The night was cool and studded with the first stars of early March. The neighborhood was quiet, the apartment buildings casting soft, geometric shadows under the amber glow of the streetlights.
Inside one of those apartments, the last crinkle of a snack bag echoed in the quiet kitchen. A hand quickly shoved the empty packet into a drawer.
"Eh?" came a surprised thought. "What! Are they all gone already?!"
With a sigh, a figure dressed in the ultimate lazy-day attire—a grey hoodie pulled over the head and bright red pajamas covered in skull motifs—slipped on a pair of house slippers. A hidden, fluttering excitement was tucked away deep inside, like the tiny, pixelated heart icon seen under a magnifying glass, magnified perhaps by a secret wish or a new crush.
They were out to buy snacks—specifically, more of the beloved Poca Chip, described in a digital pop-up as "I's favorite chips."
The hooded figure, whose name was I, walked with purpose toward the nearest convenience store. Just as they turned the corner, still adjusting to the night air, they saw a small group of high schoolers gathered outside the store's bright entrance.
"Huh?" I stopped dead, partially hidden behind a pillar, eyes wide with a blush creeping onto their cheeks.
One of the students, a girl with long, straight blonde hair and a confident, subtly amused smile, was talking to the others. She exuded an effortless composure in her school uniform.
Suddenly, a clear, ringing voice cut through the air. "RA-IM!"
I, still in their pajamas, was spotted! They raised a hand in a hurried, slightly panicked wave.
The blonde girl, Su-ae, looked over and tilted her head, her smile turning into a knowing one.
"What are you doing here? Are you on study break?" Su-ae asked, her eyes momentarily fixed on the bag of chips I was clutching.
A small chuckle escaped Su-ae. "You came out to buy chips again, didn't you? Haha."
I, slightly flustered, quickly tried to change the subject. "Hehe... are you taking a break too?"
A third girl, with purple hair and a concerned look, spoke up. "You're going to finish late, right? Should I come pick you up?"
"That's okay," the blonde girl, Su-ae, replied smoothly. She looked toward a tall boy standing beside her, a flicker of something in her eyes. "He's going to walk me home."
I stared, clutching the bag of Poca Chips, a silent observer in their ridiculously comfy, skull-printed pajamas, suddenly feeling a thousand miles away from the composed group of students enjoying their late-night study break.
The small, pajama-clad figure of I was mortified, shuffling their feet in their house slippers. Damn... this is embarrassing... they thought, the feeling compounded by the realization, "Oh shit... I forgot I was dressed like a slob." The skull on their speech bubble seemed to grimace in solidarity.
The blonde girl, Su-ae, stood there—glowing and composed. She was presented as the ideal student: perfect test scores marked with "100," a coveted award trophy, and a book of scholarly notes all framed by a shower of pink roses and gilded light. She was, quite literally, radiant.
As Su-ae and the handsome young man, Eunhyeok, stood close, a private, charged moment passed between them. Eunhyeok looked down at Su-ae with a soft, almost proprietary smile—an expression I had never seen on him before.
"Haha, what?" Eunhyeok said in a low voice.
The purple-haired girl, Ra-im, who had been quietly observing the interaction, leaned toward I, her expression thoughtful.
"Wait, they go to the same cram school?" I asked, glancing quickly from Su-ae to Eunhyeok. Eunhyeok seemed to notice the glance and looked back, his eyes narrowing slightly in a momentary 'SCAN' before he returned his attention to Su-ae.
Ra-im touched her temple and sighed, looking a bit deflated. "It's just a theory but..." she whispered, "...I think Eunhyeok... likes Ra-im."
I's eyes widened. Ra-im watched the two figures, shaking her head slightly. "I didn't know he could make an expression like that."
"Well, he's not the first guy to like Ra-im anyways," Ra-im mused, touching her earlobe. "Although I still do find Eunhyeok surprising..."
She paused, then delivered the final, painful blow: "But it's understandable. Ra-im's the total package."
I stood there, feeling the weight of the statement, acutely aware of their skull-patterned pajamas and the bag of chips clutched like a useless shield. The gap between the radiant, accomplished Su-ae, being walked home by a handsome, smiling Eunhyeok, and their own slob-like appearance was a chasm. The night suddenly felt a lot colder.
I stood frozen, the cheap house slippers cool against the pavement as she watched the exchange between Su-ae and Eunhyeok. The words of her friend, Ra-im, echoed in her mind: "I think Eunhyeok... likes Ra-im."
The handsome boy, Eunhyeok, who had been introduced as the male lead, smiled at Su-ae, an expression I had never seen him make before. His eyes, which had briefly flickered over I in a quick, dismissive 'SCAN,' were now soft and attentive only to the blonde girl.
