Suji stepped out of the bathroom with her freshly dyed purple hair still damp, a towel draped over her shoulders.
Holding her glasses in one hand, she rubbed her hair dry for a moment before slipping them back on.
Her vision cleared.
On her desk lay a single sheet of paper.
She slowly walked over and picked it up.
It was a drawing.
The moment she saw the sketch, her mind drifted back.
-
Suji and her friend had been walking toward the school gate together, chatting lightly as their bags bounced against their backs.
A single anime badge pin stood out on each of their bags.
"You know that guy? His name's Ji Suwon. If you reverse it, it becomes my name."
Her friend's eyes widened. "Whoa!? Seriously!? What kind of coincidence is that?"
"Right? HAHA. Pretty rare, huh?"
"Could this be… destiny?"
Suji laughed awkwardly. "W-what do you mean destiny, that kind of thing doesn't exist... HAHA'
"Why not? It could happen~," her friend teased, nudging her side.
Before Suji could reply, a burst of laughter echoed from behind them.
"Hey, what the fuck? Look at that! HAHA, she's got a Sasuke badge on her bag!"
Loud laughter erupted behind them.
Suji's smile faltered slightly as she turned her head.
A group of students were snickering openly.
At the front, a guy pointed at her bag while laughing. "She probably knows ninjutsu too! HAHAHA! What, does she live in Leaf Village, Gyeonggi-do?!"
Beside him, a girl bent over clutching her stomach. "Insane. Absolutely insane. HAHAHA!"
"KHAHAHAHA!"
"That dude's way of talking is fucking hilarious, I swear."
"Damn, even a celebrity badge would be better than that."
Suji tightened her grip on her bag straps.
Her friend frowned. "Seriously, what's wrong with them?"
But the group kept going.
"Can girls like that even get married later?"
"KHAHAHAHA!"
"She'll probably need some confess-confess fruit just to get proposed to!"
The girl with them mockingly scolded the guys. "They can hear you idiots!"
"That's the whole point! HAHA, wait a sec."
Before Suji could react, one of the guys suddenly sprinted toward her in an exaggerated ninja run, body leaning forward, arms stretched behind him.
"KYAH!"
Suji flinched and stepped aside in shock.
As he passed by her, he shouted dramatically:
"THE ONLY THING PERMITTED TO ME IS HARDSHIP ALONE!!"
Another guy followed behind him in the same running pose.
"EVEN IF A BRUTAL FUTURE AWAITS ME!!"
"STOP RIGHT THERE, SASUKE!!"
The entire group burst into laughter again.
"KHAHAHAHA!"
Suji stood frozen, fingers tightening around her bag straps.
Suji's friend huffed. "What is wrong with them, seriously… they're doing all that just so we'll watch, right?"
"…Yeah."
But even as she answered, her chest still felt tight.
When Suji got home, she tossed her Sasuke badge into her desk drawer with a sigh.
…I went all the way to Seoul just to buy that…
Otaku girl.
The thought lingered bitterly in her chest.
At manga class the next day, Suji sat quietly at her seat, sketching in her notebook.
After a while, she lifted her head slightly and glanced toward the front where Suwon are.
Suwon was completely absorbed in his own sketchbook, pencil moving nonstop across the page.
I wonder if he gets treated like that too?
Like me.
While walking through the hallway along with her friend.
"What's going on?"
"They're fighting! A one-on-one!!"
Suji turned toward the noise curiously.
Students were crowding around one of the classrooms.
Why are they all gathered there?
She carefully peeked through the crowd.
A fight?
Inside the classroom, Ji Suwon stood breathing heavily, a bruise reddening one side of his face.
Across from him, Yang Jinsu wiped blood dripping from his nose.
"So who won in the end?"
"Didn't Ji Suwon get hit more?"
"Yeah, but still… Yang Jinsu was the one bleeding."
Suwon stood there catching his breath while the murmurs spread around the room.
"Ji Suwon won…"
"Whoa, that Yadong actually pulled something off."
