🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 1 …
The early morning of early March was in the thick of the spring cold snap.
Jeonghee shivered as the biting wind seeped into her.
Even though she had carefully wrapped her scarf tightly around her neck, the wind was still surprisingly harsh.
“Brr… it’s cold.”
In the end, she shrank her body even more and pulled the scarf up to cover her lips as well.
On a day when the temperature dropped sharply, it probably wouldn’t make much difference, but it would at least block out some of the cold.
As she got closer to the school, more and more students in the same uniforms as her, all wearing padded jackets, came into view as if arranged there.
It seemed like all of them were heading to the entrance ceremony.
Waiting for the traffic light to change, Jeonghee glanced across at the school with a tired expression.
The unfamiliar high school sat at the edge of a hill.
“Haah… looks like I’ll be climbing a mountain every day from now on.”
Even though it was her first day, just the thought of going uphill already made her sigh.
Still, everything was a matter of getting used to it.
If she kept going, maybe even that slope would eventually feel normal.
Smiling bitterly, Jeonghee shifted her gaze to the traffic light.
It had just turned green.
As she was about to cross a little late, a car speeding in from a distance suddenly entered her vision.
“…Huh? That…”
If she got hit by that car, it could turn into a serious accident.
Startled, Jeonghee instinctively grabbed the arm of a random female student walking just ahead of her.
“Danger!”
At that moment, both of them lost their balance, swaying and falling helplessly onto the road.
“…Ugh.”
“What the—!”
Fortunately, the car passed by them with a loud roar just barely missing them.
A sharp gust of wind sliced across their cheeks. It had been a split-second escape from disaster.
The girl, who had been frowning in confusion at the sudden situation, looked at Jeonghee with wide, startled eyes.
Only then did she realize that Jeonghee had pulled her away to save her from being hit by the car.
The two of them, sprawled on the ground, were an absolute mess.
Jeonghee’s long black hair, tightly tied up, was completely disheveled, and even her firmly wrapped scarf had loosened halfway and was fluttering in the wind.
The same was true for the girl who had fallen with her. Her short bob, which would normally have neatly flowed over her school collar, was now a messy tangle.
“Um… are you okay from the fall?”
“Huh? Ah… y-yeah.”
“Sorry, I panicked and just grabbed you.”
As Jeonghee asked while re-wrapping her loosened scarf, relief slowly spread across the pale face of the girl.
“Thank you. I almost died because of you.”
“I’m glad. Anyway, let’s head into school before we’re late.”
Jeonghee brushed the dirt off her coat and stood up, then offered her hand to the girl who had fallen with her.
Just by the name tag on her chest, she could tell they were the same first-year students.
Maybe because they were the same age and had just entered the same school, Jeonghee found it easier to talk to her.
That was how she met Seoyoon in such an unusual first encounter.
After they ended up in the same class by coincidence, Jeonghee often stuck by Seoyoon at school, calling her her benefactor, but the two of them were completely different in everything—from their home environments to their personalities.
Seoyoon, the daughter of a famous company CEO, was quite popular at school and had a bright, outgoing personality.
In contrast, Jeonghee, who was an orphan, didn’t particularly enjoy socializing with others.
Whenever Seoyoon saw Jeonghee living like an outsider, she never just left her alone.
They naturally ended up spending time together, and through that, Jeonghee also ended up meeting Seoyoon’s twin brother, Seohun.
They were twins born on the same day, but unlike the lively Seoyoon, Seohun had a strangely cold and different atmosphere.
Their faces were quite similar, but everything else about him felt completely different, as if a chill aura surrounded him.
“Oh? What are you doing here?”
“And who’s next to you?”
He asked while standing there casually, leaning slightly to one side.
“What, you can’t tell? She’s obviously my best friend.”
He glanced briefly at Jeonghee, then turned back to Seoyoon with a small laugh, as if he had no interest.
“I didn’t know you even had friends.”
“Ji Seohun! You wanna fight?”
“I just didn’t think someone with your temper would have any friends.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Who are you calling hot-tempered?”
They say siblings in every household are like enemies, and this pair didn’t seem much different.
They looked like they might start fighting at any moment, but there was a comfortable bond between them that no one else could easily intrude upon.
Jeonghee quietly watched the noisy scene from a step behind.
It was a world so different from her own, which was always silent.
Even the ordinary warmth of siblings bickering over small things was something she had never experienced.
‘Maybe… it’s because I’ve never had a family like that.’
Jeonghee swallowed the bitterness rising in her chest and pushed down her envy.
She didn’t want to get between them or interrupt their argument.
As if proving they were twins, the two of them—both with striking, well-defined features—glared at each other sharply.
“Seoyoon Ji, stop messing around. I’m tired.”
“Get lost. Whose fault do you think this is?”
Seohun, who kept provoking her, was clearly getting on Seoyoon’s nerves.
Even though she was glaring at him as if she might hit him at any moment, Seohun only looked indifferent.
“Enough joking. Let’s go.”
Only after a while did Seohun finally lose interest and wave his hand at her.
“Huh? Go where all of a sudden?”
“Why else do you think I came here?”
His tone was flat, clearly showing how bothersome everything was to him.
“No way. I’m going to hang out with Jeonghee.”
“It’s an order. I was told to personally take you to the company.”
“Suddenly? Why would they call me to the company out of nowhere?”
“If you’re curious, go ask Father yourself.”
Seohun pointed lazily at the black mid-sized sedan parked behind them, urging her to hurry.
“Dad always does this… now I’m nervous.”
“Just get in.”
“Fine, fine. Honestly, what’s with that personality?”
Honestly, it was a little surprising.
They were twins, so they definitely looked alike, but their atmospheres were completely different.
Seoyoon had such a lively energy that even Jeonghee, standing beside her, got swept up in it.
Meanwhile, Seohun looked like he was bored with everything in the world.
With his unusually tall height, a bag slung over one shoulder, and a neatly worn school uniform, he didn’t look much different from any other student passing by.
And yet, his distinct aura compared to Seoyoon’s kept drawing Jeonghee’s attention.
Jeonghee found it fascinating that two people with the same face could give off such opposite vibes.
He was different from the older boys at the orphanage she had seen.
She didn’t even know the exact reason, but her young teenage heart was beating a little faster.
But that was all.
He was just the older brother of a friend she had randomly met once, and Ji Jeonghee had no reason to ever meet him again.
By a few days later, Ji Seohun was almost completely gone from her memory.
The second time Jeonghee met Seohun was when she went to Seoyoon’s house for a group assignment.
Although she was told that the family was out, Seohun—who had already returned from school—was occupying the living room.
“What? I thought you were coming home late today.”
“I’m going out later.”
Jeonghee stood awkwardly beside Seoyoon, who was glaring at Seohun as if he were an unwelcome guest.
“Lucky you, getting a chance to have fun. Too bad for you.”
“And you? What brings you a guest all of a sudden?”
“Oh, group assignment. It got delayed.”
“Wasn’t the deadline pretty generous?”
“Sigh… the teacher gave us such a difficult topic.”
Even as Seoyoon complained and let out a deep, sinking sigh, Seohun didn’t look convinced.
As if saying “sure, whatever,” his gaze naturally shifted to Jeonghee, who had come with Seoyoon.
“Long time no see. We meet again.”
“Ah… yes.”
Unexpectedly, he remembered their first meeting in front of the school.
“What was your name again?”
His languid gaze settled on Jeonghee.
His eyes were still bored-looking, and just as Jeonghee was about to answer, he suddenly stood up from the sofa and came closer.
“Oh, Jeonghee Ji.”