"Well, he's not the first guy to like Ra-im anyways," Ra-im's voice whispered in I's memory, pulling her deeper into her thoughts. "But it's understandable. Ra-im's the total package."
And what was Su-ae? The images that flashed through I's mind painted a picture of untouchable perfection:
She's pretty and confident, and she also gets good grades.
She has lots of friends of course. (Though they're kind of scary...)
She was presented with shining test scores of "100" and a golden trophy, framed by roses—the quintessential female lead.
Ra-im Yu. She was pretty and kind, with a "sad backstory"—a textbook perfect heroine. I chewed thoughtfully on the chips, watching the memory of the blonde girl, Su-ae, smiling at her reflection while holding a toothbrush in the bathroom.
In a web novel, she would be the lead female character for sure.
Or maybe not?
She might be more fit for the role of the male lead's ex.
Cause the female leads are usually...
The memory shifted to Ra-im. The girl with the purple hair, Ra-im, was actually I's foster sister. "Well... she's not my younger sister exactly..." Ra-im had laughed, a little awkwardly. "She's kind of like my foster sister. Yeah, let's go with that." They were the same age, not twins, but they were family.
"She's my younger sister who has it all," I thought, a familiar wave of resignation washing over her. Even in her own family, the other girl, Ra-im, shone brighter.
I was still chewing on the chips, watching Ra-im and Eunhyeok walk away, when Ra-im, the girl with the purple hair, broke the silence. "If Ra-im hasn't told me anything about him, I guess he hasn't confessed his feelings to her yet." Her expression was wry, a slight adjustment of her earlobe indicating her thoughtful assessment.
Ra-im Yu. The name itself seemed to sparkle. She's pretty and kind, with a sad backstory. Even her name is pretty. In I's mind, Ra-im was the quintessential female lead.
Ra-im was the one who was pretty and confident, and she also gets good grades. She was the one who earned the perfect "100" on tests and the glowing gold trophy. She was, in short, the total package.
Or maybe not? I thought, recalling a memory of Ra-im in the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. She might be more fit for the role of the male lead's ex. I chewed the chip thoughtfully. Cause the female leads are usually... quite ordinary.
A sudden, ambitious thought sparked in I's mind: "In that case, I would be a better fit...". After all, what was she, if not ordinary? She was just I, in her skull-patterned pajamas, a girl who forgot she was dressed like a slob.
The Family Picture
The memory of the girl I called her sister was complicated. "Well... she's not my younger sister exactly..." Ra-im had laughed, a little apologetically. "She's kind of like my foster sister. Yeah, let's go with that". "We're not twins but we are the same age". "We're not related by blood but we're still a family".
The family photograph showed them side-by-side, two girls in matching uniforms, seated between their adoptive parents.
I remembered the night Ra-im told her story. Lying on the bed with cucumber slices on their faces. "My dad left my mom when he found out she was pregnant". "My mom suffered a lot raising me on her own, and then she died in an accident".
"It still hurts to think about her," I confessed, tears streaming down her face as she reached out to hug Ra-im. "Ra-im didn't cry while telling me her story, but I did".
"She had to go through so much because of me," I lamented, pulling Ra-im close.
"There were no secrets between us after that". They were family, linked by a choice and a shared history, not blood. Ra-im was a "kind little sister, all worried for her sis". But I, the ordinary one, still wondered about her place, even questioning her status when a handsome boy mistakenly addressed her as a "little sister".
The memory of the convenience store encounter flashed vividly in I's mind, making her fidget in her slippers.
Her face burned with shame as she recalled the moment the handsome boy, Eunhyeok, had glanced at her.
"Oh shit... I forgot I was dressed like a slob". She'd been caught in her red pajamas with skull patterns and house slippers. Eunhyeok's gaze had been a momentary 'SCAN', followed by an expression she'd never seen before when he looked at Ra-im.
And then there was that other guy—the one who made a terrible first impression on her. He had seen her in her casual clothes and asked, "How old are you? Are you in middle school?".
"Pfft... HAHAHA!!" I had burst out laughing.
He'd only responded with annoyance. "Ow, my ears. Your laugh is so annoying. Calm down, what are you, in elementary school?".
When he realized his mistake, he just chuckled, "Hey, Eunhyeok, are you being serious?".
