The silence at the table was deafening. Min-ji's eyes darted between Yoo-na's protective stance and the mysterious, handsome boy sitting across from her. Jae-wook felt like a cornered animal, his instinct to vanish fighting against his promise to stay.
"Yoo-na..." Min-ji whispered, her voice a mix of shock and confusion. "Is this... is this the boy from the back of the class? It can't be. Kim Jae-wook is... he's a nobody. But this guy looks like he walked off a billboard."
Jae-wook finally looked up. Without his glasses, his gaze was sharp and focused, but his voice remained soft. "I'm the same person, Min-ji. Whether you see me or not."
Min-ji stumbled back, her hand over her mouth. "But the rumors... and the way you look... you've been lying to everyone."
"I wasn't lying," Jae-wook said, standing up. "I was just being quiet. There's a difference."
Yoo-na stood up too, stepping between Min-ji and Jae-wook. "Min-ji, please. Don't say anything at school. Not yet. He's not ready."
Min-ji looked at her best friend, then at Jae-wook. The "comic relief" of the class was gone; she looked genuinely torn. "Yoo-na, you know how this school works. If I saw it, others will too. You can't keep a glitch hidden forever."
The weekend was a blur of anxiety. Jae-wook stayed offline, avoiding both the game and his phone.
He spent hours staring at the silver star keychain Yoo-na had returned to him. It felt like a bridge between his two lives—a bridge that was starting to crack under the weight of the truth.
On Monday morning, the atmosphere at Saebom High had shifted. The whispers were no longer about Teacher Hae-in and the "weird kid." Now, they were focused on a blurry photo Min-ji had accidentally—or perhaps impulsively—posted on her private story before deleting it. It was a shot of Jae-wook from the café, unmasked and stylish.
As Jae-wook walked down the hallway, he didn't hunch his shoulders. He didn't hide his face. He still wore his glasses and his messy hair, but something in his posture had changed. He wasn't a shadow anymore; he was a person with a secret.
In the middle of the hallway, he ran into Yoo-na. She was surrounded by her usual group of popular friends, but the moment she saw him, she stopped talking. Her friends looked at Jae-wook with new eyes—some with curiosity, some with blatant judgment.
"What's he doing?" one of the boys sneered. "Does he think a haircut and a fake photo makes him special?"
Yoo-na ignored them. She walked straight up to Jae-wook. The entire hallway went silent.
"We have to finish that project today," she said, her voice clear and loud. "After school. At my place?"
The crowd gasped. The school's sweetheart inviting the "glitch" to her home was a scandal far bigger than any rumor.
Jae-wook looked into her eyes. He saw the support she was offering—a public declaration that she was on his side. He smiled, a genuine, small smile that reached his eyes.
"Okay," he replied. "I'll be there, Starry."
The use of her game name was a subtle hint, a secret code between them in the middle of a crowded reality. As he walked away, he could feel the jealousy and the confusion blooming behind him like a storm. The slow burn of their attraction was turning into a fire, and the school was the wood.
Behind a locker, Teacher Hae-in watched the scene unfold with a satisfied grin. He adjusted his tie and whispered to himself, "The game is finally getting interesting."