The cafeteria at Seonghwa Integrated Middle & High School was noisy with the sound of trays, students talking, and chairs scraping across the shiny floor. It was early March and the school year had just started, so everyone was still trying to get used to things.

Shin Ho-jin left the lunch line with two classmates walking beside him while he carried his tray in one hand. He was tall, and there was confidence in the way he carried himself. His black hair was cut so short that it looked almost like a military haircut, and this made his jawline stand out more. He had thick eyelashes, and there was a beauty mark just under his left eye. He was really good-looking, and he was already used to people looking at him.

While he was walking, he noticed some girls near the windows waving at him. One of them called his name loudly enough for everyone to hear, and his friends immediately started teasing him.

"Aishh¹... Ho-jin's fan club..."

Ho-jin stopped and looked at his friend, then put on such a fake grin that everyone could understand he was doing it on purpose. "Ya², watch how you talk about Min-ji."

That made the others laugh even more.

"Idiots," Ho-jin said while continuing to play along. Then he turned toward the girls, found Lee Min-ji's eyes, and winked at her in an easy way. He tried to tell her something only with his eyes, and she was the only one who understood what he meant.

Min-ji liked being the girl someone like Ho-jin chose to flirt with. Ho-jin liked that she was satisfied with moments like these, because there was no room in his life for anything serious. Min-ji came from a rich family, and it was the kind of money that made life easy and predictable. Because of that alone, she belonged to a world Ho-jin could never really enter. They both knew their lives would never fit together in that way, but they still liked each other, and for now, that was enough.

Min-ji was much too good for Shin Ho-jin, and Ho-jin was the only one who knew it.

He kept walking while his attention was still on her, but before either of them had time to move away, someone shorter stepped into his path.

Their trays fell to the floor, and the food splashed over their uniforms and scattered everywhere. Everyone nearby immediately turned to look at them.

Ho-jin stood without moving for a moment, then looked down at himself. His shirt was covered in food, and rice and sauce were dripping from it onto the floor.

There was a shorter kid standing in front of him. He had black hair and blue eyes that looked almost strange on such a young face. His skin was pale, and his small, neat jaw still had not fully matured.

Ho-jin wiped some soup from his sleeve and kept himself under control even though his hands were trembling. The fabric was already sticky, but he rubbed at it anyway before looking around at the people watching them.

He had already attracted enough attention, and the fact that this happened right in front of Min-ji and her friends made it worse.

Someone snorted while someone else whispered his name. Ho-jin got himself under control, even though he knew that would not change how the situation looked from the outside.

Still, he did not raise his voice. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" he asked calmly. While saying this, he stepped into the kid's path and stood close enough that the boy would have to look up at him if he wanted to answer.

The boy did not look impressed at all, and he already seemed tired of the conversation. His empty hands were at his sides while he looked down at the trays on the floor as if none of it was worth his attention. "Maybe if you looked straight ahead instead of trying to impress every girl in the cafeteria, we wouldn't be having this conversation," he said.

A few people reacted immediately, and someone snickered again, this time louder.

Ho-jin grinned, but there was nothing amused about it. He moved closer and stopped just before touching him.

For a moment, everyone around them became quiet.

Ho-jin was much taller than him and clearly older, and everyone standing around them could see that. He tilted his head and waited as if he expected the kid to back down. "Say it again?"

"You heard me," the kid said without taking his eyes off Ho-jin. First he looked down at the trays on the floor, then he looked at the name tag on Ho-jin's chest. "'Shin Ho-jin.' Got it." He picked up his tray and walked past Ho-jin, lightly bumping his shoulder while passing. "Don't bother me again unless you want to be reported. I know your name now."

Ho-jin stayed where he was. What the hell is wrong with this kid?

Before he could say anything else, a teacher called out to them. "You two! That's enough. Clean yourselves up and move. You're blocking the line."

Some girls nearby were snickering, and one of them could barely stop herself. Ho-jin noticed it, but that was not what bothered him. What really got to him was that this kid, who was younger than him, shorter than him, and clearly a first-year student, had spoken to him like that.

He took a few napkins, wiped his hands slowly, and then walked toward the locker room.

—

Moon Ji-hun was halfway through changing his clothes when he muttered to himself about how stupid it was that he had run into someone like that on his very first day at school. At first, he did not notice the door opening behind him. It creaked, and when Ji-hun looked up, Shin Ho-jin was standing there.

Neither of them said anything. The room was so quiet that even the water dripping from the showerhead sounded loud.

Ji-hun quickly turned away and pretended to fix his shirt.

"Ya," Ho-jin said. "Are you okay?"

Ji-hun did not look at him and kept his eyes on the wall. "Why would you care? I'm just changing."

Ho-jin had not expected him to answer like that. He chuckled quietly at first, then louder. "Damn. You're really something," he said while scratching the back of his neck.

When he stepped closer, there was no amusement left in his voice. "I'm trying to talk to you like a normal person. You ran into me, and now you're acting like I'm the one who messed up. I'm your fucking sunbae³. What's your problem?"

Ji-hun looked at him. "My problem?" he said. "I don't like people who bully everyone they meet."

"Bully?" Ho-jin repeated. "When did I ever bully you?"

"You don't need to," Ji-hun said. "Your face and attitude say enough. Just so you know, I don't scare easy." Then he turned away so Ho-jin would not see that his hands were shaking. He finished changing as quickly as he could, and once he was done, he went straight to the door. Just before leaving, he turned back and looked at Ho-jin. "Hope I don't see you again."

Ho-jin watched the door close behind him. The whole thing annoyed him for two different reasons. The first was that a stupid accident in the cafeteria had somehow turned this tiny kid into an enemy. The second was that this same tiny kid had actually spoken to him like that.

"You picked the wrong fight, hoobae⁴..."

¹ 아이시 (aish) A common Korean exclamation of frustration or annoyance.

² 야 (ya) A casual Korean interjection used to call out to someone or get their attention. Depending on the tone, it can sound familiar, teasing, annoyed, or confrontational and is generally used with close friends or people of equal or lower status.

³ 선배 (sunbae) A Korean term for someone senior in the same school, workplace, or field, regardless of age.

⁴ 후배 (hoobae) A Korean term for someone junior in the same school, workplace, or field.