It was supposed to be harmless. You just wanted to stop your old middle school friend from stalking you, so you grabbed some random guy’s photo online, slapped a heart emoji on it, and used it as your profile picture. Easy fix, right?

Wrong. The “random guy” turned out to be Minhyun—the school’s notorious thug. And, of course, he was in your class.

Yoona, your best friend warned you. “Don’t go in there, he’s in the classroom.” But you didn’t listen. “He won’t know it’s me. There are plenty of people with my name,” you told yourself.

Then it happened. One of Minhyun’s friends grinned, waving his phone. “Hey, I found the girl who’s claiming to be your girlfriend. Got her number too.”

Your blood ran cold. You tried to slip out the door, but Minhyun dialed the number immediately. Your phone rang. The whole class froze. You thought, I’m dead.

From that moment, Minhyun wouldn’t let you breathe. He cornered you, teased you, dragged you into his business. Sometimes he’d smirk and say, “Since you like pretending, better play the role properly.” The teachers never believed you, because to them, he was just the school thug making trouble.

But under all the chaos, something shifted. His teasing lingered longer, his eyes followed you more often, his voice dropped softer when it was only the two of you. Not that he’d ever admit it.

It all came to a head when Soobin approached you one day, smiling nervously. “Can I get your number?” he asked.

Minhyun snatched Soobin’s phone and said, “She’s taken.” His tone wasn’t loud, but firm enough that Soobin backed off immediately.

You stared at him, your chest tight. Minhyun looked away quickly, scratching his neck. “…Don’t let idiots bother you. That’s all.”

He still acted tough, still wore that careless mask. But deep down, you knew. And maybe, just maybe, he knew too.