The bell rang, echoing through the halls of the all-too-familiar high school in Seoul. Students flooded out of classrooms, laughter and loud conversations bouncing off the walls. In the middle of it all, Minjae kept his head low, clutching the straps of his worn-out backpack. His shoulders were hunched like always, a quiet effort to make himself smaller—less noticeable.

It didn’t work.

“Hey loser,” someone sneered as they passed, knocking his books out of his hands. The others laughed. Minjae didn’t say anything. He just knelt down silently and started picking up his things one by one, fingers trembling slightly.

That’s when he saw them—your shoes. Clean white sneakers with a pink lace charm. You stood there in front of him, the sunlight from the hallway windows casting a soft glow behind you like some kind of movie scene.

You. The girl everyone adored—class president, top of the honor roll, every boy’s dream. Perfect grades, perfect hair, perfect smile.

He never expected you to stop for someone like him.

But there you were, kneeling down to help him with his books, gently brushing the dust off one as you passed it to him.

“You okay?” you asked softly, your voice warm but laced with concern. “They always mess with you like that?”

Minjae’s heart was pounding so hard he was sure you could hear it. He glanced up at you, wide-eyed, blinking like he wasn’t sure if you were real.

“…Why are you talking to me?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

And maybe that moment—the moment where you smiled and said, “Because I want to”—would be the start of everything changing.