A Kind Person
The next morning.
The rain that had fallen through the night finally let up just as dawn broke. The school field was still damp from it, and the overcast sky left the classroom feeling a little more subdued than usual.
Kang Tae-jun walked down the hallway at a slower pace than usual.
"...Haa."
A sigh slipped out of him on its own. The afterglow of last night's first clear still hadn't faded.
The Abyss Tower.
A first clear, one day after the update. And with Shopsop's party, no less. Honestly, it still didn't feel real.
On top of that, there were those last words he'd heard.
It had been just a short remark, but for some reason it kept looping through his head.
Tae-jun scratched his head for no particular reason and pushed open the classroom door. Familiar noise flooded his ears — students chatting, chairs scraping, footsteps racing down the hallway. The usual chaotic energy of morning.
"You're here."
A familiar voice called from the window side. Lee Hyun-woo.
Tae-jun gave a limp wave and dropped into his seat. The moment Hyun-woo saw his face, he burst out laughing.
"What's with that face?"
"...I'm sleepy."
"Stayed up late again?"
"...Yeah."
"Didn't you go to sleep right after the raid?"
Tae-jun hesitated a beat, then mumbled,
"...I checked the community boards after."
"Wow."
"You're actually addicted."
Hyun-woo let out a dry laugh.
"So it blew up, huh?"
"First clear."
Tae-jun gave a short laugh.
"The whole place went nuts."
And it really had. The community boards last night had been a war zone.
The ranker stream chats had been going just as crazy, and every trending post across every community was about the first clear. Nothing else stood a chance.
Hyun-woo leaned forward, intrigued.
"Doesn't Shopsop seriously not feel like a real person?"
"A little."
Tae-jun admitted it honestly.
"The way they read patterns is weird. We see it and dodge. That person moves before it even comes out."
"Whoa..."
"Just hearing that is scary."
"It is scary."
Tae-jun propped his chin on his hand and muttered,
"There's a reason the rankers get so tense."
Hyun-woo smirked.
"You kinda like talking about them, though."
"About what."
"Shopsop."
"I just think they're good, that's all."
"Nah. You're basically a fan at this point."
Tae-jun frowned.
"What fan."
"Don't even try. You almost died of happiness when they complimented you yesterday."
"That's..."
Tae-jun's words died in his throat. Honestly, it had felt pretty good. Getting recognized by the number-one ranked player wasn't exactly an everyday thing.
Hyun-woo giggled at the look on his face.
"See? Your face says it all."
Tae-jun waved him off, annoyed.
"Shut up."
That was when it happened.
Click.
The classroom door opened, and someone walked in. The atmosphere shifted, just a fraction.
Long golden hair. Clear, vivid golden eyes. And a presence that naturally drew every gaze in the room.
Seo Ha-yoon.
The school's number one. Good at sports, a great personality, and stunning looks — the school's undisputed celebrity. A few of the guys lost their train of thought for a second, and the girls waved naturally.
"Hey, Ha-yoon."
"You know we have a performance assessment today, right?"
Seo Ha-yoon smiled softly and nodded.
"Yeah. I know."
Her voice was calm and pleasant to listen to. She chatted with her friends for a moment, then walked naturally toward her seat.
And then — Tae-jun and Hyun-woo's conversation drifted over.
"...Shopsop seriously doesn't feel like a real person."
"...I'm telling you, their pattern comprehension is insane."
For a moment, the corner of Seo Ha-yoon's mouth lifted, just barely. But it lasted only a second. She stopped in front of Tae-jun's desk with a perfectly ordinary expression.
"Kang Tae-jun."
Tae-jun looked up.
"Huh?"
"Good morning."
"...Oh. Morning."
"You look less tired today than yesterday."
Tae-jun paused.
"...I do?"
"Yeah. Yesterday you looked like you were about to collapse."
Hyun-woo immediately burst out laughing.
"He's right. His soul was basically gone."
Tae-jun sighed.
"I should've gone to sleep right after the raid, but I ended up staying up looking at the community boards."
Seo Ha-yoon nodded naturally.
"You must really be into that game."
"...I do like it."
"Enough to stay up all night?"
"Yesterday was a little special."
Hyun-woo jumped right in.
"This guy was super hyped yesterday."
"Hey."
"What? It's true. You were raiding till dawn and then kept refreshing the boards, right?"
Tae-jun waved him off, annoyed.
"It was just because it was the first day of the update."
Seo Ha-yoon looked at him and smiled faintly.
"Sounds like you had fun, though."
"...I did, yeah."
Tae-jun gave a short laugh.
"It was insanely hard, though."
"It was hard?"
"Yeah. The patterns were complicated, and one mistake and you were dead."
Seo Ha-yoon blinked, feigning curiosity.
"Doesn't that just stress you out?"
"That's actually the fun part, though."
Hyun-woo nodded immediately.
"True. Gamers like it more the harder it gets."
Tae-jun sighed and muttered,
"Especially Shopsop. They just never stop."
"Shopsop?"
Seo Ha-yoon asked it back as naturally as if she'd never heard the name.
"Oh. That high-ranked player you mentioned?"
"Yeah."
Tae-jun nodded.
"They're insanely good."
"That famous?"
Hyun-woo grinned.
"Pretty much everyone who plays knows them."
Seo Ha-yoon reacted with just the right amount of surprise. Tae-jun kept going without even realizing it.
"But they're so cold. It'd be nice if they were just a little kinder."
