Chapter : 04
When he opened his eyes that morning,
Eunseong felt as though he had awakened from a long sleep.
‘I only slept two hours.’
He’d been stuck in the practice room until three in the morning, waiting to get feedback on his end-of-month evaluation.
With that little sleep, he should’ve been exhausted, but instead his head was strangely clear and his mood felt buoyant.
He glanced at the clock—seventeen minutes until his alarm.
Normally, he would’ve burrowed back under the blankets to make up for the lack of sleep, even a little.
But today, for some reason, he wanted to go to school early.
He wanted to check something.
What?
He didn’t know.
“You’re up early,” his sister said.
“Yeah.”
“Breakfast?”
“I’m fine. You want me to make you something?”
“I already ate.”
Even while washing up, drying his hair, and putting on the uniform he’d hung on the rack the night before—his heart thumped oddly hard.
A fluttery feeling he couldn’t explain.
“You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah.”
Eunseong left the house twenty minutes earlier than usual.
[Next stop: Go-Go High School. Following stop: Middle-Middle Middle School…]
The commute he’d gotten used to over the last three days was completely ordinary.
The same trees, the same apartment complexes, the same convenience store, PC room, and math academy he saw every morning.
Just as his excitement began to settle back into normalcy—
“Oh.”
He realized he’d forgotten to drink his milk in his rush out the door.
A fifth-year top idol sunbae—who lectured the male trainees whenever he spotted them in the underground studio despite being insanely busy—always said:
“Don’t regret it later. Prepare early. Set a time and stretch three times a day, chug two liters of milk every day, and sleep early!”
…He was talking about height.
It was the only piece of advice from that senior that was worth paying attention to.
Even though Eunseong was already six centimeters taller than him and couldn’t really sympathize with that desperation, he agreed he still needed to grow quite a bit more.
So his fridge at home was stocked with white milk and he drank it constantly.
Even when he skipped breakfast, he always drank at least one 500ml pack before leaving. But today he’d rushed out and forgotten.
“……”
His current height: 179.7cm.
Just 0.3 more and the number in front would change, but it wasn’t easy.
Feeling self-conscious about that ambiguous height, he glanced at the time and ducked into the school store.
“Handsome student, what can I get you?”
“Milk please.”
“Milk? Chocolate milk?”
“No. Plain milk.”
“I only have small ones…”
“I’ll take five.”
The store owner stared as Eunseong lined the cartons up like yogurt bottles and chugged through them one by one.
“Wow, your hands are huge. The milk looks tiny in them.”
“Yes ma’am.”
After flattening the five empty cartons and tossing them into recycling, he was about to leave when—
“But seriously, Seo Jae-gyeom is sooo handsome.”
“Yeah. Best-looking guy in the whole school.”
“What are you talking about? Best-looking guy I know, period.”
…Someone better-looking than me at this school?
He stopped without thinking.
He turned. At one of the long cafeteria tables connected to the snack shop, four girls were sitting.
One of them, with long straight hair, caught his eye.
I’ve seen her somewhere…
He narrowed his eyes.
While he stared at the long-haired girl—who wasn’t joining in and was on the phone—the others, unaware of his presence, kept chatting.
“Kang Dahye likes Seo Jae-gyeom.”
“WhAT?! For real?!”
“How do you not know? It’s so obvious.”
Girl 1 laughed like it was ridiculous anyone could miss it.
“But wait… I thought Seo Jae-gyeom liked Jisu?”
Girl 2 gaped. Girl 3 jumped in like she couldn’t stand it.
“Who’s Kang Dahye? Am I the only one who doesn’t know?”
“That pale, skinny girl in Class 2. Ranked first in the whole school.”
“She’s top of the whole school?”
“The homeroom teacher said so, remember? Last year she got only ONE question wrong across ALL subjects for the ENTIRE year.”
“I didn’t hear that.”
“See? That’s what not studying looks like.”
“You wanna die?”
“So she likes Seo Jae-gyeom?”
“They totally don’t suit each other.”
“I mean, she can like whoever she wants~”
But Girl 1’s face was full of scorn—as if she’d die if she couldn’t ridicule Dahye for liking him.
Girl 2 continued.
“But Seo Jae-gyeom likes Jisu. Isn’t Dahye friends with her?”
“Yeah. And that’s why he hates her.”
“He said that himself? That he hates her?”
“Well, he didn’t SAY it. But anyone watching could tell.”