Suji gasped softly outside the doorway, covering her mouth with one hand.
But that guy was different from me.
Because he knew how to stand up for himself.
"Let's go eat!"
Back in the classroom later, Suwon was already drawing again at his desk like nothing had happened.
"Wait," Park Dong said, leaning over his shoulder to look at the sketchbook. "Is this Naruto? Sasuke's here too."
Nearby, Jisung whistled. "This guy's art really is amazing though."
Suwon grinned proudly. "Hehe, of course."
Seojin, sitting on the desk beside Suwon, clicked his tongue. "Why are you always drawing guys? Draw some girls too. Like Tsunade or Android 18. I'll pay you make them thick."
Suwon slowly turned toward him with a disgusted look. "What the hell are you even talking about?"
The four of them headed out together afterward.
"Any decent side dishes today?" Suwon asked.
"Yeah, kinda. There's hot dogs," Park Dong answered.
As they walked out, Seojin slung an arm over Suwon's shoulders and whispered dramatically:
"Or just draw Android 21… Stop acting innocent you draw po-"
"Fine! fine! lower your voice down! There's girls here you know!!" Suwon snap at him before he could say anything more.
He had lots of friends around him...
From the classroom window, Suji quietly watched Suwon with Inseop walk inside the school building.
Her two friends stood beside her gossiping.
"His hair's grown a lot."
"Yeah, and he looks taller too. You don't notice it when he's next to Seojin."
"He changed so much over break."
"I didn't realize either."
"His hairstyle really suits him now."
Suji stared quietly outside.
"…Yeah. You're right."
The vague admiration I felt at first-
Back in class, Suji noticed an eraser fall from Suwon's desk.
"Uh… hey…"
Suwon turned his head slightly.
Suji stood there awkwardly with her arm stretched out, holding the eraser between her fingers.
"H-here… you dropped this."
Suwon smiled lightly as he took it.
"Ah, thanks."
-and before I knew it…
…it had turned into a crush.
-
Won Suji lay sprawled across her bed, phone resting against her chest while both hands clutched it tightly.
Her face was bright red.
Her lips kept twitching as she struggled to hold back a huge smile.
'He said we should stay friends.'
'Little by little like this…'
'…I kinda want his number.'
-
Meanwhile, at the park, the group had gathered under the jeongja the small wooden pavilion at the center of the open field. Benches were arranged in a square beneath the green-tiled roof, while the cool evening breeze drifted through the open sides. In the distance, faint city lights flickered softly against the darkening sky.
Seolhyo sat beside Seojin, lazily fixing her bangs with a hand mirror while slowly chewing on a piece of candy.
Across from them, Suwon and Inseop leaned forward with their elbows resting on their knees.
Jinkyung and Daegyu sat on the next bench over, quietly listening, while Park Dong and Irina occupied the left corner.
"WHOA, with Hyewon!? How did that even happen!?" Irina exclaimed.
"That's a shame," Jinkyung added. "You two were pretty close back then."
Inseop kept his head lowered, staring at the ground. "Forget it… just ignore her. I feel sick thinking she dumped me for another guy."
Irina smirked teasingly. "I don't think that's it. Maybe she just got tired of you? HAHA"
Inseop's shoulders drooped even further.
"…Tired of me, huh…? Wouldn't blame her. A guy like me…"
Irina immediately panicked, waving both hands. "N-no! I was joking! Sorry!!"
Inseop sniffed before glancing around at everyone. "…What would you guys do if it were you?"
Seojin suddenly took the mirror from Seolhyo's hand with a grin.
"Is there a sane person who'd break up with this face?"
Seolhyo merely glanced at him and rolled her eyes like she was already used to it.
Everyone else stared at him with completely deadpan expressions.
Still holding the mirror, Seojin tilted it around dramatically, admiring every angle of his reflection.
"If anything," he continued exaggeratedly, "I'd be the one doing the dumping.."
He tilted his head toward the mirror with a smug smile.
"So Seolhyo, don't-"
"UGH!"
He doubled over as Seolhyo punched him hard in the side.