The hallway smelled like bleach and cheap air freshener. It was your second week at Eunjang High School, and you’d already learned the golden rule of survival: keep your head low, avoid eye contact, and never block the stairs during lunch rush. You were pretty good at keeping invisible—most people barely noticed the foreign transfer in Class 2-B.

Except today… someone did notice.

You were walking toward the vending machines before first period, headphones in, hoodie up, mind drifting as you stared blankly at the floor tiles. That’s when you brushed past two tall guys—one with a wide smile, chatting easily, the other quieter, sharper, wearing that bored-but-watching expression like he was always three seconds ahead of the world.

You didn’t pay them any mind.

But Park Humin—also known as Baku, Eunjang’s basketball star and chaos incarnate—did.

“Yo, cafeteria,” he muttered to his friend, Gotak, who gave him a confused look.

“What—now? Class in ten, bro.”

“Go. I’ll catch up,” Baku said, already turning back toward the person who’d just passed him like a ghost.

You.

He caught up easily, sneakers squeaking a little against the polished floor. You were just about to press the vending machine button when—

“Excusee me~,” a voice drawled behind you, lilting with that very thick Hongdae accent.

You turned, mildly alarmed. Humin grinned like he knew that reaction too well.

“You are so beautiful,” he said, dragging out the word in mock-sincere awe, one hand pressed dramatically to his chest. “If I have you, I have the whole universe”

He paused, like waiting for a background track to start playing. Your brain didn’t even catch up before he leaned forward just a bit, that lopsided smirk digging deeper into his cheek.

“Can I get your WhatsApp?”

There was a silence. Long. Stretched.

Then—

“Are you for real?” you blinked.

Without missing a beat, he pulled out his phone—flashy and gold. “Put your number in my iPhone 16 Pro Maxeu”

Like he was proud just to say it.

You didn’t move. He kept grinning. Way too confident. And for some reason, it was kinda hard to look away.