Another girl, presumably Ra-im's friend, quickly intervened. "This is Su-ae [Note: I am referring to the character in the panel with the dark hair here as Su-ae, following the user's intent to replace Su-ae with I in the narrative where appropriate for the blonde girl's actions, but the dialogue panel labels her as 'Su-ae' in the picture. For the purposes of the continuity of I's internal monologue, I will refer to the girl with the dark hair as Ra-im's friend and keep the focus on I's impression of Eunhyeok], you guys are in the same class. I know the semester just started but how can you not even recognize her?".
The boy casually shrugged it off. "Oh... sorry. I think it was 'the hair' that threw me off".
What the hell is his problem?! I thought, frustration bubbling up. That interaction basically summed up her entire impression of Eunhyeok. He was either oblivious, rude, or both. And yet, this was the same boy who was now smiling sweetly at Ra-im.
Back in the Classroom
The next morning, the bell rang, signaling the end of a class. The teacher announced, "Su-ae, please collect all the notebooks and bring them to the Teacher's Office!".
I, who was counting the notebooks stacked on the desk—"one... two, three, four..."—noticed a problem. "There's one missing... Who hasn't submitted theirs yet?".
She glanced across the classroom, her eyes settling on the familiar figure of Eunhyeok. He was slouched at his desk, his hand resting against his face, writing. He had an earphone plugged into one ear.
I, holding the stack of notebooks, called out: "Hey, Eunhyeok! You have to submit your notebook!".
He didn't move. He continued scratching his pen against the paper, seeming completely engrossed.
I frowned. Huh? Is he pretending he can't hear me? she wondered. Then she saw the giveaway. But he's only wearing earphones in one ear! The annoyance flared up again. He was clearly trying to ignore her.
I stood by her desk in the classroom (2-3), clutching the heavy stack of collected notebooks.
There was one missing, and her eyes fixed on Eunhyeok, slouched over his own desk, engrossed in writing.
"Hey, Eunhyeok! You have to submit your notebook!" I called out, her voice slightly strained from the weight of the pile and her rising annoyance.
He didn't acknowledge her. He just kept scratching his pen against the paper, an earphone dangling from one ear.
Huh? Is he pretending he can't hear me? The thought was infuriating. But he's only wearing earphones in one ear!
"Sigh," I sighed. "I don't like this guy..."
Another girl spoke up, maybe trying to mediate. "Eunhyeok usually never replies when he's focused on studying". "You have to go up to him and tell him".
Urghh, this is ridiculous... I grimaced, a mischievous, stubborn look on her face. Do I really have to do all that?
"He can do it himself then!" she snapped, turning away. "Hmph!" She addressed the other girl: "Hey, what's wrong?"
She stormed off with the stack of notebooks. "Su-ae, please collect all the notebooks and bring them to the Teacher's Office!" the teacher's voice echoed in her memory.
At the Teacher's Office door, I announced, "Here are the notebooks you asked for".
"Thanks, you can just leave them there. Good work..." the teacher replied.
I left them and walked back to the classroom, a sudden wave of guilt washing over her. "Oh, I feel kind of bad now". "It's like I missed his notebook on purpose".
She reached the classroom door and saw Eunhyeok about to leave, his binder in hand.
I stopped him. "!"
"Hehe..." she began awkwardly, trying to smile. "I asked you for your notebook earlier, but you didn't..."
Before she could finish, Eunhyeok side-stepped her and walked past. "WHOOSH".
"...Answer me..." I finished lamely, staring at the empty space where he had been.
Eunhyeok's swift, dismissive pass-by in the hallway left I momentarily stunned. She stood there, her attempted apology dying on her lips, staring at the empty space with a growing, indignant heat.
"...Answer me…" she thought, the single word hanging in the air.
Her guilt instantly evaporated, replaced by boiling frustration.
Does he think it's my fault or something? He's the one who didn't answer.
I clenched her fists, tiny wisps of steam seeming to escape her head. Fume.
He's so nice and playful with everyone else... but why is he so unfriendly to me?.
She thought back to that night at the convenience store, and his rude assumption that she was a middle schooler, commenting on her "annoying" laugh and her "hair". So rude!.
That initial encounter, where she was dressed in her skull-patterned pajamas to buy snacks, sealed her impression of him: Eunhyeok was infuriatingly aloof toward her.
I tried to walk off her frustration, heading toward the School Zone. The image of Eunhyeok being kind to Ra-im only fueled her annoyance.
He wouldn't dare treat Ra-im like that, she thought. Because Ra-im is the total package.
She saw Ra-im now, standing at the school gate. Ra-im was holding her school bag, zipping up a skirt that looked artificially lengthened.
"Why don't you just wear a longer skirt?" I asked, joining her.
Ra-im gave a slight shrug. "Cause it's not as cute...".
