Chapter 4.2

Why, of all people, Ki Seung-jo? Seriously, why? 

In the end, Su-eon couldn’t hold back and asked.

“Why him, of all people?”

“What do you mean, why? What’s wrong with my oppa? And why do you dislike him so much? You’re in the track team too. You even share the gym.”

The word “share” was misleading, given that the track team borrowed the gym and had designated usage times. The track team started their basic training outdoors, while the basketball team practiced indoors by default. In other words, there was no reason for her to run into J’s “oppa.” And thank goodness for that. Even now, she occasionally got asked to pass along notes to him.

“You’re probably the only person in the entire school who makes that indifferent face at Seung-jo oppa, Ji Su-eon. Didn’t I tell you to watch Slam Dunk? Huh? Don’t you know Yoon Dae-hyup, Seo Tae-woong, and Jung Woo-sung? Ki Seung-jo is like a combination of all the strongest characters in that world, ripped straight out of a comic.”

She had no idea what J was talking about. Su-eon opened the class journal.

“Flawless skin, sweat-soaked hair glistening, eyes sparkling. His shoulders are broader than the Pacific Ocean, and every time he dribbles, his biceps and triceps bulge. When he jumps, his calf muscles…”

As J’s ode to Ki Seung-jo continued, fans scattered throughout the area began to glance over with similar expressions. Sensing the impending crowd, Su-eon cut her off coldly.

“So being an ace isn’t about his skills but his body?”

“Ahem… of course his basketball skills are genius-level too. That’s so obvious I didn’t even bother mentioning it. And my oppa has this air of leadership that you can feel even if he doesn’t say a word.”

“Leadership as a first-year?”

“…You could call it a kind of spiritual backbone? Anyway, he has it. Geniuses all have something like that. And what does grade level matter? He’s been playing on the national youth team since U16.”

“Yeah, yeah. Your oppa is amazing.”

Su-eon continued writing in the class journal. She had been pushed into taking on the role of class secretary because of her neat handwriting, but balancing it with the track team was a lot to handle. Without J’s help, she wouldn’t have made it through the first semester unscathed.

“Hey, Ji Su-eon! Is it true that Han Ye-seong asked you out?”

The classroom door slammed open, and a group of girls barged in, immediately picking a fight. Su-eon looked up at the girls surrounding her desk with a calm, practiced expression. They weren’t the overly bold types, nor were they model students. If anything, they were rich girls from well-off families, the type who liked to flaunt it.

“So, what did you say? Tell us! Did you two really decide to date?”

“Who’s that?”

“…Are you kidding me right now? Do you think you’re someone special just because Han Ye-seong confessed to you?”

Of course not. She was genuinely asking because she didn’t know. 

Who was it? Was it the first-year who followed me all the way to the gym yesterday and suddenly confessed? Or the second-year who stopped me at the water fountain on the track field the day before? How was I supposed to know?

“If you’ve got something to say, go talk to him directly.”

“You… Ugh, you’re so annoying. Do you think you’re a real princess just because people call you one?”

What a hassle. Didn’t they ever get tired of this? Why did they always come here to complain about these things? 

They never said a word to the person involved, yet they always brought it to her.

“Hey, hey, Park Min-hee, stop it. Our Su-eon is so busy with the track team and student council that even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough. She has nothing to do with your Han Ye-seong.”

When J jumped in to defend her, the girl called Park Min-hee shot a resentful glare.

“Why do you always take Ji Su-eon’s side? We’ve known each other since we were kids. Is she really that great? What do her parents do?”

“Both of them work for major corporations, so don’t even think about messing with her. Aren’t you embarrassed? Fighting over one guy.”

At J’s words, Park Min-hee backed down first, bursting into tears.

“Han Ye-seong was my first boyfriend, you know! Hiiiing.”

Standing before J, who was gently patting her on the back, Park Min-hee, who had burst into tears, and her glaring friends, Su-eon felt an insurmountable wall. And she sensed that it would remain insurmountable for the rest of her life.