Girl 1 stated it as fact. Girl 3 added:
“Wow, she must have no pride. If the guy I like liked my friend? I’d NEVER let it show.”
“It’s not pride. She’s just oblivious.”
“Girls who only study are like that. No social awareness.”
“Yeah. Just from how she dresses, you can tell she has no sense.”
“Still, she’s pretty bold. Making it that obvious.”
“She’s not making it obvious. She just can’t help it.”
“What if she’s doing it on purpose?”
“So Jisu can’t have Seo Jae-gyeom?”
“Ahh, the master plan?”
“Creepyyy.”
They cackled among themselves, then fell silent to eat bread.
Girl 1 steered the topic again.
It was still about Kang Dahye.
“Did you see her backpack? Thought she was in elementary school.”
“I think it IS from elementary school. My friend went to grade school AND middle school with her. She said she’s had that bag since sixth grade.”
“For real? How is there not a hole in it yet? Just get a new one.”
“Leave her. Maybe she’s broke.”
“You guys, enough.”
The long-haired girl hung up and cut in, her face hardening.
The others flinched at her stern expression.
“That’s too much. What’s wrong with you? You KNOW I’m close with Dahye. Why would you trash her right in front of me?”
“No, it’s just, we…”
“Jisu said you and Seo Jae-gyeom seem like—”
“Who are YOU to decide that? I’m not interested in Seo Jae-gyeom.”
Only then did Eunseong remember.
That girl—Jisu—had come to his class yesterday at lunch to wait for a friend.
And Kang Dahye.
Our class.
The homeroom teacher had introduced her at the start of the semester: first place, always first place, ask her if you fall behind because she knows everything.
She seemed so smart then.
Why is she getting trashed behind her back like that?
Eunseong sighed and tossed the cartons away.
Only then did the girls notice him and jolt in surprise, but he was already walking out.
Oblivious. No pride. Elementary school backpack.
Words can slice a person to bits so easily.
Honestly, whether Kang Dahye got shredded or not wasn’t really his concern—but the comments stuck with him, circling in his mind.
He mulled over it as he stepped onto the 4th-floor hallway where the second-years had class.
“Aah!”
A phone rolled to his feet.
A battered old model, scratched everywhere. He picked it up.
…‘Crush Playlist’?
Ninety-eight songs.
He raised his head, and there was Kang Dahye—face flushed scarlet, eyes brimming with tears.
Annoyance surged up in him.
He didn’t know why.
Why are you always crying when I see you?
When I see you?
Before he could think about what that meant, he opened his mouth—
“Really? Dahye knows a lot of good songs? Didn’t expect that.”
“N-no! I don’t! I don’t!”
“No, I saw it. You were having a one-girl music festival.”
“Seriously, Dahye, don’t keep the party to yourself. Invite us too!”
“N-?!”
“So Dahye will choose the songs before the performance test.”
Ignoring my frantic waving, the teacher turned back to the piano.
I whipped around to glare at Jung Eunseong.
Are you insane?
I ripped a sheet out of my notebook, scribbled furiously, and passed it back.
“Give this to Jung Eunseong.”
I watched with burning eyes as the note reached him.
He flipped it over once, then—
Tossed it straight into the trash.
“……”
“……”
“Teacher, Dahye keeps glaring at me.”
“Dahye, I’m right here. I know Eunseong’s handsome, but you have to look forward during class.”
“……”
In that moment, I forgot everything—how I’d completely blanked on the class material, how embarrassing my teenage-emotions playlist was.
There was only one thing left in my mind:
Vengeance. Against Jung Eunseong.
Not even the fact that Seo Jae-gyeom—who had basically dumped me a few hours earlier—was watching us with a sour face mattered.
Just wait.
This is war.
Next period.
“Who wants to come solve this problem?”
“Teacher, Eunseong wants to.”
Period after that.
“Okay? Now someone read the next paragraph.”
“Teacher, Dahye wants to.”
“Anyone want to carry this down to the office during break?”
“Teacher, Eunseong raised his hand. I saw it.”
“Teacher, Dahye’s on her phone.”
“Teacher, Eunseong isn’t studying—he’s doodling.”
“Teacher, Dahye—”
“Teacher, Eunseong—”
“Kang Dahye! Jung Eunseong!”
By lunch, the homeroom teacher burst into the classroom red-faced and dragged the two of them out.
