J High was in uproar.
The final period of the day had just begun, yet nobody was focusing on the lesson. Even the normally strict teacher seemed somewhat distracted, his voice trailing off every now and then as his eyes wandered to the far corner of the classroom. The source of this disruption? The new transfer student who sat near the window, the sunlight painting her in hues of gold and orange, as if a director had meticulously arranged the lighting for a romance movie.
There she was. Komi Shouko.
Taking notes diligently, highlighting every sentence the teacher spoke, her small hands moving across the page like she was trying to absorb the entire textbook through sheer dedication. She was… mesmerizing. Not because she tried to be...but because she didn't. Her sincerity made it impossible to look away.
Students watched, mesmerized, as she highlighted text in her textbook, her every movement deliberate and gentle. Even something as mundane as circling vocabulary words with a pink highlighter looked satisfying when Komi did it. She seemed so engrossed in the lesson that the class couldn't help but be engrossed in her.
But it wasn't just her looks or her poise that captured attention. It was how quiet she was. How mysterious. Rumors had already begun swirling around the school...some said she was from a royal family, others thought she might be a child actor or some kind of idol trying to hide her identity. But to Zoe and Mira, who had been sitting closest to her, the truth was far simpler and much more endearing.
Komi was just shy.
They had seen her fumbling with her notepad earlier during lunch, trying to write out her thoughts instead of speaking. Her hands trembled, but her smile was radiant when Zoe asked her what she was trying to say. They saw how excited she got when she successfully communicated with them through her little drawings and notes. That pure, unfiltered joy of making her first friends in Korea melted both their hearts.
They watched her walk here and there, trying to fit in, trying her best to communicate. And the more they observed, the more they realized how misunderstood Komi had been. Her silence wasn't arrogance. It was fear. Hesitation. Shyness. But when she pulled out her little notepad with doodled cats on the cover and began scribbling down her thoughts to share with them, her excitement was impossible to ignore. Her cheeks turned pink, and her hands trembled just slightly as she showed them her words: "I'm happy to have friends here." Followed by two uneven hearts.
Zoe teared up. Mira just hugged her.
So by the time the final bell rang, Zoe and Mira were escorting Komi out like proud older sisters, chatting and giggling as she followed a step behind them with the notepad clutched tightly in her hands.
Meanwhile, Daniel stood by his desk, motionless. He leaned back in his chair like a discarded mannequin, his eyes fixed on the trio leaving the room. Zack, who had been watching him, snorted and laughed every five minutes, unable to contain his amusement.
But Daniel wasn't listening.
He was staring at Komi.
He looked at Komi again, and something inside him shifted.
She looked… pure. Untouched by the dirt of the world. Like someone who didn't even know what cruelty felt like.
There was something about her...the way she seemed so gentle, so uncorrupted. It made him feel... dirty. Like a villain in someone else's story. He thought of his mom, scraping together a living just to support him. Of all the times he'd treated her like she was invisible. The times he'd made her cry. A knot formed in his chest. His hand curled into a fist on the desk.
And then Daniel's thoughts spiraled inward.
He thought about his mother.
He saw her hands again...cracked and calloused, soaked in detergent, holding a rag or a plastic bag full of recycling. She always said she was okay. Always smiled when he asked. Always told him, "It's nothing, sweetie," even when her back was bent and her feet swollen.
He remembered the nights she didn't come home until midnight, still smiling with trembling lips. Her clothes smelled of sweat and oil. Sometimes, she'd cook for him before resting. Most times, she'd lie down on the floor, too tired to even make it to her bed.
And what did he do?
He lived like a pig. Slept all day. Played games. Ate without thanks. Complained. He told himself the world was unfair...when she was carrying it on her back for him. There were days she cried in the bathroom, thinking he couldn't hear her. But he did.
He just never knew what to say.
Daniel clenched his fist on the desk, nails biting into his palm.
"I need to become better," he muttered under his breath.
He remembered what Zoe had said...that Komi wasn't cold or arrogant, just really shy around strangers. That made sense now. He'd seen her carrying that small notepad around, the way she scribbled in her notepad to communicate. When she did that, he imagined cat ears popping up on her head like some anime character. It was adorable.
