After an uneventful drive, Jin-Woo finally arrived at the school gate.

  He looked around before stepping outside.

  Standing in front of the gate were an adult and multiple other students.

  The school guard, no, the teacher.

  The guard is just an old man who sits in his office by the school gate all day.

  This one is one of the school teacher.

  As for the students who stood by next to him, they are the Disciplinary Committee members. They are students elected to uphold the school rules. They tend to be the ones who catch late students that secretly sneak into the school and write their name down on a notebook to report to the teacher.

  Well, that’s not his problem, is it? He’s not late, so why does it matter? But those two from earlier definitely is though. Just the thought of them being late and being caught by these people filled him with pleasure. Before he knew it, a smirk had already escaped his lips. But just as he was lost in thought, someone said:

  “Hey, you’re actually early to school for once! What's gotten into you?”

  A boy draped his hand over Jin-Woo’s shoulder.

  Weirdly, Jin-Woo didn’t brush him off.

  “It probably won’t last long. I’m just doing it for the first few weeks as a pretense.” Jin-Woo said, giving the student a quick glance.

  “So true. My mom even says that she won’t give me any allowance if I get another F this school year,” the students said, leaning on Jin-Woo like they were buddies who had been through thick and thin.

  Annoyed by his friend's antics, Jin-Woo pushed him away. His friend has always been this way. Always acting like gay. Why does he always lean on him like he couldn’t even walk by himself? Some classmates in middle school even thought he was gay because of it. Just thinking about the rumor he might get in high school made him shivered.

  “Ki-Tae, stop acting like a cripple and stand properly,” Jin-woo said, his voice ice cold.

  “Oh, what’s the matter? We’re bros. Why so worked up?” Ki-Tae said, but still backed off and raised his hands in surrender anyway. Jin-Woo can be a mad dog sometimes. Messing with him isn’t smart.

  “One more word and we’re no longer friends.”

  “Okay.”

  “Good,” Jin-woo said, smiling finally. He really didn’t like getting mistaken for a gay couple. He still wanted to find a girlfriend! With his money and social status, it’s only natural that he become the boss of the school. And that kind of rumor does not sit well with him.

  But then, the sight of a girl entered his vision. A beautiful, pure girl was walking straight to him with a big backpack behind her and a pile of books in front. When Ki-Tae caught sight of this girl, he brightened immediately. If other people saw this, no one would have thought he was gay.

  “Look! A hot girl!” Ki-Tae said, acting like he had just a rare Pokémon. “Oh my god, look at that bust~ that must be at least a C, right?” Ki-Tae said, acting no less than a pervert as he looked up and down at the girl who was walking toward them.

  His gaze even paused the girl in her step. She shivered at Ki-Tar’s perverted eyes. But it didn’t affect Jin-Woo in the slightest.

  Jin-Woo, who stares intensely at the girl: Hm. She’s nothing much. She is definitely good, but the foul-mouthed girl from earlier definitely looks a lot better…

  Wait. What the hell is he thinking? When did he– Argh, why? Jin-Woo thought as he pulled at his hair like a crazy person.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Dude, what’s wrong with you? I know she’s attractive, but not so much that you would go crazy, right?” Ki-Tae cut in, trying to stop Jin-Woo from tearing his hair out.

  Jin-Woo finally came back to his senses.

  “No, it’s not that, I don’t even like her–”

  Jin-Woo was about to explain when a voice suddenly interrupted. It was the girl they had been staring at.

  “You bunch of perverts! Where do you think you’re looking at?” The girl said, her face as red as a tomato.

  To any males that would have looked unbearably cute. Even Ki-Tae, who is a little sus, couldn’t help but get weak in the knees. Clinging to Jin-Woo’s uniform and pulling it down like he has no legs. When he saw his friend grabbing hold of his shirt and started to grab his pants, Jin-Woo got flustered.

  “Dude! Wtf! Release me this instant,” Jin-Woo said, as he tried to pull his pants back up. But with no avail. Ki-Tae just kept dragging it until a part of his underwear was visible.

  Seo-Yeon and the other students: “...” How indecent…

  “Hmph. Let us not meet again,” Seo-Yeon said, turning away like she had been wronged. She had wanted to approach them because they looked rich, and had wanted to use a bit of her acting skill, but she no longer cared about it. Being there with them any longer is going to make her go crazy.

  Ki-Tae looked disheartened, but Jin-Woo, on the other hand, didn’t care. He didn’t know why, but he just simply couldn’t care less about what the other girl thinks of him. The only things on his mind right now were to get this crazy guy off him and the girl from before, who just kept popping into his mind like a plague.

