like it might break, shouting for him to come out. Just thinking about it made his skin crawl as he stared at the tightly shut door.
He had never even properly seen her face, but there were things you could instinctively sense from the aura beyond the door.
If he ran into Dawoon, Kang Sihyeon’s parents might lose even their son’s body.
Gripping the strap of his bag tightly, Sihyeon carefully reached for the door.
If someone who had been your childhood friend suddenly changed overnight—ignoring and avoiding you—how would that feel?
The thought struck him suddenly, and his eyes sank.
From Dawoon’s perspective, it would be shocking and hurtful. But it had nothing to do with him—‘Yoo Sihyeon.’
This was a world inside a novel, and these people had nothing to do with him.
They were strangers from the start. There was no need to feel guilty.
With that, Sihyeon cautiously opened the door and stepped out. Beep. Hearing the mechanical sound of the lock, he turned around.
The open, empty view with no one in sight made him breathe easier. Relieved, he pulled out his phone to look up directions to school—
“Kang Sihyeon.”
A cold voice pierced his ear like a needle.
Flinching, Sihyeon looked toward its owner.
His blue eyes trembled slightly. At the end of his gaze stood a girl with ordinary brown hair and brown eyes—yet strikingly beautiful. Even without being told, it was obvious at a glance that she was Dawoon.
She was pretty. But his heart didn’t flutter.
To begin with, his real age was twenty-three—if a seventeen-year-old made his heart race, that would make him insane. Right, he wasn’t fluttering. That was a relief.
But—
He felt like he might die.
As Dawoon approached like she was about to devour him, Sihyeon—now a twenty-three-year-old intimidated by a seventeen-year-old—stared at her. Her sharp brown eyes gleamed dangerously. Facing that gaze, he didn’t have the nerve—or the face—to casually say something like “hi.” Maybe Kang Sihyeon could have, but Yoo Sihyeon, who now occupied this body, couldn’t.
“So you finally crawl out?”
“……”
A chilling aura poured out from a girl who was definitely smaller than him. He had vaguely thought he might die if he ran into her—but he hadn’t imagined his grave would be right in front of his house.
“For the past week, I’ve been calling you like crazy—my throat’s practically ruined. And now that it’s today, you finally decide to crawl out.”
Well, you do have to go to school, right?
Despite her ominous words, Dawoon’s voice still sounded like a songbird. Her throat didn’t seem ruined—but her mood definitely was.
Clutching his bag strap like it was a lifeline, Sihyeon slowly rolled his eyes.
Was Kang Sihyeon good at running?
He vaguely remembered something in the character description about being on the track team…
His eyes spun as he roughly mapped out an escape route, then looked back at Dawoon, who was still glaring at him like she wanted to kill him, grinding her teeth.
“Uh…”
The moment he finally spoke, Dawoon’s eyes sharpened.
Her gaze clearly said: Go ahead. Try making an excuse.
Forcing an awkward smile, Sihyeon took a small step back like he was starting an engine and swallowed.
“Sorry.”
“Hey!”
At least he had the bare minimum of conscience—he threw out a short apology, then kicked off the ground.
Maybe it wasn’t a lie that he was on the track team—his body shot forward at incredible speed, light as if it were flying.
It was the first time in his life he had ever run this fast. Startled by his own speed, Sihyeon glanced back—and froze in horror.
Dawoon was chasing him like a wild beast ready to kill.
He thought he’d be fine since Kang Sihyeon was on the track team—but now that he thought about it, Dawoon was on the volleyball team. One was track, the other volleyball. Truly, what a pair of childhood friends—both equally ridiculous.
“Just let me catch you.”
Even though there was a decent distance between them, her voice came through clearly. His running speed increased instantly.
If he got caught, he definitely wouldn’t die peacefully.
That thought drove him to sprint with everything he had.
How long had he been running? Even though he had put some distance between them, he could still see Dawoon’s silhouette whenever he turned his head. He pushed his suffocating breath down and kept moving his legs, trying to secure a safer gap.
Even just for a moment—if he could get out of her line of sight, he could change routes and lose her.
His mind raced. He had already completely forgotten about going to school.
Focused only on escape, Sihyeon spotted an alley that seemed to answer his thoughts and quickly turned the corner. After turning once, he saw a fork. Hesitating briefly, he took the left—and immediately, another corner appeared.
If he just made that turn, he could live.
With that thought, he pushed his slowing legs—
“……!”
Suddenly, someone jumped out from the alley he thought was empty.
Startled, Sihyeon’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s as he stared at the boy in front of him.
A boy with dazzling platinum-blond hair.
Before he could react, the distance between them closed rapidly. Running at a speed he had never reached before, Sihyeon had no way to stop in time.
“Watch out—!”
It was too late by the time he shouted. The boy was right in front of him.
Just as Sihyeon braced for impact, the boy—who had met his eyes—also widened his own and reached out toward him.
The boy’s arms wrapped around Sihyeon as he crashed into him and then came a solid impact.
“Ugh!”
Letting out a short groan, the boy tilted backward.
Thud!
The sound of them hitting the ground was anything but light. Because he had fallen while holding Sihyeon, the boy absorbed even the impact meant for him. Gasping, Sihyeon pushed himself up and looked at him in shock.
Charging in like a raging bull was bad enough—but being protected on top of that made it impossible not to feel guilty.
“I’m sorry—are you hurt any—”
As he spoke while looking into the boy’s platinum eyes, Sihyeon’s gaze dropped unconsciously—and his body froze.
“……”
Forgetting to even finish his sentence, he stared blankly and checked what had entered his view again.
On the white name tag, three characters were engraved.
Yoo Seowoo.
The name of the kind one among the Four Heavenly Kings.
