In a secluded corner of Jae Won High School lay a small, hidden garden—a sanctuary free from the institutional violence that plagued the halls.
In a world ruled by lookism, where your face and fists were your only currency, this quiet patch of earth was where the school nurse, Kang Eunwoo, hid from it all.
To everyone here, he was simply June.
June's POV
Damn. Someone's been here already.
June's eyes narrowed as he scanned the damage. He grabbed a bright pink watering can and misted the few survivors—a handful of stubborn tomato vines. This place had once been untouchable, but ever since the new transfer student showed up, the whole school had been on edge. Now even his sanctuary had been violated, trampled under careless feet.
He lit a cigarette—though calling it that was misleading. It was a medicinal stick from H Company, a blend of herbs and tech designed for his fragile constitution. He inhaled, savoring the sweet burn that soothed his weak lungs.
"Well," he muttered to the empty air, "looks like I'm the janitor again."
Slipping on his battered work gloves, he knelt and began salvage work. He cradled the untouched tomatoes while mixing the crushed ones back into the soil. The rest of the patches hadn't been spared. The carrots and strawberries were dug up, eaten raw. The lettuce he'd been nursing for kimchi had been yanked out whole, leaving ugly holes behind.
The garden had once been a school initiative—his initiative. Grow food, reduce fights, cut costs. Within a month, the students had dismissed it as "farmer labor." He had kept it alive alone.
"Damn kids," he hissed. "Couldn't even leave the lettuce alone."
By the time he finished restoring what little he could, three hours had passed. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead, his muscles ached, and his cigarette cravings gnawed at him. Still, the garden lived—battered, but not gone.
So, meet Kang Eunwoo—aka June—the school nurse of Jae Won High. He had the fighting skills of a newborn and the stamina of an old man, but his greatest survival instinct was intact: the deep, desperate desire to avoid people.
And yet, for someone so determined to avoid them, he had imported soil from three different provinces just to keep this little Eden alive. Avenging his ruined plants would've made sense—but in June's mind, restarting the whole project was preferable to speaking to another human.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly why June smoked his medicine instead of dealing with prescriptions. Because prescriptions meant paperwork. And paperwork meant phone calls. And phone calls meant talking to people.
He shuddered. Death was preferable.
June had just slipped back into his office when the peace shattered.
Two students burst in, dragging a third like a corpse between them. A dark red trail streaked behind them across the floor.
June froze.
Oh God. That's blood. That's—
He was already planning escape routes. First, cremate the body in the school furnace. Then, buy a new ID on the black market. Move to a remote country where no one speaks or communicates, ever—
"Where's the school nurse!!!" one of them shouted.
June blinked. "...What?"
They didn't even look at him. "We need the nurse! Now!"
June coughed. "Yes. What do you need?"
The students turned to him—really looked at him—for the first time. The fluorescent lights caught his face, sharp yet delicate, strikingly beautiful despite the exhaustion.
They froze. And then—
THUD.
They dropped their injured friend flat onto the floor.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU TWO?!" the supposed corpse groaned, clutching his ribs.
But his words fell on deaf ears. The two students were locked in stunned silence, staring at June as if a saint had descended into the nurse's office.
June's thoughts, meanwhile, spiraled: Knew it. Knew I shouldn't have left the garden. Now I'm trapped with two scary meatheads who look like they eat dumbbells for breakfast. If they flex, I'm dead. If they talk, I'm deader.
He forced a glare onto his face—his only weapon of intimidation. "Put him on the table. And get out."
The command slipped from his lips sharper than he intended. His introverted instincts rose, masquerading as authority, while internally he shook like a leaf. The two boys, however, misread the situation entirely.
The glare, the voice, the beauty—
To them, this wasn't a frail, anti-social nurse.
This was someone terrifying.