As Siwoo walked out of the school building on Friday afternoon, he felt a faint sense of relief. He knew he had no reason to – after all, he had a mountain of studying to do over the weekend – but his heart was still filled with the sweet sensation of freedom, and he wouldn’t have given up that fleeting euphoria for anything. The kind of happiness we feel without reason is the sweetest of all, he thought.

The cool October air nipped at his face, but he considered it a worthy sacrifice, as this was the most beautiful time of the year: colourful leaves, warm sunlight peeking through the clouds, a gentle breeze. He believed it was no coincidence that he was born on the first day of autumn – it was as if the universe had destined this for him. Besides, it wasn’t just the season and the feeling of freedom that brought a pleasant stir to Siwoo’s soul – Junho’s beautiful presence was an immovable portrait in his mind. The thought suddenly occurred to him to visit the boy since they hadn’t seen much of each other that day, their classes being in entirely different parts of the school. He even came up with an excuse: he would ask Junho to help him with history, just as he had tutored him in English a few days ago. Not that Siwoo really needed the help – he had learned the entirety of South Korean history as a small child, even though he hadn’t needed to. He simply liked knowing things. And generally, he didn’t enjoy being lectured, but for the chance to see Junho, he was willing to make an exception.

He decided to stop by a store and buy some vegan sweets for the boy. He often saw Junho eating chocolates or cookies – usually Oreos, which Siwoo couldn’t fathom being vegan, but he had still made a mental note of it. He found it incredibly endearing that Junho had such a sweet tooth. Truly, there was nothing – nothing in the world – that wasn’t perfect about that boy…

“F__ing bastard!”

Siwoo looked up in surprise at the sudden exclamation, practically shouted into his ear, instantly yanking him out of his pleasant thoughts. When he spotted the source of the voice, his lips curled into a mocking smirk – Dohyun. Of course, who else could it be? The hated guy didn’t even pause, seemingly blurting out the word before continuing on his way down the sidewalk.

Siwoo couldn’t let that slide. He didn’t even know why, but he just couldn’t.

“How lucky we are to meet!” he called after him.

Dohyun stopped in his tracks and turned toward him, his long, annoyingly arrogant face now marked with a look of bored contempt.

“As I recall, I have an unfulfilled promise to you.”

Dohyun stepped closer and, without warning, spat forcefully in Siwoo’s direction, the action so aggressive that even an elderly woman walking at the other end of the street turned her head.

Siwoo laughed. A cold, eerie laugh that even surprised himself. His head was flooded with rage. He felt like he couldn’t take it anymore. All week, every time he had seen this pest, he had wanted to beat him – he’d wanted it so badly. And now, it felt like the opportunity had finally arrived. They were no longer in school. No one was here to hold him back.

The thought crossed his mind that what he was about to do was foolish, even insane, but then he remembered the things this scumbag had said about Junho. Every muscle in his body tensed instantly. He grabbed Dohyun’s shoulder and began dragging the increasingly agitated boy toward a nearby, deserted alleyway.

“Let go, you f__! Get your hands off me!” Dohyun growled through gritted teeth, gripping Siwoo’s arm, trying to wrestle free from his grip.

When Siwoo was sure no one could see them, he shoved the boy against the brick wall of the alley. Dohyun’s head hit the hard surface with a loud thud, and his phone slipped out of his coat pocket.

“You know, there’s a saying: a promise is a promise” Siwoo sneered before landing a punch so hard on Dohyun’s face that even his own knuckles ached.

Dohyun spat blood and grinned maniacally.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he hissed before lunging at Siwoo.

They punched and kicked each other wherever they could land a hit. For a fleeting moment, Siwoo wondered when he had last been in a fight. If he had to guess, he would have said kindergarten, when a classmate took his banana milk.

Suddenly, Dohyun overpowered him and pinned him down. He slammed Siwoo’s head against the concrete so hard that his teeth clacked together.

Siwoo grew furious. Beyond furious. Without hesitation, he drove his knee upward, striking his opponent square in the groin. As Dohyun trembled from the pain and loosened his grip, Siwoo flipped their positions and began hitting him like his life depended on it.

“You stupid pest! You think you’re so smart, huh? You really think so?!” he shouted. He no longer cared if anyone heard them; his body was entirely consumed by rage. “You think you’re superior, don’t you? Everyone in this dumb school thinks they’re so damn intelligent just because they memorize everything, but deep down, you all know your mommy’s going to pay for your college anyway! You know nothing, absolutely nothing, you worthless rat!”

Dohyun was nearly choking on his own blood, which stained his chin, his teeth, and trickled down his neck to the edge of his sweater. He seemed to struggle to speak, but he forced out the words:

“And you think you’re smart, huh?” he chuckled, his mouth full of blood. “If you were so smart, you’d admit what you actually want from Junh…”

“Shut up!” Siwoo bellowed, raising his fist for another punch, but Dohyun suddenly moved and struck him across the face.

Siwoo wavered for just a second – but that was all it took for the other boy to knock him down again.

“You probably think you’re better than us,” Dohyun sneered, spitting a thick wad of blood straight into Siwoo’s face. “Go back to England, you filthy f__!”

Siwoo felt his lip split, his nose crack, but he was too furious, too filled with adrenaline to register the pain. With one last burst of strength, he used the momentum from his lying position to deliver a brutal headbutt.

He felt dizzy, his skull throbbed, but he knew it had hurt Dohyun much more. The boy stumbled backward dazedly before finally collapsing.

Siwoo wanted to keep hitting him. He wanted to beat him until he died. He was already stepping forward, ready to deliver a devastating kick to the semi-conscious boy’s body, but suddenly, as if an alarm went off in his mind, he stopped himself.

With a condescending look, he bent down, picked up Dohyun’s discarded, slightly cracked phone, and tossed it in front of the nearly unconscious boy.

“Call for help, you bastard. But if you say one word about this to anyone, believe me, you won’t survive next time,” he said coldly, then turned and walked away without another glance.

He barely registered the world around him. He heard the murmurs of passersby asking if he was okay, felt the blood dripping from his chin, but everything seemed muffled. He wanted to scream, his head was spinning, and he had no idea where he was going. He just let his feet take him wherever his heart pulled him…

He rang the doorbell of a familiar house with a burgundy door. He couldn' hold on much longer. The door opened, and the last thing Siwoo saw before collapsing was Junho's confused, terrified, yet still breathtakingly beautiful face.