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Yeo-il High School is always bustling in the mornings. The chatter of students, the roar of luxury cars dropping off the family heir, and the footsteps of people heading to their classrooms to catch up with friends, sneak snacks, rush through homework, or even take a nap for those who haven't had enough sleep.
One of them is Baekjin, an honor student and student council member who uses the conference room to nap early in the morning.
Baekjin arrived before the chaos began, having to attend school on his own. No family, no fancy transport, no driver to open the car door for him, and no lunch filled with the love of his mother.
Because Na Baekjin is an orphan.
"Baekjin-ah, it's almost time for class."
Baekjin twisted his body to relieve the tension and followed his best friend back to the classroom.
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Yeo-il High School isn't particularly exciting. The students here are mostly from wealthy families, although some receive scholarships. These students are not particularly involved in society, like Yeong-i, who received a full scholarship to attend high school.
And no scholarship students ever escaped being bullied, even at a school known for its rich kids.
"Smells like poor people here."
The real estate heir said after throwing leftover food scraps, which had a vomit-inducing smell, on the petite girl who was quietly eating lunch at the back table of the cafeteria.
The laughter captured everyone's attention, but only stares were given. There was no help, not even a word of sympathy or compassion. Almost everyone turned back to focus on what they were doing as usual, and some teachers pretended to be blind to what was happening.
And Baekjin only realized at the end why his closest friend had to change into gym clothes for class.
"Whatever, I'll get my revenge next time.”
"So you won't do it this time?"
"Who said I would let them bully me one-sidedly?"
They laughed before packing up and heading home, but the arcade was enough of a temptation for Yeong-i to half-drag her tall friend inside. They had spent enough money and time on stress-relieving activities until they reached the final arcade, where Baekjin gave an ultimatum: there would be no more rounds.
“Come on, it’ s not like we’ re in a hurry to go anywhere.”
The console gun was handed over, and Baekjin was ready to blast through zombies in the game, clearing one stage, then two, three, and since when did a single coin drop let him play this long? So long that Yeong-i, already game over, excused herself to go to the restroom.
"Do you play game often?"
The final shot was fired directly into the head of the hideous zombie leader, giving Baekjin a chance to look at the newcomer who had greeted him.
"Not often."
The boy in the maroon school uniform smiled at the answer he'd heard. It was a stark contrast to the gaming prowess he'd been observing for a while.
"Let me play with you."
Baekjin raised an eyebrow, suspicious of his self-righteous words and his actions of holding the gun and inserting a coin to select the competitive mode instead of team play.
"Highest score on the screen."
Baekjin glanced at the name on screen ‘Geum Seongje’, then turned back to the name tag on the chest of the person beside him.
His smirk, which made his muscles twitch, made him want to punch him in the face, and Baekjin turned his attention to the game that was about to start soon.
"If I win, you have to introduce yourself."
"Na Baekjin."
Seongje paused at the interruption, his eyes instinctively glancing at the name tag on his left chest. And that was a huge mistake as Baekjin began firing, racking up points and taking a lead of over ten points.
"Shit!"
His gaming skills were put to use again tonight. Seongje fired, each bullet hitting the center of the head, allowing him to close the gap.
Baekjin, on the other hand, chose to shoot at the easier, more visible areas like the torso, which didn't boost his score as much.
And Yeong-i, startled by the crowd of people gathered around at the same arcade machine she'd played earlier, tiptoes over to see two tall figures intently aiming bullets at the zombies on the screen, one of them was her friend.
The game was tense and didn't seem to be ending anytime soon, until a phone call broke their concentration. First, it was Seongje’s, who ignored the call, but then it was Baekjin's.
Yeong-i, who had just pushed her way through the crowd, reached into her friend's pocket, and saw who was calling. Her round eyes widened.
"It’s from there."
That completely distracted Baekjin, despite trying to conceal it behind a calm expression; the clear result on the screen—the loss—was enough to make him sigh.
”Give it to me."
Seongje wiggled his fingers a few times, and the luxury phone in the black case was handed to him. But before Baekjin could walk away, his wrist was grabbed, and the phone was returned.
"And don't forget to reply to my text."
"Why should I?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's because you lost the bet?"
"That's not our deal.”
Baekjin thought he'd rather lose his phone than be harassed by strangers. His gangster-like demeanor told him he'd lose more.
"See you later, handsome."
Baekjin ignored those words and immediately walked out of the arcade with his friend, thinking that today's chaos was over.
Little did he know that it was actually just beginning. His simple life was about to change soon.
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