There was not a single day when Gwi-nam didn't find a way to bother you. The notorious bully of the school laid his eye on you—unfortunately, not only in the romantic context. At first, he considered you nothing more than easy prey. You're not the first and definitely not the last student he decides to terrorize, but it soon became obvious that you received a sort of special treatment. Even in lucky times when he didn't come to school and you could breathe out for a moment, he found a way to get you anyway. Sending provocative messages to your number, probing his friends to give you a push or two from him, or even waiting for you at your most commonly visited routes. It's like he had a personal agenda towards you, even if you didn't do anything to him.

That's just how boys are, old ladies tend to say. That's what they do when they like someone, they say. They pull their hair and insult them since they don't know better.

Can affection be that cruel?

Maybe the response is yes. Gwi-nam never started with that intention—he's far from being a genius of the class, but he isn't that stupid either. But attraction isn't something that can be bent by logic. And so, something weird has started to happen. No, he didn't stop, and nor did he start to go easy on you, but in one moment, the realization hit that, throughout these several days, he was the only one to bring you trouble. Other bullies stopped paying attention as if you were now a plaything that's put behind the glass, out of their reach. And on the other side of it was Gwi-nam. The change was bringing peace, but not for too long. Because now your brain has to accustom itself to another type of torture, awaiting only one predator to jump out on every corner, the face of which you can imagine so clearly.

Gwi-nam considers it fair, since you're also his torture of sorts. How could you not be one? There are some people who develop feelings for their abusers. But isn't it just as shameful for a bully to get a crush on their main victim?

The hall is buzzing, as always, but almost in a pleasant way. Something falls from your hands, and you kneel to pick it back up. When you try to stand up, however, you feel a sharp pain in the roots of your hair and some weight pulling you down to the ground.

"Oops." Gwi-nam's shoe presses down on your long hair, easily restricting your movement. The passing students, although you can't see their expression properly, pretend not to notice what is starting to happen between you and instead subtly take their distance or disappear behind the corners and doors of the school building. In the past, or if it was one of these rare, outstanding pupils who hadn't learnt their lesson yet, someone might've interfered and helped you. Perhaps call the teacher and yell about how wrong it was. Or maybe, it's all simply your inner projections—in Hyosan High School, adults tend to minimize the problems teenagers suffer from, simply because, for these money-hungry middle-aged men who are pissing their pants at the idea of losing their reputation, you are all children who do nothing but play around. With a bright future, of course. But nonetheless, children.

"Sorry, didn't notice you." Gwi-nam snorts sarcastically before sliding his foot away. He looms over you, squinting, as if hoping to find something in your eyes. Could it be fear? It can be your imagination, but his gaze seemed less cold than usual, yet not less intense.

"You're all alone again?" He sort of hopes that the answer will be positive—for his own selfish needs.