For a moment, Seo Ha-yoon's eyes flickered — just for a second. But Tae-jun didn't notice at all. Instead, Hyun-woo was the first to laugh.
"Here we go again."
"What."
"The Shopsop personality analysis."
"I'm serious, though."
Tae-jun said it like he was being wronged.
"Their skill is perfect, but the way they talk is terrifying. It makes me tense for no reason."
Seo Ha-yoon watched him quietly. Then she smiled, very faintly.
"But you keep partying with them. Doesn't that mean you don't actually mind?"
Tae-jun's words caught in his throat.
"...That's..."
Hyun-woo's mouth curled up immediately.
"Oh. Can't argue with that."
"No, that's..."
Tae-jun hesitated, then finally admitted it.
"...Their skill is just that good."
"So you do like them."
"That's not what I meant."
Seo Ha-yoon listened to the two of them talk, then quietly returned to her seat. And then — under her desk, she flicked on her phone screen for just a moment.
Seo Ha-yoon looked at the screen and smiled faintly.
It was a voice too small for anyone else to hear.
When first period ended, the classroom got loud again. Students stood up one by one, and footsteps pounded down the hallway toward the school store. Tae-jun stretched briefly and got to his feet. His shoulders felt heavy from gaming all night.
Hyun-woo clicked his tongue at him.
"You're actually wrecking your health."
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
That was when he overheard two girls in the seats ahead talking in low voices.
"Isn't Seo Ha-yoon actually so nice?"
"She even carried the teacher's stuff for her earlier."
"She's good at studying AND she has a great personality."
"That's just cheating."
Tae-jun glanced over without thinking. By the window, Seo Ha-yoon was talking with her friends, smiling. A smile that wasn't overdone. A calm way of speaking. Whoever she talked to, the atmosphere around her just felt comfortable.
Tae-jun thought, suddenly, She really does seem like a kind person.
And at the same time — last night's voice chat came back to him.
"I told you that spot was dangerous."
"Watch the pattern first."
"Don't get greedy with the damage."
A cold, low voice. Tae-jun let out a short laugh.
They were complete opposites. Shopsop was intimidating and cold. Seo Ha-yoon, on the other hand, was gentle and kind. They were the kind of people who had no reason to overlap in the first place.
That was when something landed on Tae-jun's desk with a soft tap.
"...Huh?"
He looked up to find Seo Ha-yoon setting down a small bag of candy.
"You looked sleepy."
Tae-jun's face went blank for a second.
"Out of nowhere?"
"Figured your blood sugar might be low."
"Ah..."
Hyun-woo's shoulders shook as he tried not to laugh.
"Wow. Now she's even bringing you candy?"
"Shut up."
Tae-jun felt the tips of his ears go warm for no good reason. Seo Ha-yoon saw his reaction and smiled faintly.
"I heard they work well. Try one."
"...Thanks."
"Mm."
She walked back to her seat like it was nothing. Hyun-woo immediately jabbed Tae-jun in the side.
"Hey."
"...What."
"Is there actually something going on?"
"What are you talking about."
"Ha-yoon looks after everyone, sure, but she looks after you a lot."
Tae-jun sighed.
"That's just how she is. She's a nice person."
"You still think that's all it is."
"Then what else would it be."
Hyun-woo smiled meaningfully but didn't push it further. Tae-jun, on the other hand, genuinely wasn't thinking anything. Just that Seo Ha-yoon was a good person. That was all.
Lunchtime. Students pulled out their lunchboxes, and the classroom got noisy again. Tae-jun was planning to make do with bread from the school store for lunch, same as always.
Hyun-woo looked at him like he couldn't believe it.
"You're eating that again?"
"It's convenient."
"You're actually going to collapse one of these days."
That was when Seo Ha-yoon walked over toward Tae-jun's desk, as naturally as anything.
"Kang Tae-jun."
"Huh?"
"Just bread again today?"
"...Yeah."
Seo Ha-yoon glanced down at the bread bag and let out a small sigh.
"You're going to end up with a nutritional imbalance."
Hyun-woo laughed from the side.
"That's what I keep telling him."
"You two are both exaggerating."
Seo Ha-yoon hesitated for a moment, then opened her lunchbox. She picked out one of the side dishes and held it out toward Tae-jun.
"...Want some?"
Tae-jun froze.
"I'm okay, really..."
"I'm giving it to you because it's okay."
She said it so naturally that turning her down felt awkward. In the end, Tae-jun carefully took it.
"...Thanks."
"Mm."
Hyun-woo watched the whole thing and finally couldn't hold back his laugh.
"Wow. I've never gotten anything like that."
"Shut up."
"Isn't this discrimination?"
Seo Ha-yoon smiled faintly.
"Hyun-woo, you already eat well."
"Oh. Can't argue with that."
Tae-jun found himself laughing for no particular reason. Strangely, talking with Seo Ha-yoon just felt comfortable. It didn't feel like she was forcing herself to accommodate him, and it wasn't awkward either. The conversation just flowed, naturally.
And in that moment, Shopsop suddenly popped into Tae-jun's head. That cold voice he'd heard when he'd made a mistake during the raid.
Tae-jun muttered inwardly, It'd be nice if Shopsop talked more like Seo Ha-yoon.
They were such complete opposites that if they'd been the same person, it wouldn't have made any sense at all.
But he still didn't know.
That the two people he thought of as polar opposites — were, in fact, the same person.