If he really wanted to be better, he had to start here. Now.
He stood up suddenly, the chair scraping loudly beneath him. Zack looked at him weirdly, but Daniel ignored him. His heart was beating too fast. He walked faster no, jogged right after Komi, Zoe, and Mira.
He had to do it right.
He had to introduce himself properly.
Just then, a loud mechanical clunking sound echoed from the front gates. A towing truck, of all things, had pulled up in front of the school. It was out of place, even more so when the man who stepped out came into view.
Towering, lean but dense like steel cables wrapped in flesh. His disheveled black hair fell over his forehead. Dead green eyes scanned the crowd like he'd lost interest before he'd even arrived. He was wearing a black shirt with one sleeve rolled up, dark pants, and spotless white sneakers. He ran a hand over his hair with a blank expression.
He looked like he belonged in a fight club, not a school zone.
And then he walked toward Komi.
Before anyone could react, he was already walking toward her. His steps were lazy but deliberate, his expression unreadable. Then, he reached out, his hand inches away from Komi's shoulder...
"HEY!"
Daniel's voice cracked through the air like a whip. He sprinted forward, slapping Toji's hand away and putting himself between him and Komi.
"Komi, get behind me!" Daniel barked, arms outstretched protectively.
Toji stared at the boy in front of him like he was observing an unfamiliar species. "Who the f*** is this little punk?" he muttered to himself.
With a bored flick of his arm, he grabbed Daniel by the collar and tossed him aside like he was a bag of recyclables. Daniel flew several feet, skidding on his heels before managing to land upright, barely maintaining balance.
As Toji rested his large hand on Komi's shoulder, all eyes in the schoolyard focused on them. Komi, clearly overwhelmed, ducked behind Toji, using his back as a shield from the intense stares from the other student's.
Toji looked over at Zoe and Mira and smiled, sharp teeth barely showing. "Are these your friends?" he asked Komi. "Introduce them to your boyfriend."
In the classroom above, Vasco and Jace had their faces pressed to the window, eyes wide. Zack had come down and now stood just behind Mira, his expression unsure.
Zoe was the first to speak.
"Komi... is this your boyfriend?"
Komi, cheeks red, nodded once, quickly.
Mira burst into laughter, trying to defuse the situation. "You two seem pretty close."
Toji chuckled. "Close? We already fu-"
Before he could finish the sentence, Komi sprang up, covering his mouth in panic, her arms flailing like she was trying to reach the sun.
"Hi, I'm Toji. Nice to meet you all," he mumbled through her hands. "Anyway, bye guys. I just came to pick her up."
With that, they disappeared...Komi clutching Toji's arm, her face buried shyly against him.
Daniel stood motionless. His legs were shaky. His hand, the one that had tried to stop Toji, burned red. Not from impact, but humiliation. The sting ran deeper than skin.
Zack, Mira, Zoe, and Jay had gathered around him, their expressions all different shades of shock.
Daniel stared at his palm.
Red. Throbbing. Powerless.
He swatted me away like I was a fly.
"We… we need to save Komi," Daniel said, voice low at first, then rising with shaky conviction. "Something's not right."
Zack blinked. "Huh?"
Zoe frowned. "Save her? Why? She… she nodded, remember? When we asked if he was her boyfriend. Maybe she's just… y'know, shy about it?"
Mira said nothing. Her arms were crossed, lips pressed in thought. But her ears were slightly pink, still flustered at what Toji had nearly said. 'We already fu-' The memory looped in her mind like an unwanted catchy song.
But Daniel's voice cut through her thoughts. "You guys actually believe that? Didn't you see her face? She looked terrified!"
There was silence. Zack looked at Daniel...really looked this time.
Toji threw him like a sack of laundry. He replayed it in his head. And Daniel isn't weak… Zack rubbed the back of his neck.
Then, Zack did what Zack always did when he didn't want to admit something serious: he cracked a joke.
"You're jealous, bro. Just admit it already."
Whack!
Mira's hand struck the back of his head.
