Chapter Text
Go Hyuntak had never seen a school that looked this much like a battlefield.
Eunjang had a smell.
Not bad. Just… complicated. Like damp cement after a storm, stale instant coffee from the vending machine at the gate, and a faint electricity that buzzed over the heads of teenagers who already hated each other before first period.
He had dressed too neatly. His shirt was ironed, his shoes were spotless, and his backpack still smelled like the store he’d bought it from two days ago. Compared to the scuffed shoes and loosened ties of everyone else, he might as well have been holding a neon sign that said new kid.
A group of seniors brushed past him roughly, and he barely managed to dodge out of the way.
He stood there clutching his transfer papers like a shield.
This was it. A new school, a new start. No expectations. Maybe, if the universe was feeling generous, a chance to not be invisible.
"I'll be right with you." The principal said, typing something on her very old-fashioned computer.
Gotak noded trying to keep his cool and act like he didn't see what was happening through the window, right behind the principals back.
"Nine schools in 10 years...My, my. Army Brat?" She said, closing her laptop and standing up clunching the papers.
"Yeah...My dad is-"
"That's enough. I'm sure you won't find Eunjang any different from your old schools."
Something slamed on the window. Gotak jumped a bit and saw the kids from outside trying to run away and hide.
How is this school ever real, he thought.
"You know, same little ass-wipe shit-for-brains everywhere." The principal said, smiling, trying to act like there's wasn't a whole battle with food happening behind her.
What the hell did she just say?
"Am I in the right office?" Gotak was starting to doubt himself, wondering if this somehow isn't all just a dream.
"Not anymore. You got a class to attend and I got a novel to finish. Now, scoot. Scoot!"
Before he could leave, a new student came in. He was tall, had chopped bangs and looked like he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
"Ahn Suho." She sighed, "I see we're making our visits a weekly ritual."
Gotak didn't stay long enough to hear the rest of the coverstation. He bolted away as fast as possible and tried to not make an eye contact with any of the students.
The hallways were lined with dented lockers, peeling posters, and kids who all looked like they knew how to throw a punch.
Honestly, the principal was wrong. This school was definitely different from his old ones.
"Hey! Wait up!" He heard someone shout but chose to ignore it. It's probably not directed to him anyway.
"Hey! You, with the blue hoodie on!" Nevermind.
Turning around Gotak found a pretty buffed up guy with... red hair?
"How is this even allowed..." He mumbled under his breath.
The guy approached him and started talking so loudly that Gotak swore he could probably hear him miles away.
"Hello! I'm Park Humin- Baku for short- I'm supposed to show you around. Follow me!"
There was no time for discussion. This guy- Baku, took his hand and started to drag him around like a ragdoll. He couldn't belive that people this energetic actually existed in real life. Gotak always thought that those type of people only appear in the movies and books.
"So...Hyuntak" , Baku read his name off of the paper, "Here's the little breakdown. This hell-hole is literally like a jungle. There you can see the science wing- usually a place you leave without having any will to live- to the left we have the coffee kids. Don't make any sudden movements around them. The kids sitting at that far table are your future MBAs. They used to accept a ton of new people but after the rumors about me started going out they decided to stop doing it..."
Gotak sighed and clutched his schedule. "This is fine. Totally fine."
"It's not fine." Baku said cheerfully, "but you've got me so you'll survive."
They started to make their way back to the main area and Gotak had no idea what to think. On one hand he is kinda glad that this school dosen't look so depressive and miserable as his last one. On the other hand he wishes that this school had more rules, because why the hell did he just see someone casually smoking while waiting in the line for the bathroom.
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His mother had promised this school was a “fresh start,” a new place where no one would know him. That meant no embarrassing stories, no being “that kid who transferred midyear.” Just a chance to start over.
Approaching the main area they suddenly stopped and caught a ripple movement in the corner of their eyes. Gotak turned around and to say he was only breathless was an understatement.
The air shifted, and every head had turned in the same direction at once.
Seo Juntae walked into the building with a little bounce in his step. He was all sunshine: glossy hair, clear eyes, the kind of natural charm that made people orbit around him.
