The Photography Club room felt quieter than it normally did, even though students were shouting the names of their clubs in the hallway.

Ji-hun was excited when he entered the room together with Yoo Hae-sol, who was the first friend he had made at this school.

For Ji-hun, the Photography Club was his first real step toward becoming a photographer like his parents. He was already thinking about the talent exam, and every hour he spent in this room would be part of the long and serious preparation he had planned for college.

Ji-hun was ambitious and patient. He was a kid who liked order and making plans, and there was no real reason to think he would not succeed in the future.

When he and Hae-sol entered, there was a boy standing near the window with his back turned to them and looking outside. He was tall and strongly built, and he looked completely comfortable standing alone in the quiet room.

The door closed behind them. The boy turned around, and Ji-hun was finally able to see his face properly.

"You're here to join the club, I guess?" the boy said. "I'm Shin Ho-jin. Club leader."

Ji-hun and Hae-sol bowed to greet him. When Ji-hun raised his head again and realized who he was looking at, a cold feeling ran all the way up his back. He could not imagine anything more discouraging than this. For a second, the situation did not even feel real, and it was almost like he had walked into a bad dream. Then he started wondering if someone was playing a joke on him.

When he finally came back to himself, he leaned toward Hae-sol. "I should switch clubs."

Hae-sol frowned. "Why?"

Ji-hun did not answer immediately because he was already looking past him at Ho-jin. "I don't get along with that guy," he whispered.

"How do you even know him?" Hae-sol whispered back. "Isn't he a high school student?"

"Ya..." Ho-jin said.

Both of them looked at him. Ho-jin was standing there with his hands in his pockets. "Either sign up or get out."

Ji-hun definitely did not want to deal with this high school kid. All the excitement he had when he entered the room had disappeared. "See you in class," he said to Hae-sol, and then he walked out.

Ho-jin grinned as if he had already expected Ji-hun to leave, then turned back to Hae-sol. "Welcome. I hope you're not grumpy like your friend." He gave him a sign-up sheet. "Fill this out."

Hae-sol nodded and signed the paper. He did not like the club president at all, but he really wanted to join the club, so there were not many choices in front of him. He wanted to stay anyway. "Thank you, sunbae," he said. He bowed, forced himself to smile, and then left the room.

After Ho-jin was alone, he started thinking about Ji-hun in the locker room and how the kid had looked at him that day. The memory amused him.

"I don't scare easy," he said to himself, copying Ji-hun's tone, and chuckled.

He was still amused by it when the door opened, and his attention immediately went there. When he looked up, that little boy was standing in the room again.

"Can I get a sign-up sheet?" Ji-hun said. "I decided to join."

Ho-jin came closer to him. "You sure? Heard this club has bullies."

"I can handle it," Ji-hun said.

Ho-jin grinned. "Good for you."

—

It was already dark outside when Ji-hun closed the zipper of his bag after putting the camera safely inside.

He placed the bag on the edge of his desk, next to his notebooks and pencils. His room was small but clean. There was only one shelf for his books, and his school uniform was hanging neatly beside the door. There was nothing fancy about the room, but it was comfortable in its own simple way. It was quiet, everything was in its place, and it felt like a space that belonged to him.

Ji-hun turned off the light and got into bed, then pulled the thin blanket up to his chest. Moonlight was entering through the window and making silver lines across the floor.

His eyes went toward the window, but his mind was already somewhere else.

Shin Ho-jin.

The moment the name came to his mind, his body became tense. Why did it have to be him? he thought. Of all people, why is he the club leader?

Ji-hun sighed and buried his forehead in the pillow. He thought Ho-jin was annoying and arrogant, and that stupid grin always seemed to be on his face.

He closed his eyes firmly and tried to get the image out of his head.

It did not work.

The image was still there, clear enough to annoy him, and it would not go away.

—

It was Tuesday morning, the third day of school, and students were slowly starting to fill the courtyard before the first class.

Ho-jin was standing near the low brick wall at the edge of the school grounds with a cigarette between his fingers. There were four other students around him, two boys and two girls, and they were laughing and talking as if there was nothing in the world they needed to worry about.

Ho-jin was still laughing when he noticed someone coming down the path.

Moon Ji-hun was walking alone toward the main building. His shoulders were straight, and his uniform was neat and buttoned all the way up. There was not even one wrinkle on it. His shoes looked as if they had just been polished, and his hair was parted neatly enough to make it look like he had checked it more than once before leaving home.

There was something about how clean and too perfect he looked that kept the grin on Ho-jin's face for a little longer. Ji-hun noticed him too, and the change on his face was immediate. His nose wrinkled with disgust as if he had just seen something rotten.

Their eyes met, and neither of them looked away.

Ho-jin took a long drag from his cigarette and slowly breathed out the smoke before calling to him from across the distance between them. "What now? You planning to report me for smoking?"

Ji-hun stopped. When he answered, he did not raise his voice. "If I need to, I will. People like you only listen when there are consequences."

Ho-jin laughed because he was clearly enjoying the situation. "Do you talk to everyone like that? No respect for your seniors?"

"I'm plenty respectful," Ji-hun said. "But I don't think you deserve it."

After saying that, he turned around and continued walking without even waiting to see Ho-jin's reaction.

The students around Ho-jin moved a little. One of the boys watched Ji-hun walk away and chuckled. "What's his deal? Kid talks to you like you're beneath him."

Another boy leaned closer. "Want us to pull him aside to teach him a little lesson?"

Ho-jin turned toward him immediately. "What? No. Fuck off..." He flicked the ash from his cigarette while he continued watching Ji-hun walk away. "He's just a kid."