"OW! What the hell?!"
"Stop laughing at him," she snapped.
Zoe glanced between them, then back at Daniel. Her fingers gripped the strap of her backpack tightly.
Jay, quiet as always, stepped beside Daniel and gave a simple, silent nod.
It was enough.
Daniel's fists clenched. His jaw tightened.
'He could've killed me right then. I didn't even react. That strength… It was like something out of a movie or an action comic.But even if I'm not strong enough now… I have to try.I have to get stronger...not for revenge. For Mom. For the chance she gave me. For Komi.'
He took a breath, the weight in his chest pushing him forward.
"Toji, huh? I don't care how strong or scary he is. There's something off about him... and I'm going to find out what."
Meanwhile, behind the gym, Vin Jin adjusted his sunglasses dramatically, arms crossed.
"Tch. I could've tossed Daniel like that back in my prime."
Mary Kim didn't look up from her phone. "That was last semester, dumbass."
"Exactly! My prime!"
Mary sighed. "You couldn't even lift your own backpack without wincing last week."
"Hey! That's because I was sore from leg day! Do you know how much squatting I did?"
She deadpanned, "You cried during warm up."
Vin Jin waved a hand dismissively. "Point is, I could totally do what that Toji guy did. Easy."
From across the courtyard, they watched Daniel standing taller than before.
Mary smiled faintly. "Then show me."
"…I would, but my knee's acting up today."
She laughed, walking off. Vin Jin sighed dramatically, flipping his hoodie up.
And somewhere far from the school, Toji sneezed.
"What the hell," he muttered, scratching his head. "Someone talking shit?"
Komi giggled softly, still holding his arm. Her notepad peeked out from her bag.
And on the page visible to Toji, she had written:
Thank you for coming to pick me up.
A small heart was drawn next to it.
For the first time in years, Toji smiled without sarcasm.
And in that moment, even if no one else knew it yet, the battle for Komi's heart had officially begun.
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Extra (For Fun)
The dead fish mascot sat crumpled on the gym stairs, head tilted downward like a tragic Shakespearean figure. His oversized foam tail twitched as he let out a dramatic sigh.
Inside the costume, the boy within (whose real name was Jun-seok, but no one cared because he was just "Fishy") was inconsolable.
"She's... she's got a boyfriend already?" he whispered to himself, fogging up the fish-eye lenses. "It's her first day, man! We didn't even get to do the school tour yet! I had brochures ready…"
He sniffled, hugging a glittery poster titled "Welcome KOMI!" with a badly drawn cat and hearts around it.
From the shadows of the hallway emerged the bald janitor, Mr. Han, pushing a squeaky mop bucket with one hand and sipping instant coffee with the other like it was whiskey on the rocks.
He stopped next to Fishy, surveyed the pitiful lump of aquatic depression, and let out a low grunt.
"Tough day, son?"
Fishy whimpered through the foam mouth. "She made eye contact with me during lunch… I thought that meant something."
The janitor sat beside him, back cracking like an old closet door as he did.
"Love is tough son... "he said, staring into the sunset like he was remembering a lost war.
Fishy wiped an eyehole with his fin. "He just walked in like some fking manga final boss and said 'Introduce them to your boyfriend' and she nodded! SHE NODDED!"
The janitor placed a calloused hand on Fishy's shoulder-fin. "That man looked like he bench-presses bears and eats drywall for breakfast. Sometimes… you gotta accept you're not the protagonist."
Fishy let out a muffled sob.
"I was gonna offer her a limited-edition cat keychain," he said, pulling it out of his foam pouch. "It meows when you press it…"
The janitor patted his shoulder-fin. "Sometimes... you're just the background character in someone else's love story."
Fishy slumped deeper. "Even the background characters get lines, Mr. Han…"
A long pause.
The janitor stood with a grunt. "Now come on. There's puke in room 2-C, and we need both hands and two mops."
Fishy rose with the grace of a beached whale. "Yes, sir…"
The janitor tossed him a spare mop.
As they walked into the building, the foam tail flopped solemnly.
Even a dead fish… had to keep swimming.