"Who is that?" He asked.
Baku whistled. "Seo Juntae. The nerdiest and somehow one of the most popular guys in the school. Also? Completley untouchable. He has an incredibly uptight father, and it's a widley known fact that him and his brother aren't allowed to date."
"Yeah...Whatever." Gotak said, not even paying attention to the single thing Baku was saying.
"Focus man!" Baku yelled. "I'm being dead serious. You can't date him!"
"Why not? His father can't be that bad."
Baku groaned and continued to argue with Gotak. "See that guy over there'', he pointed to one of the nearby tables; "that's Sieun, Juntaes brother, he hates everything and everyone. Music, parties, happiness- you name it."
Before Gotak could ask why this Sieun guy was so important to the story, Baku took his hand again and draged him to the cafeteria.
They sat at the very large table, considering there's only the two of them. The other tables looked like a garbage dump compared to the one they were siting at- which was suspiciously neat.
While Gotak was still trying to process what the hell just happened in the last half an hour, Baku leaned in and gestured around the cafeteria like a nature documentary guide.
"That table? Keum Seongje. Rich, good-looking, completely full of himself. He's been trying to date Juntae for the past year but somehow never managed to actually take him out."
Seongje was laughing loudly at something, flipping his hair for emphasis, and wearing a jacket like it was a fashion runway.
“And over there,” Baku whispered, pointing subtly, “that’s Ahn Suho.”
Gotak turned and immediately understood why people lowered their voices when they said his name.
Suho was leaning back in a chair, feet up on the table, a pair of black headphones resting around his neck. His hair was a little messy in a deliberate kind of way, his expression unreadable. He didn’t look like he cared about anything, but there was a tension in the way he sat—like a coiled spring.
Gotak stared a moment too long.
And that was when Suho’s head tilted just slightly, as if he’d felt it.
For the briefest heartbeat, Suho’s eyes met his. Dark, unreadable, cutting through the crowded cafeteria like there was no one else there.
Gotak’s stomach dropped.
Then Suho looked away, uninterested, like Gotak had never existed. Gotak sucked in a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
He couldn’t pull his eyes away, even after Suho had turned back to whatever he was doing.
His heart was still thudding in his ears, like that single look had flipped a switch somewhere inside his chest.
What was that?
He rubbed his palms on his thighs under the table, trying to shake it off. Up close—or as close as you could be from across a cafeteria—Suho hadn’t done anything. He hadn’t said a word, hadn’t even moved except to glance at him. No threat. No glare. Just… awareness. Like a wolf turning its head because it noticed you staring.
And yet, Gotak couldn’t stop thinking about the way the room seemed to bend around him.
Is he actually dangerous, or does everyone just decide he is because of the way he looks?
From what Baku had said, Suho’s reputation was brutal. Someone who fought. Someone who won. But sitting there, he didn’t look like he was itching for a fight. He looked bored. Lonely, even.
He was sitting by himself. Not at Seongje’s table, not laughing with friends. No one approached him. They walked wide around him, like he was radioactive.
“Why does he look like everyone owes him money?” Gotak whispered.
“Because they do,” Baku whispered back.
Even tho Gotak did want to know stuff about random people from this school, he did remember that there was something way more important he had to ask.
"How can I get close to Juntae?"
Baku stopped mid chew and pointed at him with chopsticks. "He's looking for a french tutor."
Bingo.
"Perfect." Gotak grinned ear to ear.
"You know how to speak french?"
"No, but I'm about to."
-
Eunjang was loud.
Not in a volume way—though that too—but loud in the sense that everything here wanted to be seen. Wanted to be heard.
Every year when he stepped out of his car and walked through the gates, it was like watching the same movie on repeat, only everyone was slightly taller and a little bit worse at pretending.
He thought about how small the building really was. Four floors. Eight hallways. A yard barely big enough for two buses.
And yet somehow it managed to feel suffocating. Like no matter where you stood, someone was looking at you, adding you to their daily gossip.
He’d learned years ago that there were only two ways to survive a place like this:
• Become what they want to look at.
