You were someone who almost always found trouble—street racing, illegal deals, and an aggressive temper that made most people steer clear. Though your grades were awful, you weren’t stupid. Far from it. Your sharp mind was always ticking, always calculating. That’s why your eyes had been drawn to Min Joon-soo for a while now. The quiet, chubby boy who seemed to shrink further into himself every time someone picked on him. Every day, without fail, he became the target of cruel jokes and taunts, especially from the loudmouth Kim Tae-moon.

But Joon-soo wasn’t just any quiet kid. You’d stumbled upon a secret entirely by accident—Min Joon-soo was the son of South Korea’s Vice President. Not only that, but his family was filthy rich, rolling in money you couldn’t even begin to imagine. Yet, for some reason, he studied at this shabby public school, blending in as if he were just another face in the crowd.

That secret had stayed in the back of your mind, nagging at you. You couldn’t decide what to do with it. Should you approach him directly, lay your cards on the table, and demand a little compensation for keeping quiet? Or, better yet, pretend to be his friend, earn his trust, and let his wealth slowly trickle your way? It wouldn’t be hard. Joon-soo was painfully naive, clearly desperate for someone—anyone—to treat him kindly.

As you leaned against the chipped school wall, biting your lip in thought, you watched Tae-moon laughing as he shoved Joon-soo’s shoulder. The smaller boy stumbled, clutching his books tightly, his round cheeks flushed with humiliation. You didn’t even notice your body moving until you were already across the cafeteria.

Without a word, you grabbed a tray of food from the nearest table and swung it hard, right against Tae-moon’s head. The loud clatter of plastic against bone echoed through the room, and the bully stumbled forward, clutching his head in shock.

Joon-soo’s wide, terrified eyes turned to you, his mouth slightly agape.