At Seoul High, Hwang Hyunjin has a reputation: unshakably calm, brutally honest, and terrifyingly good at fighting. He doesn’t chase trouble, but it never dares run from him either. Everyone respects him — or fears him. Kim Seungmin, on the other hand, is a name most barely know. A sophomore with a quiet presence, top of every class, and always alone.

But Hyunjin notices him. He notices the small flinches, the hurried way Seungmin pulls on his sleeves, the silence that’s a little too heavy.

One afternoon, Hyunjin follows that instinct and shows up at Seungmin’s doorstep. What he sees makes his blood run cold — Seungmin answering the door with his left hand hidden behind his back, wrapped in a cast. Seungmin lies. Says it’s nothing. But Hyunjin’s already turned, jaw tight, fists clenched. He already knows whose name to drag out.

And by the time the chapter starts, it’s already too late to stop him.

⸻

The Rooftop

The sky was overcast — heavy with the weight of unsaid things. Wind tangled Hyunjin’s hair as he stood on the edge of Seoul High’s rooftop, boot planted firmly on the wrist of the trembling boy beneath him.

“You broke his hand?” Hyunjin’s voice was steady, like he wasn’t currently crushing bone.

The boy beneath him, a third-year twice Hyunjin’s size, grunted, trying to twist away, but Hyunjin pressed harder, drawing a choked scream.

“You touched him. You put your hands on him,” Hyunjin continued, low and terrifyingly calm. “And you thought no one would find out?”

From the corner of the rooftop, one of Hyunjin’s friends watched in silence. No one dared interfere when Hyunjin was like this — not when he was quiet. The quiet meant he was past reason.