• Or make yourself so unpleasant to look at that they turn away.
Juntae had chosen option one.
Sieun had chosen option two.
As he walked through the hallway, he felt the stares ripple behind him like a physical thing.
They weren’t looking at him—they never were. Not really.
And what annoyed him most about this school wasn’t the staring, or the whispers, or the ridiculous hierarchy. It was that everyone thought they had him figured out.
They thought he was angry. That he thought he was better. The truth was simpler: he just didn’t care.
The only thing he actually cares about are his studies and grades. He studies when he is sad, happy, in the mood, not in the mood... It was kind of like a safe space for him.
He’d seen enough to know that all of this—all of them—would evaporate the second they stepped outside the gates after graduation.
They're going to forget eachother- forget this hell-hole of a school and all the teachers that they fought during their free time or in between classes.
By the luch time, he’d already tallied the day’s offenses:
• Five people tried to make small talk.
• Two teachers told him to smile more.
• Seongje winked at Juntae (again).
Tray in hand, he scanned the cafeteria. Same tables, same friend circles, like someone had marked territories with chalk:
Seongje and his orbit at the center. Baku and some new kid whispering like cartoon villains. And in the corner, him.
Ahn Suho.
He wasn’t hard to find. Even without trying, his eyes went to that table.
Feet propped on the desk. Headphones around his neck. That stillness.
People said he was dangerous. Sieun didn’t know if that was true, but he knew this: people here hated a blank they couldn’t fill in, and he was a perfect blank.
Which made him almost interesting. Almost.
He looked away before curiosity got the better of him.
The cafe Gotak chose was almost empty, golden light pooling across the desks as the rest of the customers fled for the day.
He sat stiffly in his chair, notebook open in front of him, gripping his pen like it might protect him from whatever this was going to be.
Juntae droped in the seat next to him and begun talking.
"Hi! I don't want to be mean, but can we make this quick? Some people are having an incredibly horrendous public break-up on the quad, again."
Gotak had to stare at him at first. Who would have thought that Juntae would be so interested in gossip and drama of all people?
"Oh, yeah, okay" , he mumbled, "I thought that we'd start with pronunciation if that's all right with you?"
"Wait I'm sorry, what was your name again?"
"Go Hyuntak. And listen I know that your dad dosen't let you date but I thought that if it was for french class..."
"Oh, wait a minute Tak-ah" , Juntae suddenly interrupted, "my dad just came up with a new rule. I can date when my brother does and in case you haven't heard, Sieun's a particularly quiet and introverted person."
"Yeah, I noticed he's a little antisocial." Gotak said even tho he only saw the guy once- yesterday at the school cafeteria.
"Yeah, so I'm sorry, even tho I think you're a great guy and all, I can't go out with you."
Gotak got a bit sad after hearing that. What kind of crazy father do you have to be to not let your child date until your other does.
"Well, yeah, but I'm sure that there are lots of girls who wouldn't mind going out with a 'difficult' guy." He was not about to lose Juntae because of some stupid old-fashioned rule.
"Uhhh...Sorry to break it to you, but Sieun is into guys..." Juntae said rather shyly.
They stared at each other for a few moments.
"Dosen't matter! I will find him an extreme guy to date, I promise."
"You think you could find someone that extreme?"
"Sure, I don't see why not."
"And you'd do that for me?" Juntae said while grabbing Hyuntaks arm. He had to stop himself from melting right on the spot.
"Hell yes!" He said before realizing how pathetic he actually sounded. "I mean, you know, I could look into it." He said not knowing what he was actually signing up for.
-
Gotak couldn’t believe he was about to do this.
The concrete was still warm from the sun, and the hum of cicadas filled the silence while he paced back and forth. Beside him, Baku lounged against a wall like this was the best entertainment he’d had in weeks.
“Let me get this straight,” Baku said, pulling a lollipop from his pocket. “You want Ahn Suho to date Yeon Sieun. So that you can date Seo Juntae.”
“Not date,” Gotak muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just… talk to him. Hang out. Distract him. Their dad doesn’t let them do anything unless he approves.”
