When he opened his eyes this morning.

Eun-seong felt like he had just woken up from a long sleep.

‘I only slept for two hours.’

He had been stuck in the practice room until 3 a.m., supposedly receiving feedback on his monthly evaluation.

He should have been tired after sleeping so little, but strangely, his mind was clear and his mood was buoyant.

He looked at the clock and saw that there were still 17 minutes until his alarm went off.

Normally, he would have pulled the covers up and turned over to get a little more of the sleep he desperately needed.

But for some reason, today he wanted to get to school quickly.

He wanted to go and confirm something.

What?

He didn’t know.

“Oppa, you’re up early.”

“Yeah.”

“Breakfast?”

“It’s okay. Should I make you some?”

“I already ate.”

Even as he washed up, dried his hair, and put on the uniform he had hung up the night before, his heart pounded strangely.

A feeling of excitement for no reason.

“Oppa, you’re leaving already?”

“Yeah.”

In the end, Eun-seong left the house 20 minutes earlier than usual.

[Next stop is Gogogo High School. The following stop is Joongjoongjoong Middle School…]

The route to school, which had become familiar in just three days, was not at all special.

Familiar trees, familiar apartment complexes, a familiar convenience store, PC bang, and math academy.

Just as his buoyant mood was about to settle back to normal.

“Ah.”

He realized he had forgotten to drink his milk in his rush to leave.

A fifth-year top idol senior, who would gather the male trainees in the basement practice room whenever he had free time during his busy schedule to give them unwanted advice, had said:

‘Don’t regret it later, take measures in advance. Set a time and stretch three times a day, chug 2 liters of milk a day, and go to bed early!’

…He was talking about height.

The only piece of advice from that senior that was worth listening to.

Eun-seong, who was already 6 centimeters taller than him, couldn’t empathize with his senior’s desperation, but he agreed that he still had a lot more growing to do.

So he kept a stash of white milk at home and drank it frequently.

It was his routine to drink a 500ml carton of milk even if he skipped breakfast, but he had forgotten today in his hurry.

“…”

Eun-seong’s current height was 179.7 centimeters.

Just 0.3 centimeters more and the first digit would change, but it wasn’t easy.

Because Eun-seong was secretly very self-conscious about his ambiguous height, he glanced at his watch and stopped by the school store.

“Handsome student, what can I get you?”

“Milk, please.”

“Milk? Chocolate milk?”

“No. White milk.”

“We only have the small ones for white milk…”

“Five, please.”

The store owner watched with curiosity as Eun-seong lined up the milk cartons like yogurt and gulped them down one by one.

“You have really big hands, student. The milk looks cute in your hands.”

“Yes.”

He was about to leave after folding the five small, now-empty milk cartons and throwing them in the recycling bin.

“Ah, but Seo Jae-gyeom is really handsome.”

“Yeah. The most handsome in our school.”

“What are you talking about? The most handsome guy I know.”

…Is there someone more handsome than me in this school?

His steps, which had been heading out, naturally stopped.

He turned and saw four girls sitting at a long table in the cafeteria attached to the store.

One of the girls, with long, straight hair, caught his eye.

I’ve seen her somewhere before.

Eun-seong narrowed his eyes.

While he was staring at the long-haired girl who was on the phone, not participating in the conversation, the other girls, oblivious to his presence, continued their conversation.

“Kang Da-hye likes Seo Jae-gyeom.”

“What?! Really?!”

“You didn’t know? It’s so obvious.”

Girl 1 scoffed, as if wondering how anyone could not know.

“Wow… but didn’t Seo Jae-gyeom like Jisoo?”

Next to Girl 2, whose mouth was agape, Girl 3 exclaimed in frustration.

“No, who’s Kang Da-hye? Am I the only one who doesn’t know?”

“That pale, skinny girl in Class 2. The one who’s first in the school.”

“She’s first in the school?”

“Our homeroom teacher told us last time… She only got one question wrong in all subjects combined for the entire year last year.”

“I didn’t hear that.”

“This is how you can tell you don’t study, huh?”

“Wanna die?”

“But she likes Seo Jae-gyeom?”

“They don’t match at all.”

“Well, I mean, she’s allowed to like him~.”

Despite her words, Girl 1’s face was full of ridicule. As if she was dying to mock Kang Da-hye for liking Seo Jae-gyeom.

Girl 2 asked again.

“But Seo Jae-gyeom likes Jisoo. Isn’t Kang Da-hye friends with Jisoo?”

“Right. That’s why Seo Jae-gyeom dislikes her.”

“Did Seo Jae-gyeom say that himself? That he dislikes Kang Da-hye?”

“Well, he didn’t say it. But you can tell just by watching them.”

It’s as plain as day, Girl 1 said definitively. Girl 3 chimed in.

“Wow, but she must have no pride. If the guy I like liked my friend, I would never be able to show it.”

“It’s not that she has no pride, she just has no sense.”

