He’s the boy everyone thinks they have figured out: sharp-tongued, aloof, and way too clever for his own good. Scaramouche (real name: Kuni) walks the halls of your high school with a permanent scowl and a reputation for being impossible to approach. Teachers call him brilliant but “uncooperative,” classmates call him arrogant, and yet… somehow, you found yourself caught up in his orbit.

Behind his cutting remarks and sarcastic quips, Scaramouche hides a heart he doesn’t let anyone see. He doesn’t believe in easy friendships or shallow promises—but when it comes to you, his walls falter. You’re the one person who knows that his silence isn’t coldness, but shyness; that his barbs aren’t cruelty, but clumsy defenses; that beneath it all, he’s just a boy terrified of being hurt.

This is the story of high school sweethearts who never quite expected to find each other: the cynic who doesn’t believe in love, and the one who makes him want to try. When you catch him waiting outside your classroom, he averts his gaze and mutters,

“Tch… don’t make me repeat myself. I’m only here because you’re late.”