  *****

  After a series of misfortunes, he was finally able to sit in his seat. Class 1-A. When he first entered the classroom, he had scoffed at it. Even the kitchen in his room looks better than this. Although in reality, the classroom wasn’t actually that bad, it’s just that his standards were absurdly high.

  Still, when he took his seat, something unexpected had happened.

  His classmates swarmed him.

  Girls, mostly. They crowded around his desk, eyes wide, voices overlapping.

  "Is that watch that famous brand?"

  "Oh my god, it is! How much was it?"

  "Your bag is also a brand, right? My dad has the same one!"

  "Do you model? You should totally model."

  Jin-Woo leaned back in his chair, basking in the attention like a typical celebrity. This. This was what high school was supposed to be. Admiration. Reverence. People recognize his worth without him having to prove it. If only he had a girlfriend to complete the picture—and it would definitely help if she were at least half as pretty as that foul-mouth girl—

  He thought about her. Again.

  He shook his head to dispel the thought. Why does he keep thinking about that girl today? Weird. Definitely very weird. If he sees that girl again, he has to make sure she compensates for the car’s damage.

  His prayers were answered.

  During class, just as he was about to fall asleep while the teacher, Miss Rosy or whatever, was writing on the board, the figure of a girl appeared by the window. She looked up and down at the classroom, then crouched down and sneaked toward the door.

  Jin-Woo: Isn’t that the girl from before? Why is she here?

  By the look of it, she was trying to get in. Even other classmates had started to notice. But fortunately, no one decided to snitch on her. It was a universal code among students, he figured. Everyone just stared at the girl who secretly tiptoed in from the door with a heightened interest. Not only was it an incredibly thrilling experience, but it was also because of how pretty she is.

  ‘If only she were to act more like a girl…’ Jin-Woo thought.

  In the classroom’s mind, if they were to have a collective thought, they all wished for her to succeed. Even Ki-Tae, who sits right next to Jin-Woo, raises a fist to support her. Weirdly, she smiled back. A smile so beautiful it melted the hearts of almost all the boys in class. Some girls even took a bite out of the handkerchief they had gotten from God knows where.

  Why? Why didn’t she do that to him? Jin-Woo thought. If she were to act like that around him, maybe he would have had a more favorable impression of her, and maybe he would have volunteered to take her to school. And maybe she wouldn’t have been late.

  What a foolish girl. Didn’t know what was truly good for her…

  But even so, he still observed the girl closely. Inside, he secretly wished for her to succeed. But wait… Isn’t there a seating chart?

  Then the teacher must have remembered, right?

  But it’s not like there is anything he can do. All he can do is take in deep breaths just like the rest of the class whenever the teacher looks like she is about to turn around. And then she did, but the girl did something totally unexpected.

  She turned around and confidently walked toward the door like she was leaving, not entering.

  Jin-Woo and the whole class: What kind of tactics is this?

  “Stop right there! Where do you think you’re going?” The teacher said, turning her head to look at the girl. “Go back to your seat.”

  The girl gave an awkward smile, like she was just caught in the act.

  “I thought school was over, so I forgot, hehe,” the girl said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

  The class: “...” What a master. Truly a master…

  Jin-Woo, who deadpanned, knowing it won’t go as well as she had expected: ‘This idiot…’

  “Is that what you thought I was gonna say?” The female teacher smirked devilishly. “Go and kneel outside for the remainder of the period immediately! Keep your backpack on your head and don’t let it drop. If it drops, I’ll deduct your grade for the entire trimester!”

  Visible murmurs of disappointment could be heard throughout the classroom. Someone even said, “Well, at least she tried.”

  But Jin-Woo himself couldn’t resist the urge to mock her.

  “Tch. Tch.” He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “First day and already late. What a clown.”

  And she answered just as he had expected. The kind of reaction that he was looking for…

  “You again?!” the girl barked, visibly irritated.

  For no good reason, he actually likes seeing her pissed off face like this…

  Is he sick in the head, just like his friend? Urgh, just thinking about it disgusted him.

  After telling the girl to get out and kneel, Miss Rosy refocused her attention on Jin-Woo.

  “Do you want to go out there and kneel with her, too?”

  “No, teacher. I preferred to be in here, unlike some foul girl,” he said, getting one last jabbed on the girl before she went.

  The girl immediately shot a glare back at him before turning back with a “Hmph” and exiting the classroom. Not bothering to pay attention to him any longer. Jin-Woo had thought he won, but he didn’t know the girl was secretly plotting her revenge.

  Jin-Woo: ‘Why is she kinda cute though?’

  He buried his face in his hands. ‘I really need to get my head checked.’