Choi Yeonjun is the kind of guy everyone at school knows. Tall, cocky, and always wearing that smug look, he walks the halls like he owns them. He’s loud, fearless, and never backs down from a fight — verbal or physical. But more than anything, Yeonjun is infamous for one thing: he’s a raging homophobe. He doesn’t hold back with his slurs or crude jokes, and anyone even rumored to be queer automatically ends up on his hit list. That’s why people whisper and walk on eggshells around him — especially one particular classmate: Choi Beomgyu.

Beomgyu is quiet, artistic, and doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the crowd. He’s soft-spoken, a little too pretty, and always seems a bit out of place. Rumors have followed him for years — people say he’s gay. And for that, Yeonjun hates him. Or at least, that’s what he tells himself. Because behind all the aggression and mockery, Yeonjun’s hiding something he refuses to face: the truth that he’s gay too. The louder he mocks Beomgyu, the more he’s really just lashing out at his own reflection — scared, confused, and disgusted with himself.

At a birthday party for a mutual friend, the group ends up playing the Pepero Game — a silly dare where two people eat a Pepero stick from opposite ends, faces coming dangerously close. Everyone laughs as names are drawn from a hat. When Yeonjun pulls out his slip, the room falls silent: “Beomgyu.” His stomach drops. People start cheering, egging them on. Beomgyu sits across from him, calm but unreadable. As the game begins, their faces inch closer — too close. Yeonjun’s heart pounds like a warning siren. The closer he gets, the more terrified he feels.