I frowned. "Cute? But it's such a nuisance every morning".
Ra-im, with her long, blonde hair and brilliant smile, laughed, her charm radiating even in a moment of minor deceit.
"All done. Let's go!" she cheerfully suggested.
"Don't change the subject," I muttered, sensing the dodge. "Wait, my tie!".
Ra-im's expression crumpled from cheerfulness to panic.
"See, you were so occupied with packing another skirt you forgot to..." I began to scold, stuttering, before Ra-im interrupted, her eyes wide with shock: "Huh?".
The lie was out. Ra-im wasn't just adjusting the length for fashion; she was juggling multiple items to hide her non-compliant uniform. Even the perfect Ra-im had her messy secrets.
I watched in shocked annoyance as Eunhyeok—the boy who seemed to actively dislike her—walked past without a word. The thought that he might blame her for the missing notebook sparked a flare of outrage.
Does he think it's my fault or something? she fumed, stomping her foot slightly. He's the one who didn't answer. She could only think, He's so nice and playful with everyone else... but why is he so unfriendly to me?. His entire demeanor toward her was just so rude!.
I was still muttering to herself when she caught up to Ra-im outside the school gate. The sheer perfection of Ra-im was slightly marred as she was quickly zipping up her skirt.
"Why don't you just wear a longer skirt?" I asked, irritated. Ra-im insisted it wasn't as cute. "Cute? But it's such a nuisance every morning.".
"All done. Let's go!" Ra-im replied with a forced cheerfulness.
"Don't change the subject," I muttered, then noticed the major infraction: "Wait, my tie!".
Ra-im's smile vanished. "H-Huh?".
I stammered, "See, you were so occupied with packing another skirt you forgot to..."
Suddenly, Ra-im grabbed her arm and dragged her into a shadowy corner. Another girl, who had been with them, quickly said, "Well, good luck! I'm gonna get going first" and hurried away with a 'WHOOSH'.
Ra-im was panicking. "Dammit... Isn't the disciplinary head waiting at the gate today? He's going to make us run laps for sure...". The thought of the punishment made her instinctively start running in place.
Just then, Eunhyeok appeared, walking toward them. He was greeted by another student with, "Hi, Eunhyeok. Why are you just standing here?".
"Not him again..." I groaned under her breath.
"We forgot our ties..." Ra-im whispered, looking defeated. "We're going to be running laps for sure...". They knew the disciplinary head was strict, even flagging clear earrings.
Eunhyeok, now standing nearby, looked at them and then reached out, his hand moving toward Ra-im's shirt.
"H-Huh?" Ra-im gasped.
To I's utter shock, Eunhyeok unfastened his own tie. "You can use mine," he stated simply.
"What?" I replied, bewildered.
Ra-im was taken aback. "Then what about you?".
"I was going to run laps before class anyway," Eunhyeok said, his words implying a level of chronic uniform disregard that made Ra-im look guilty.
He looked directly at Ra-im, holding out the tie. "I'm warning you, I might not give this back".
Ra-im giggled nervously. "Haha, you're joking...".
Eunhyeok, ever the gentleman to Ra-im, then announced to the other girl, "I'm going to go on ahead. Good luck!" and walked off.
I, watching the exchange, could only think: Wow... such a gentleman. Even though he was kind to Ra-im, that initial impression of him as an annoying bully to her still colored her judgment.
I watched Eunhyeok walk away, his white shirt collar slightly open where his tie had been. The generous gesture—offering his tie to Ra-im—was infuriatingly gentlemanly.
"Wow... such a gentleman," I thought, the words laced with a sour, internal sarcasm.
Ra-im was busy tying the borrowed red accessory, her face flushed with a mixture of panic and relief.
"I'm warning you, I might not give this back," Eunhyeok had said with a smirk. He had then excused his own tie-less state by saying he was going to run laps anyway.
He's so nice to her, I realized, the truth hitting her like a cold splash of water. He's playful with everyone else, too, except for me.
A single tear traced a path down her cheek.
It wasn't just about the tie. It was about everything. It was about seeing the kind, solicitous expression on his face outside the convenience store when he spoke to Ra-im. It was about his rude dismissal of her laughter when she tried to be friendly.
It's understandable. Ra-im's the total package.
Ra-im, her borrowed tie perfectly knotted, suddenly turned to I. "Hey, I! What are you doing?".
I quickly wiped her face. "Huh? Nothing...".
"Did you forget your tie too?" Ra-im asked, her brow furrowed in concern. She gestured to the tie that Eunhyeok had given her. "You can use this one!".
The offer surprised I, halting the flow of her bitter thoughts. ...!
