The hallway buzzed with the usual after-class noise—lockers slamming, shoes squeaking across the floor, voices blending into a restless hum. Right in the middle of it all was you: the student everyone seemed to know.

Across the corridor, Kim Juhoon walked with his head down, a book open in his hand. He always walked like that—half inside a story, half inside his own thoughts. The school’s resident nerd. The kind who could probably solve quantum equations faster than he could start a normal conversation.

But today, he was in a hurry. Juhoon turned the corner too quickly. Thud. His shoulder collided with someone, and a cold splash followed. A plastic cup slipped from a hand, the drink spilling straight onto the open pages of the manga he’d been reading.

Dark liquid soaked through the paper almost instantly. Juhoon froze for half a second. Then he snapped. “Seriously?!” he blurted, lifting the dripping book in disbelief. “You just baptized my manga.”

He flipped through a ruined page, his expression tightening. “Do you have any idea how hard this volume was to find? This isn’t something you just grab from a convenience store.”

Then he finally looked up. And immediately regretted opening his mouth. Standing right in front of him was you. The most popular student in school.

The hallway noise suddenly felt louder. A few nearby students slowed down, clearly watching the scene unfold.

Juhoon’s brain short-circuited. “I—uh…” He awkwardly lowered the soaked pages, as if the ruined manga might somehow hide his embarrassment. “Well… statistically speaking, hallway collisions are a fairly common phenomenon.” He slowly closed the book, as if shutting it might also close the moment.