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IF: ~During School Days~
Won Junjae was different from the start, with exceptional physical development and appearance from a young age. This became even more pronounced when he entered middle school, naturally becoming a target for children just awakening to their sexuality.
Because of this, Junjae was always tired. His desk drawer was always overflowing with letters and chocolates, and there were constant expectations behind his back from both girls and boys—”he’s handsome,” “I want to be friends with him,” “I want to date him”—expectations that Junjae couldn’t fulfill. In reality, Junjae was just a regular kid his age with a mature body and face. He was a 15-year-old who wanted to joke around with friends, kick a soccer ball, and have fun.
Since he had been constantly harassed about romance, he had no interest in it to begin with. He just wanted to play games or run around with friends, but the children assigned meaning to his every action. “Won Junjae is on Team A!” “Really? Then Team B kids are inadequate and lacking!” “Won Junjae plays FPS games!” “Really? Then RPG gamers are losers!” The children arbitrarily established Junjae as a standard and judged others who differed from that standard, evaluating each other on their own terms.
Tired of people who attached meaning to his every action, Junjae’s responses to people grew shorter, and he became careless and insensitive in his relationships.
During this time, a chubby student caught Junjae’s eye—someone who didn’t care what Junjae did. When other kids fought loudly wanting to be on Junjae’s team for soccer, this student stood back saying they’d join whichever team was left. When Junjae and the class president took turns picking team members, while others flattered Junjae embarrassingly hoping to be chosen, this student quietly stood behind the dejected class president. It was the first time Junjae had encountered someone uninterested in him. While everyone treated Junjae as special, this student treated him equally like everyone else.
Even this student’s name was unique: Kim Jeonggwan. Since the name was instantly memorable, Junjae was subtly paying attention to Jeonggwan when one day they were assigned to clean the art room together. Usually, the art teacher didn’t let them rest for even a second during cleaning, so there wasn’t much opportunity to talk, but today the art teacher had left early. Seizing the opportunity, the two middle schoolers decided to slack off and bought ice cream, sitting side by side in the art room. Jeonggwan had bought two ice creams and was now unwrapping the second one.
“You’re eating another one?”
“Want some?”
“No…”
“Then don’t nag.”
“I’m not nagging… just worried you’ll get a stomachache.”
Moreover, Jeonggwan was quite feisty. Usually feisty kids were skinny, but Jeonggwan’s feistiness, expressed while moving those chubby white cheeks, felt strange. But not in a bad way. Whenever Junjae looked at Jeonggwan, he thought of something between a soft steamed bun and a plump dumpling.
Jeonggwan was enthusiastically eating a grape-shaped ice cream, and Junjae couldn’t understand why he kept staring. Jeonggwan’s lips, pouting as he tried to suck the ice cream from the small opening, kept catching Junjae’s attention.
“Wha’ you lookin’ at?”
Perhaps sensing the stare, Jeonggwan looked up at Junjae with the ice cream in his mouth. Junjae couldn’t take his eyes off Jeonggwan’s red, swollen lips, which looked just like soft, bouncy jelly.
“What are you looking at?”
“…Nothing.”
Junjae swallowed hard and turned his head to avoid eye contact. Jeonggwan said “What’s with him” as if Junjae was being weird and was about to turn his head in the opposite direction when he noticed Junjae’s extremely red ears.
It was 2 PM on a summer afternoon during PE class. Two classes with overlapping schedules gathered in front of the command post. Originally, they were supposed to have separate PE classes, but since Junjae’s class’s PE teacher couldn’t teach due to personal circumstances, the two classes ended up having a soccer match against each other.
“Alright, those who want to sit out, quickly step aside!”
The cool PE teacher who took charge of both classes told those who didn’t want to go out in the blazing sun to sit on the steps beside the command post. Naturally, Jeonggwan was the first to leave the group and sit on the steps. About half of the students followed, rushing to sit down, while Junjae, always central to such sports events, was selected as captain and was dividing the teams.
“Look at Won Junjae’s physique. Would you believe he’s a middle schooler?”
“I know, right. His legs are so long.”
“You know Kang Soming? The idol trainee.”
“The tall one?”
“Yeah. I heard she confessed to Won Junjae yesterday. But got rejected.”
“…Oh, I see.”
While secretly opening a snack, Jihoon whispered as if sharing a secret. Jeonggwan pretended not to be interested and gave casual reactions while glancing at Junjae. Kang Soming was the second most famous student at school after Won Junjae. She was an idol trainee at a major entertainment company, tall, and stylishly handsome.
Even though same-sex relationships were now accepted, many still only liked the opposite sex due to orientation differences. Jeonggwan had thought Soming would definitely like girls, so it was surprising that she had confessed to Junjae. And even more surprising that he had rejected her confession.
“…Does Won Junjae only like girls?”
“Don’t know. He’s never accepted anyone’s confession.”
Does Won Junjae perhaps only like girls? Jeonggwan stared thoughtfully at Junjae’s side profile as he spoke to his classmates. His ears were pale. Even though it was hot, Junjae’s ears were now pale. It was strange. They had been red before.
“Hey! Pig!”
“…What now.”
“Hold this for me.”
“No way. Why should I?”
“Just hold it.”
