Do You Like Baek Haeun?
Lunchtime.
The classroom buzzed with raucous chatter, but my mind was a frigid void.
The Kim Junsik figure fiasco yesterday had drilled one brutal lesson into me.
To topple Baek Haeun's impenetrable glass fortress, half-assed tricks wouldn't cut it.
She was wrapped in layers of blind loyalty and a flawless reputation.
I had to gnaw at the foundation—subtly, insidiously.
Sigh... but where the hell do I even start?
I was propping my chin, staring into space and racking my brain, when a massive shadow loomed over my sunlit desk.
"Hey, Lee Woojin."
I looked up.
There stood Kang Minjae—center of our class's guy clique, soccer ace—glaring down at me with a cocky slant.
A few burly dudes loomed behind him, arms crossed, eyes fixed on us.
The air around my seat froze solid in an instant.
"You raised your hand yesterday during morning roll call to be Baek Haeun's helper. That 'cause you're into her or what?"
His gravelly voice dripped with barely veiled hostility.
A cold flash of reason lit my brain.
What the fuck? He crushing on her too, some white knight simp? Annoying as shit... gotta bullshit my way out.
I clicked my tongue inwardly, scrambling for an excuse—when a lightning bolt of a vile, brilliant idea streaked through my head.
...Wait. This could work.
I lowered my eyes demurely, fumbling my smartphone like I was flustered before shoving it in my pocket.
"Ahem... it's not like that. I just..."
"Then what is it? You're some ghost nobody notices, then suddenly you volunteer. She hit on you or something?"
Minjae cut in, barking like a drill sergeant.
Perfect timing.
I bit my lower lip, hunched my shoulders, and mustered a heartbreaking expression.
My voice trembled pathetically—Oscar-worthy, even to me.
"Haeun... her dad died when she was little. She's been raised all alone by her single mom..."
"...Huh?"
Minjae's scowl froze at the bombshell family secret I'd never even imagined.
I didn't give him a second to recover, lacing my voice with sobby pathos for the kill shot.
"We're childhood friends, so... I just pitied her. I've been looking out for her since we were kids, stepping in where her dad couldn't. She's running for student council president—didn't want her stressing alone again."
I flashed a bitter smile and bowed my head deep.
Finishing in a voice weak and woeful as a whipped stray.
"If you guys feel weird about me stepping up like that... I won't approach her first anymore. Guess I overstepped... sorry."
Dead silence.
The noisy corner of the classroom plunged into heavy hush, like I'd dumped ice water on it.
Minjae's piercing glare bored into my crown—then wavered, tangled in shock and guilt.
"......"
He gawped like a landed fish, then scrubbed his scalp furiously.
His face flushed beet red, brimming with awkward remorse.
"Ah... fuck, that's what it was? Shit, sorry, man. Totally misread you. Childhood friend looking out—makes sense. I was a total asshole not knowing. My bad, for real."
"Nah. You're just looking out for Haeun, right?"
"Looking out my ass! What a joke."
Minjae clapped my shoulder with his meaty paw and barked a hearty laugh, hostility evaporated.
A classic simpleton jock—loyal to a fault.
The perfect meat shield to exploit.
"Hey, Lee Woojin! Don't mope here alone—grab lunch with the crew. Bakery bread's on me today!"
"Uh... yeah, thanks."
I flashed an awkward, wholesome grin and trailed his broad back out the rear door.
Trading dumb jokes with the guys in the hall, my lips twisted into a weird smirk in their blind spot.
...Too fucking easy.
Baek Haeun's precious goddess aura—flawless, untouchable.
Now I'd slapped on the frame: 'poor fatherless girl,' 'pitiful thing crumbling without me propping her up.'
Doesn't matter if it's true.
This cheap pity seed would spread through the blabbermouth bros like vicious mold, corner to corner.
The perfect swamp to mire and isolate her "perfect" childhood friend was taking shape, smooth as silk.
After that day, my place in class warped into something bizarre.
"Yo, Lee Woojin! Bakery run—pizza bread day!"
"Cool, I'm in."
The so-called "insa" crew led by Kang Minjae—the loud, flashy pack.
Little old extra me had slipped right in, natural as breathing.
Minjae played self-appointed bodyguard, folding me into the group.
My planted lie—"quietly caring for his poor single-mom-raised childhood friend"—had stroked his shallow hero ego just right.
Now nobody fucked with me or ghosted me in class.
I'd leveled up: the decent, loyal guy under the insa umbrella.
Between lessons, I lounged back, casually eyeing Baek Haeun's nape up front.
Baek Haeun. You have no clue.
The poison I've sown is already blackening the underbelly of your precious perfect life.
This shield I've built? Ironclad.
If Haeun blows me off cold or snaps?
She'd be the heartless bitch ditching her lifelong fatherless caretaker.
A few days later, after final bell in empty class.
I slung my bag loose and stood—Minjae sauntered up, spinning a basketball on his finger flashy-style.
"Yo, Lee Woojin! Gym for hoops? Crew's all in."
A few guys behind him snickered, urging him on.
I waved it off with a friendly smile.
"Nah... beat today. Pass."
"Pussy stamina, dude! Fine, crash hard. Next time for sure!"
Minjae grinned wide, slapped my shoulder, and bolted out front with the pack.
I listened to their fading racket, then leisurely grabbed my indoor shoes.
No need to sweat-chase balls to fit in.
I just needed their solid shield.
Strolling casual out the classroom, looping the quiet school backlot toward the gate.
"Hey. Lee Woojin."
A chill, razor voice snagged my ankle from behind.
I turned.
Choi Jia leaned cocky against the red-brick wall, legs crossed, arms folded, glaring daggers.
"You. Come here."
Haeun's ride-or-die, queen of the girls' underworld.
She jerked her head her chin toward the shady incinerator spot, ignoring any say-no.
Dodging here would look shadier, so I trailed her meek.
In the dead-end alley, she whipped around, eyes drilling mine.
Not her usual bug-squish scowl from the figure beatdown.
A sticky, probing stare—like peeling my guts raw.
"Do you like Baek Haeun?"
The blunt fastball shattered the suffocating quiet.
I didn't twitch an eyebrow—just shrugged with peak dumb-and-innocent.
"...Me?"
"Deaf? I'm asking if you're secretly dating her behind backs."
Her voice growled low, beast-mode.
My heart skipped—hard.
Had my Minjae fib already hit her ears?
No—the dating angle felt off-kilter.
Where'd she sniff this?
Calculations swirled, but my face stayed bland as tap water.
"...Nah? Why'd she date trash like me."
"Hmmm... right?"
She scowled deep, dissecting my mug like hunting micro-tremors.
Luckily, my poker face was goosebump-level flawless—even to me.
Awkward standoff dragged; I glanced my phone, drawled bored.
"Dunno what this is about... but can I bounce? Gotta get home."
Jia mulled, brow furrowed.
Suspicion simmered—not quenched, but no hard proof to push.
Finally, she flicked her hand irritate.
"...Fuck off."
Nothing more to squeeze.
I nodded curt, turned, and slipped the trash heap.
Her sticky glare stabbed my neck raw, but I didn't look back—hustled on.
Choi Jia. What the hell did that bitch sniff out?
I shook the sticky residue, stepping past the gate.
But back then, I had zero clue.
That little Minjae snowball I'd rolled was mixing with something else—coiling into a massive storm to flip school upside-down tomorrow, throttling Baek Haeun's neck.