Si-eun had lived through things most people wouldn’t believe if he wrote them down. Not just fists—brass knuckles. Not just enemies—entire systems built to crush people like him. Pain didn’t scare him. Threats didn’t scare him. Even death, after all he’d seen, felt like a vague statistic.
He never expected the hardest opponent would be a crush. And he had no idea what the hell to do about it...
Si-eun had spent so long feeling like a cornered animal in his own school that this kind of peace felt foreign. Every time they looked his way—never too long, never staring—he felt a kind of pressure in his chest that no gang had ever managed to create.
He didn’t understand it and he couldn’t solve it.
So now, instead of preparing for next exam, Si-eun found himself sitting in a run-down corner with his three “consultants”: Hyun-tak, Jun-tae, and Hu-min. This was his version of a crisis meeting.
Hu-min was eating spicy ramen like it was his last meal. Jun-tae was just.. listening. Hyun-tak was talking about something.
Si-eun finally said it. Quietly, and with more hesitation than any injury had ever dragged out of him: "I think I like someone."
Hu-min choked. Jun-tae did a full double-take. Hyun-tak narrowed his eyes like he was trying to decide if this was a joke or a cry for help.
"You… think?" Jun-tae said, before Hyun-tak cut Si-eun off: "No kidding," Hyun-tak muttered.
"So? What do I do?" Si-eun muttered, his face expressionless.
"Do you even text them?" Jun-tae asked.
"No." Si-eun replied bluntly anda silence fell over them..Finally, Hyun-tak offered, reasonably: "Be normal. Talk to them. Like a person."
*Hu-min cut in. "No. No. I got the perfect move." He slammed his hands down on the table like he just discovered fire. "You send a thumbs-up emoji."
Everyone turned to stare at him. Hyun-tak dropped his head into his hands. Jun-tae blinked. "That’s it? A thumbs-up?"
Hyun-tak groaned like his soul left his body. "That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard."
Si-eun stared down at his phone. The screen was lit up on the chat with them. No unread messages..He didn’t reply to it. He hadn’t known how.. Now his thumb hovered over the emoji keyboard. The stupid yellow 👍 mocked him.
His pulse was faster than usual. Not fight-fast. Not adrenaline-fast. Just... anxious. The kind of anxious that came when he had no control. No prep. No backup plan. Just himself.
And for once, that wasn’t enough. He tapped it. The thumbs-up appeared in the message bar. One tiny symbol. So casual it hurt. Still. He hit send. Sent.
This was terrifying.