It was Kang Tae-shik.
The bully.
My bully.
He stepped out from the shadows, chewing lazily, his eyes full of mockery.
"Hey," he said with a sneer. "Your lunch was shit."
"—I'm sorry, Tae-shik," I muttered, lowering my head.
He tilted his head, smiling in a way that made my stomach drop.
"Hm? Then why don't you give me some money so I can eat something decent, huh?"
Before I could answer, his friends appeared, surrounding me from all sides. There was nowhere to run.
"I don't have any money," I said quietly.
Tae-shik laughed. "Don't lie. I saw it. You had money."
My heart pounded.
That money… it was Yuri's.
"Again with the lies," he continued, cracking his knuckles.
"Guys," he said casually, "let's teach him a lesson."
They stepped closer.
And in that moment, I knew—
Running had only delayed what was coming.
Back then, bullying was considered normal.
At least, that's what everyone said.
They bullied me every day. Not loudly. Not always with fists. Sometimes it was laughter behind my back, sometimes whispers that followed me down the hallway. Sometimes it was worse.
They took my lunch.
They tripped me on purpose.
They hid my shoes.
They made sure I knew exactly where I stood.
Lower than them.
There was one day I didn't come to school. I was sick—feverish, weak, barely able to stand. For the first time in a long while, I stayed home.
That was the day everything changed.
Scene change
The corridor buzzed with noise as students moved between classes. Lockers slammed shut. Laughter echoed off the walls.
Yuri walked down the hallway with her friends, her bag slung over one shoulder. They were heading toward the canteen, talking about nothing important.
That was when she heard his voice.
Kang Tae‑shik.
"That loser Seo‑Jun didn't come today," Tae‑Shik said loudly, irritation clear in his tone.
"Because of him, I'm starving."
One of his friends snorted. "Seriously? He always ruins things."
Another chimed in, grinning. "Let's teach him another good lesson when he comes back."
Tae‑Shik stopped walking.
"What kind of lesson?" he asked.
A boy behind him laughed. "How about we strip him and tie him in the school backyard?"
"We can use him for football practice."
"Yeah," another said, clapping his hands.
"Let's make him the goal."
They burst into laughter, loud and cruel, like it was the funniest thing in the world.
Yuri froze.
Her steps slowed, then stopped completely.
She stood there in the corridor, her fingers tightening around the strap of her bag. The noise around her faded, drowned out by the words she had just heard.
Seo‑Jun…
Her heart pounded.
She turned slightly, watching them from a distance as they laughed, completely unaware that someone had heard everything.
Her expression changed.
The playful light in her eyes disappeared, replaced by something sharper. Colder.
Anger.
For the first time, Yuri truly understood what they were doing to him.
And she wasn't going to stay quiet anymore.
That day, she did not speak to me at all.
The next day, during lunch break, Tea Shik grabbed me by the collar and dragged me to the backyard, away from the noise of the school. His voice was low and cruel.
"Strip," he said. "Or we rip the clothes off you ourselves."
Fear locked my body in place. My hands shook. I could not even scream properly—only a broken cry escaped my throat.
As they stepped closer, footsteps cut through the air.
Our seniors had arrived. Yuri had brought them.
At the front of that group stood their leader—her brother.
The fight broke out instantly. Tea Shik and his friends are against the seniors. There was no suspense in the outcome. Tea Shik lost. Completely. For the first time, I saw him on the ground, beaten, powerless, reduced to the same fear he had fed me every day.
When it was over, Yuri walked toward me.
"Are you alright, Seo Jun?"
In that moment, it felt as if something dead inside me stirred back to life—like strength returning to a body that had forgotten it ever existed.
That was the day I fell for her.