“Just wait and see. One day, I’ll really put you in your place!” 

After loudly crying and adorably issuing her threat, Park Min-hee and her group left with a dramatic flourish. 

Once they were gone, J shook the dazed Su-eon.

“Su-eon, are you okay?”

“Thanks, but about what you said earlier…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. You have to deal with people like that firmly so they won’t bother you anymore.”

Even so, it bothered her. Strictly speaking, it was a lie. If her father ever came to a parent-teacher conference, the truth would be exposed immediately.

“We’ll figure something out if that happens. You worry too much. Instead of worrying, help me out with my love life or something.”

J responded playfully. Grateful once again for her friend’s thoughtfulness, Su-eon nodded. Although she was sick and tired of hearing about romance and love every day from the moment she walked into school, J was the exception.

“Alright, I’ll write it for you. Have you picked out the stationery? How about including a poem with it?”

“That’s a great idea! Let’s search for a poem that’s related to first love.”

“What about poets like Yun Dong-ju or Baek Seok?”

“That’s way too obvious. It’d feel like I just copied something from the textbook. I want it to seem more refined, like something by a foreign poet.”

“Then how about William Wordsworth or William Shakespeare?”

“Perfect! The William brothers! Let’s go with them.”

Su-eon laughed. Although the grim reality of having to write about the words of Romantic masters—fields of light, golden daffodils, and sparkling galaxies—for a guy who was the farthest thing from romantic hadn’t changed.

“Why do you dislike oppa so much?”

J grumbled again, but Su-eon just shrugged, pretending not to know.  

To be precise, Su-eon didn’t dislike Ki Seung-jo. She was afraid of him.

It had been purely by chance. No one knew about what Su-eon had seen of Ki Seung-jo.

That day had been scheduled for joint training between two schools in preparation for the National Sports Festival. It wasn’t a day Su-eon particularly liked. When there were more students around, attention inevitably followed.

Moreover, unlike middle schoolers, who were still relatively innocent, high schoolers were as bold in their actions as their growing physiques. Compared to the high school seniors who openly stared at her chest and asked her bra size or sneaked up behind her to touch her bra strap, the pranks of middle school boys seemed almost cute.

Ever since her chest had started growing recently, Su-eon had become increasingly self-conscious while running. To avoid drawing attention, she wore a smaller-sized sports bra to compress her chest as much as possible. Although it caused tightness and pain in her ribcage, it was better than enduring the suffocating stares of men glued to her bouncing chest.

That day was one of those days.  

In the season where spring ends and summer begins, Su-eon wore a loose, long-sleeved tracksuit by herself as usual. After everyone stretched together and completed basic training, they began serious record-keeping.  

By the time her lungs felt like they were about to burst and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, practice was finally over.  

Dragging her exhausted body into the locker room, her vision began to blur with static. Collapsing against a random spot, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the afternoon had already passed.  

What woke Su-eon was a deafening bang that echoed through the hallway.  

Before she could even process what was happening, another loud crash followed, the vibrations reaching the inner walls of the locker room. It sounded similar to the noise of a metal cabinet being crushed.  

Startled, Su-eon jumped up and hastily gathered her belongings. She gave up on changing into her school uniform and, still drenched in sweat, remained in her tracksuit as she cautiously opened the door.  

Through the crack in the door, she saw the male track team seniors from the attached high school lying in a bloodied heap.  

It was a brawl. Judging by the fact that everyone was wearing sports uniforms, it was clear that the fight had broken out between athletes.  

Should I report it?  

For a moment, Su-eon hesitated, but then she realized something. The person wielding violence against the group was only one man.  

She gripped the door tightly and opened it a little wider. Her eyes landed on the only person standing in the hallway littered with fallen bodies.  

His tracksuit was different.  

He wore a dark blue uniform from top to bottom, with the basketball team’s logo printed in white near the shoulder.  

Why would the basketball team be fighting with the track team…?