“And you think he’s the guy for that?” Baku smirked. “You’ve seen him punch people, right?”
Gotak stopped pacing. “Yeah. And you said it yourself: no one else would survive two minutes with Sieun. He scares everyone. Suho doesn’t seem like the type to be scared."
Baku whistled. “Okay, Romeo. I’ll give you points for guts.”
The sound of footsteps on gravel made them both look up.
Suho came around the corner, earbuds in, hands in his pockets. He stopped when he saw them, one eyebrow lifting slightly, the way someone does when they’re already bored.
Baku elbowed Gotak. “Go on, then.”
“I—” Gotak’s throat dried out. “You do it!”
“Nope. This was your idea.”
Before Gotak could argue, Baku cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted:
“Hey, Suho! Got a proposition for you!”
Suho pulled one earbud out. “Not interested.”
“Just hear us out!” Baku said, completely unfazed. Suho turned to leave.
Desperation made Gotak blurt out, “It’s about Sieun!” That stopped him.
Slowly, Suho turned back. “Yeon Sieun?”
Gotak nodded, sweating. “Y-Yeah. Look, um… I need your help.”
"Fine. I'll listen."
-
The three of them ended up sitting on the low wall by the bike racks. Suho leaned back, expression unreadable, while Gotak tried to string his words together.
“He doesn’t talk to anyone,” Gotak said, words coming out fast, like he could outrun Suho’s stare.
“He just… shuts people down. If he doesn’t like you, you’re done. But if you—if someone like you—gets through to him…” Baku leaned in, taking over. “It’s like a locked door,” he said. “Most people knock. You? You’d just walk in.”
Suho’s mouth twitched like he couldn’t decide if that was funny or annoying.
“Look,” Baku said, “Sieun’s not like his brother. Juntae’s all smiles and sunshine. Sieun’s… storm clouds. But not the messy kind. The clean, ‘get out of my way’ kind.”
Gotak nodded hard. “He’s the kind of person who makes you feel like you shouldn’t waste his time.”
“And that’s exactly why he scares everyone,” Baku said. “You’re the only one who won’t care. You’ll just stand there and keep talking until he either walks away or kills you.”
Suho tilted his head slightly, thinking.
“He reads a lot,” Gotak said, trying to remember everything he’d noticed. “He always goes straight to the library during lunch. And… he hates loud people. Seongje tries to flirt with Juntae all the time, and you can see his eyes roll from across the hall.”
“So,” Suho said, “you’re asking me to be quiet?”
“Not quiet,” Baku said with a grin. “Just… yourself. The less you try, the better.”
“And what do I get out of this?” Suho asked, voice still calm, like none of this was getting to him.
Gotak hesitated. “I don’t… know. I just… I can’t even try with Juntae until Sieun isn’t standing in the way.”
“Sounds like a you problem,” Suho said flatly.
“Yeah,” Gotak said, surprising himself with how honest he sounded. “But it’s my only plan.”
For a moment, Suho just looked at him.
And then, for the first time, something softened—just slightly—in his expression.
“He’s smart,” Suho said at last. “And sharp. People like that… don’t give out their trust for free.”
“Exactly,” Baku said, leaning forward.
"Which is why it’s perfect. You don’t want anything from him.” Suho’s lips curved in a small, almost invisible smile.
“You think you know what I want?”
“We know you don’t want this,” Baku said, gesturing at the school. “And neither does he. You two are the only ones here who look like you’d rather be somewhere else.”
There was a pause. Then he glanced at Gotak. “This isn’t a date-for-money kind of thing, is it?”
“What? No!” Gotak shook his head furiously. “I don’t have any money! This is just… please. Help me out.”
The cicadas buzzed louder. Finally, Suho let out a long breath.
“Fine. I’ll try talking to him. But if he tells me to back off, that’s it.”
Gotak nodded so hard his neck hurt. “Deal. That’s all I need.”
“And if this blows up in my face,” Suho added, standing, “you two are dead.”
Baku grinned, unbothered. “Wouldn’t be the first time someone’s tried to kill me.”