“Those kinds of kids are usually a bit clueless, you know. The ones who only study.”

“True. Just by the way she dresses, she doesn’t seem to have much sense.”

“Still, she’s got some nerve. Showing that she likes him.”

“It’s probably not that she’s showing it. It’s that it’s showing.”

“What if she’s doing it on purpose?”

“To keep Jisoo from getting Seo Jae-gyeom?”

“Ah, the big picture?”

“Chills.”

After making a fuss among themselves, their conversation stopped as they started eating their bread.

It was Girl 1 who started the conversation again.

The topic, once again, was Kang Da-hye.

“Did you see her bag? I thought she was an elementary schooler.”

“It probably is the one she used in elementary school. My friend went to the same elementary and middle school as her, and she said her bag has been the same since sixth grade.”

“Really? Doesn’t it get holes? She should get a new one.”

“Leave her alone. Maybe she doesn’t have the money.”

“You guys, stop it.”

Just then, the long-haired girl, who had finished her call, hardened her face and snapped at them.

The other girls flinched at her serious expression. The long-haired girl said, “You guys are going too far. What are you doing? You know perfectly well that Dahye is a close friend of mine, so why are you badmouthing her in front of me?”

“No, that’s not it, we…”

“It seems like you and Seo Jae-gyeom are getting along well, but she…”

“Why are you guys deciding that on your own? I’m not interested in Seo Jae-gyeom.”

Only then did Eun-seong remember.

That girl, Jisoo, was the one who had come to our classroom during lunch yesterday, waiting for a friend.

And Kang Da-hye.

‘Our class.’

He remembered the homeroom teacher introducing her, saying that Kang Da-hye had been the unshakable number one student in the school since admission, and that if they had any questions because the curriculum was different from their previous school, they should ask her.

‘She seemed so smart then.’

Why is she getting talked about like that behind her back?

Sighing, Eun-seong threw the milk carton in the trash.

Only then did the girls notice his presence, flinching and turning around, but he was already leaving the cafeteria.

‘Clueless. No pride. Carries a childish bag.’

It’s so easy to tear a person down with words.

Honestly, whether Kang Da-hye was being torn down or not was none of his business, but maybe because the expressions were so harsh, the words he had heard kept replaying in his head.

As he was mulling over them and entering the fourth-floor hallway where the second-year classrooms were.

“Argh!”

A phone rolled to his feet.

An old model that looked like it had been used for several years. He picked up the scratched smartphone.

‘…Crush Playlist?’

There were 98 songs.

Eun-seong raised his head, and in his field of vision was a red-faced Kang Da-hye, her eyes glistening with tears.

For a moment, he was overcome with a surge of annoyance.

He didn’t know why.

Why are you crying every time I see you?

‘Every time I see her?’

Without knowing why he had thought that, Eun-seong opened his mouth.

“Really? Dahye knows a lot of good songs? That’s surprising.”

“No! I don’t! I don’t!”

“No, it’s true. I saw her. She was having a masterpiece party all by herself.”

“Really? Dahye, don’t have a party by yourself, invite us too.”

“What?!”

“Then, for the song, Dahye will decide on one before the performance evaluation.”

The teacher, ignoring my frantic hand-waving denials, turned back to the piano.

I whipped around and glared at Jung Eun-seong.

-Are you crazy?

I tore a page from my notebook, scribbled a note, and passed it to the friend behind me.

“Pass this to Jung Eun-seong.”

I watched with burning eyes as the note was delivered to him.

Jung Eun-seong, who had received the note, which was folded roughly in half, flipped it over once, and then.

Threw it over his shoulder into the trash can.

“…”

“…”

“Teacher. Kang Da-hye is glaring at me.”

“Dahye, I’m right here. No matter how handsome Eun-seong is, you should be looking at the front during class, right?”

“…”

In that moment, not the frustration of having forgotten everything I had learned in high school, nor the shame of my teenage-angst-filled playlist, came to mind.

All that remained in my head was a burning desire for revenge against Jung Eun-seong…!

Without even caring that Seo Jae-gyeom, who had rejected me just hours ago, was looking back and forth between me and Jung Eun-seong with a displeased expression.

‘Just you wait.’

This is war.

Next period.

“Anyone want to come up and solve the practice problem?”

“Teacher. Jung Eun-seong wants to solve it.”

The period after that.

“Alright? Anyone want to read the next paragraph?”

“Teacher. Kang Da-hye wants to read it.”

“Anyone willing to give up their break time and help me move this to the teachers’ office?”

“Teacher. Jung Eun-seong raised his hand. I saw him.”

“Teacher. I think Kang Da-hye is on her phone.”

“Teacher. Jung Eun-seong is drawing instead of studying.”

“Teacher, Kang Da-hye…”

“Teacher, Jung Eun-seong…”

“Kang Da-hye, Jung Eun-seong!”

Finally, during lunch, our red-faced homeroom teacher burst into the classroom and called our names.