Just then, someone wearing only a white short-sleeved T-shirt ran up and practically threw his PE uniform top and phone at Jeonggwan. It was Jung Taekun from the other class, who now shared PE class with them today. They knew each other from being in the same class last year, but weren’t particularly close. Since Jung Taekun always called Jeonggwan “Pig!” or “Fatty!” whenever he saw him, it was natural for Jeonggwan to avoid him. Yet disgustingly, Jung Taekun always ran over to tease Jeonggwan whenever he spotted him.
“…I really don’t want to.”
“Hey. Throw it away.”
That’s why it was annoying to be entrusted with his clothes and phone. What am I, his lackey? Jeonggwan frowned in displeasure, and Jihoon suggested throwing the items away, saying they would bring bad luck. Watching Taekun’s back as he ran back to the crowd of students preparing to play soccer, Jeonggwan couldn’t bring himself to throw away someone else’s belongings and placed Taekun’s things beside him. Then he looked up and—
“…”
Made eye contact with Junjae.
Jeonggwan was extremely flustered. It was unexpected that Junjae, who should have been busy determining positions with his teammates, was looking in this direction, and even more so that his eyes were directed at him. Unable to hide his confusion, Jeonggwan blinked rapidly, then Junjae’s gaze shifted.
“…”
To Taekun’s belongings beside him.
[Popular Board] “Punch or Cry” Won Junjae student x Kim Jeonggwan student 5-star Home Post.
Freedom declaration! This is an anonymous 5-star Home board for Won Junjae x Kim Jeonggwan shippers.
Since Won Junjae and Kim Jeonggwan are ordinary people, hearsay and slander are strictly prohibited.
Won Junjae and Kim Jeonggwan are “students.” Excessive adult content is… clang… clang…
Enjoy… your… brain fantasies…
[8921 comments]
-What’s truly amazing about Won Junjae is… how can someone respond like that in such a situation? Not calling him “Jeonggwan” but “Kim Jeonggwan.” (Intensity!) Not saying “apologize.” (Intensity!) Asking “Why did you do that?” (Intensity!) Asking “Why did you kiss me?” (SUPER INTENSITY!) Is this even possible? Is this the kind of intensity a normal male student can possess?
ㄴ No, this is… fantasy… it’s fantasy…
ㄴ With that physique and that face… if he’s not an actual game character, what is he… if not a fictional character…
ㄴ This is a drama. I’m dying over this drama…
– Honestly, it’s because Won Junjae is in a completely different class… But Jeonggwan doesn’t back down either.. he’s incredibly cute for an ordinary high school boy… Definitely cat-like…
ㄴ If he were an idol, he’d definitely attract fans…
ㄴ Agreed, Jeonggwan is chubby so he kind of looks like a plump cat..hahaha
ㄴ Hahaha plump cat hahahahaha
– But seriously, why isn’t Won Junjae becoming a celebrity?
ㄴ Probably a trainee? Would entertainment companies leave someone with those looks alone?
ㄴ 22.. Junjae please become an actor.. act in romance.. aunty’s wish..
– This is definitely real love for Won Junjae. His eyes are different. There’s that feeling of emotion too intense to contain. It’s like that first love still hidden in a corner of his heart, that unresolved feeling he can’t express and pretends to be calm about, but it overflows and leaks from his eyes—that’s the real thing. Somehow, when they were middle school desk mates, he thought Kim Jeonggwan was just an ordinary boy, but his heart felt strange whenever Jeonggwan smiled, he kept thinking about him, and eventually, the day before graduation, he kissed Jeonggwan who had fallen asleep on his desk. Then Jeonggwan woke up, and from then on, desperately avoided him. Even though they came to the same high school, they weren’t in the same class, and Jeonggwan would run away whenever he saw him… The truth is, Jeonggwan had never liked anyone before, so he was just startled by the stolen kiss. Actually, that’s not it… Jeonggwan just didn’t know what to do… But for Junjae, since Jeonggwan was avoiding him, he thought, “Ah, he must hate me,” and was in the process of calmly sorting out his feelings when Kim Jeonggwan called out to him and everything finally exploded…
ㄴ Wo.. damn… this is it.. this is the one….
ㄴ Yes, it’s definitely real love from his eyes alone
ㄴ This seems right. Even if it’s not, I’m adopting this as canon.
ㄴ Pretending to be calm… overflowing from the eyes… this is it…
ㄴ This place knows what’s up.
– Why,,,asking about why he kissed him,,,can this…come from a high school kid…? Damn…
ㄴ The term “high school kid” hahaha it’s been a while since I heard that hahaha
– These miserable broadcasting bastards. Making us wait until next week. Just execute us instead.
– What kind of situation would lead to a kiss?
ㄴ At minimum, he got caught stealing a kiss…?
ㄴ Seems like he got caught planting a stolen kiss….
ㄴ Like the comment above said, student Junjae had a crush… so he stole a kiss… but Jeonggwan wasn’t actually asleep
– Seriously… wow… honestly, shouldn’t they make a whole program with this storyline?
ㄴ That’s what I’m saying.. looking at the preview, they’re featuring a different school next week; how can this love story from middle school end as a ONE-TIME segment. Excuse me?! Excuse me?!!!!
