“Why? Last time, you said someone like that goes to our school, didn’t you?!”

It didn’t seem to be the answer Claire was expecting.

She asked back, looking genuinely baffled.

“Did I…?”

“What the…?”

I pretended to focus on hanging from the bar, as if I had no interest in her question.

Claire spoke again.

“What’s wrong?”

“Haah… Okay… I wasn’t going to say this, but…”

Claire looked extremely curious.

Honestly, it felt a little unfair.

Had I really made that big a fuss about June being handsome?

I was about to correct that misunderstanding—but objectively speaking, June was good-looking.

That meant I needed a more personal explanation.

So I started telling Claire, slowly, about what had happened to me.

It hadn’t been long since the new semester began.

A new term is always unfamiliar.

The restless atmosphere, classmates you’re not close to yet—

but the most awkward part is being sent on errands by a teacher you’ve never met before.

Unfortunately, I caught the teacher’s eye.

All I had to do was collect my classmates’ assignments and deliver them, a simple task—

but that didn’t make it any less annoying.

The quiet hallway echoed with nothing but my footsteps.

Then another sound blended into the rhythm.

I lifted my head from the floor and saw someone approaching from the far end of the corridor.

It was June.

‘…That super handsome guy from Class A…’

The hallway was wide.

It wasn’t narrow enough to force people to squeeze past each other.

Still, I stepped aside to give June plenty of space to walk by.

‘A walking obstacle.’

That was what I considered proper manners.

Taking a single step back wouldn’t inconvenience me at all.

Except—it did.

Thud!

A sharp pain shot through my shoulder, followed by a dull sound.

June’s shoulder had slammed straight into mine.

Caught off guard, my grip loosened,

and the assignments I was holding spilled down onto my feet with a clatter.