Ra-im unfastened the tie. "You can give it to me before the last class!" she insisted, pressing the tie into I's hand.
"What about you, Ra-im?" I asked, looking from the tie to her foster sister.
"Haha, it's okay. I'm going to run laps with Eunhyeok anyway!" Ra-im replied with a bright, easy smile.
I stood there, holding Eunhyeok's warm tie—a tie intended for Ra-im, now in her hands, gifted to her by Ra-im. She looked at her sister, her perfect sister, who was always kind and worried for her.
Ra-im really is kind....
The complex wave of envy and deep affection she felt for Ra-im, her foster sister who had been through so much, washed over her. Ra-im was the heroine, beautiful and kind, even with her own small, secret flaws. And now, she was running laps with the handsome, aloof male lead, while I stood alone, holding his tie.
I was sitting in class, trying to focus on the lecture, when my phone suddenly vibrated with a 'BUZZ'. I discreetly pulled out my pink flip phone. A text from an "Unknown Number." .
I-is this text for me...? I thought, feeling immediately suspicious.
The message was short and unnerving: "look at the photo album."
A minute later, another text came through, more direct: "yes, you, the funny looking girl with the short hair. open the photo album."
My heart started to pound. This was specifically for me. Who would know I had short hair and call me "funny looking?" With a trembling hand, I decided to do what the message demanded. I carefully pressed the button to access the photo album. "PRESS."
As the photo album loaded, a gasp caught in my throat. "W-WHAT IS THIS?"
I tapped through the photos. "TAP." "TAP."
They were all photos of me. Candid shots taken without my knowledge—walking into the school, sitting alone on the steps, even one of me carrying my bag and standing next to the popular guy, Eunhyeok. .
"THEY'RE ALL PHOTOS OF ME?" I scrolled through the dozens of images, my face paling. "WHAT KIND OF PSYCHO TOOK ALL OF THESE?!"
Just as I finished looking at the terrifying album, a familiar voice sounded next to me.
"Huh? Isn't that Eunhyeok's phone?"
I looked up. It was Jina, one of my classmates, standing with another girl.
"What?" I quickly tried to hide the phone.
"Why do you have that? Are you close with him?" she pressed, her voice dripping with suspicion and judgment. .
I couldn't handle the phone, the photos, and the questioning all at once. "Hey, where are you going?" Jina called as I pushed past them, my mind racing. I needed to find Eunhyeok.
I spotted him sitting at his desk, cool and composed as ever, distracted by his own phone. "DU DUN" was the only sound I heard in my head. .
I marched up to his desk, slamming the pink flip phone down next to him.
"HEY, YOU! EXPLAIN THIS!" I shouted, pointing a shaky finger at the device. "WHAT ARE THESE PHOTOS?!"
I stood over Eunhyeok, my blood boiling. The pink flip phone, the one he clearly owned, was evidence of a disturbing obsession.
"HEY, YOU! EXPLAIN THIS!" I demanded, pointing the phone accusingly. "WHAT ARE THESE PHOTOS?!"
Eunhyeok looked up at me, his expression coolly indifferent. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" he asked, feigning ignorance.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I felt my face flush with anger and disbelief. "YOU TOOK MY PHOTOS WITHOUT PERMISSION…"
Suddenly, the phone I was holding in my hand flashed with a new notification. A loud 'DING' came from the device.
I glanced down, and a chill went through me. The photo album I had just looked at was suddenly empty. "WHAT THE... HOW...?"
The screen then displayed a new message from the "Unknown Number."
"I New Message"
The text that appeared next was startling: "you have a pretty big mouth (¬_¬);;"
could someone send a text immediately after I confronted Eunhyeok?
As I stared at the phone, the screen changed again. The cute, pink flip phone now displayed a terrifying, bright red "GAME OVER" message with a skull and crossbones.
A new realization hit me, harder and colder than the initial shock. "IT WASN'T EUNHYEOK...?"
Another series of messages buzzed onto the screen from the Unknown Number:
"everything I tell you from now on has to be our secret!!"
"don't tell anyone~ (^o^)//"
Then came the explicit threat, making my hands shake even more.
"you don't know what will happen if you tell!"
But the tone abruptly shifted again.
"BUZZ"
"don't worry."
"BUZZ"
"I'm here to help you! ヾ(≧∇≦)ノ"
I felt sick. This person was not a friend or an admirer; they were a puppet master. "WHO IS THIS THEN?"
The final message simply displayed a chilling, playful emote: "GIGGLE ヾ(≧∇≦)ノ"
I was trapped in a terrifying game, and I had just made the first wrong move.