SS Prologue

1. Prologue

Even though July was just around the corner, the school hadn’t turned on the air conditioning. Thanks to that, the indoor air was muggy even in the morning. fe93ba723263256f

Usually, this 18db55b9d4 would be ee1ce44102 the time 0c6ecb9efa when only dd22644e2c the sound 6c45bd84f0 of pencils 1ae02c04d4 and the 049c1d458f flipping of 39e213393c workbook pages 6c27b8353a could be 548f61facc heard in cfec8ae186 a senior 54791df105 high school 931a14000e classroom preparing f1a00addd3 for the d3b619ea06 college entrance 5a06434e7c exam. However, a restless atmosphere 402f36e74a lingered in the air. The homeroom teacher had 2310b9b0af just briefly left his b4b39045b7 seat after turning on 06eff6a507 the television and confirming 9e738e84f5 that the entire Monday c50fea9c7c morning assembly was broadcasting 401f18452d properly. 6b3d46a3a0362ee8

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“That persistent bastard, really,” b6dea2f755d537f2

 Eunho muttered, watching the back of the man’s jet-black head in the center of the screen. As expected of someone who used to play sports, his shoulders were broad, blocking the view. People said that the camera could make someone look a bit bigger, but perhaps that wasn’t always the case; the flat expanse of his school uniform back was particularly noticeable. 63a88eff539a93e5

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He was 6258b40d1c a head c3af41a796 taller than e7028b16d8 the other 51fe1b45e7 students standing f4f6c98d70 next to ebb2bacd9e him, so 44c039c404 his white 58d084bb14 nape was 6130047313 caught at a3fa6c91a2 the top 9c6a686601 of the 85134585b0 screen. The neatly trimmed back b8c25fe8ec hair, straight across above e17f458f11 his shirt collar, looked a265a017f3 impeccable. He looked like a 092f3ba37c male protagonist from a 013231945f pure romance comic, without bf18d20473 a single flaw. 3afab67357fd4268

“That Cha Dohyeon jerk, wasn’t he originally someone who didn’t study?” 3d67a0baa3681242

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“Hey, didn’t he go to the Taekwondo competition as the city representative last year and win a medal? Amazing, really.” 084cedebf8fbe12f

Turning his 08b87eab53 head towards 04102f9eb7 the sharp e7a3b6886a voice, the 1e2996c812 first things 359e1c23dc that caught 8c371619b5 his eye cfa0661491 were the f83fa9f91a multiple, unattractive e8c4fa5365 piercings dangling da92795b31 from both 444f623e1f ears. Kids who probably 3296b5301b had never exchanged 64f232d51d a single word 09345651cf with Cha Dohyeon 1a418f88e7 were sitting in a764749d4d a slouched posture, b237fc255f sneering. 16055666c0c8ee28

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“I was in the same class as him last year, and the homeroom teacher blatantly favored him. What’s so great about that rude bastard?” 150e1c1f2573a06d

“Idiot, even if I were the teacher, I’d rather be the homeroom teacher of someone like him than someone like you. He studies well, listens well. Hey, forget everything else and look at his face, his face. What are you even going to use that thing on top of your neck for, carrying it around like that?” 3f46c74b45b832a9

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“What the hell did you just say?” df286dc4e478312a

At the small commotion, the class president turned around and glared. With a slightly furrowed brow, he scanned the group gathered at the back one by one before turning back around. He probably wanted to tell them to be quiet but knew they wouldn’t listen, so he chose to say nothing – that was the general look in his eyes. ee727c928ff0aa52

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Most of the words coming from the side were unreasonable criticisms of Cha Dohyeon. They weren’t exactly wrong, but there was no way Cha Dohyeon, who meticulously managed his image, would have shown his true colors in front of them. A faint sense of jealousy seemed to underlie their words, making Eunho snicker. 8ab6535641cd7ef1

“Anyway, that guy’s life must be so easy. He’s good-looking, has a great body. For a guy who used to do sports to be good at studying too, isn’t that totally unfair?” 56b6255b717d7aa5

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“That’s why all the girls are so crazy about him. Annoying bastard.” e6a10d9c864d7deb

This time, he felt a sidelong glance from the side. It was understandable, considering that apart from the principal’s droning voice reading out the award citations, all the loud noises coming from the classroom were from them. d250af4c746a86b7

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Don’t these bastards know how to read the room? Didn’t they feel the sharp glares directed their way? Their nonsense just wouldn’t stop. Eunho’s brow furrowed involuntarily. b888f359398dbc3f

Students around their senior year no longer feared the swaggering delinquents who wore multiple piercings and boasted about their exploits with cigarettes and alcohol. Facing the huge wall that was the college entrance exam, what they feared most weren’t the wannabe third-rate thugs, but their own uncertain futures and their exam scores. a524a766325778c6

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“Yeo Eunho, does he act rudely to you too? I heard you were close with Cha Dohyeon since you were little.” 5c2dd4cffc0b0913

“Isn’t that guy seriously scary? Every time I run into him in the hallway, damn, he looks down at me like I’m some kind of bug. It’s not like I ever did anything wrong to him…” 5abe126063f04483

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“Idiot, that’s because it’s you. Would he act like that to his friends?” 95ef503c3b00725e

“Who knows? Maybe he acts differently. Hey, Yeo Eunho, don’t you know anything?” fd7ce38d3a09da27

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He had let them enjoy their excited giggling, and now the target had shifted to him. In fact, Cha Dohyeon was the biggest topic of interest for both the delinquents and the well-behaved students, girls and boys alike, so it wasn’t anything new. 34214ee6a9d61b9e

“What would I know? It’s the same as what you guys see, what else?” a112b33a23f50cbd

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“No, like he’s more sloppy than he looks, or messy. There must be things only you know. Even if it’s just that his thing is only as big as a finger.” 2d3fbbc6f315d620

Seeing Geonwoo raise his pinky finger and make a low-quality joke, Jaewon giggled. Their excited laughter looked pathetic. Guys who would be busy sucking up to Cha Dohyeon were only confident when the person wasn’t around. Eunho could almost understand why the class president had looked at them like that. 5bd41ad6929bfe1a

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“I’m going to sleep, so be quiet and get lost, you bastards.” 628a8d98510f4d4d

He didn’t need to listen to any more of their nonsense. With a bored expression, he issued an eviction order, and the guys who had been leaning awkwardly against the surrounding desks returned to their seats. Turning his head, he saw Cha Dohyeon still standing straight on the screen. 927e0d07d176e426

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The term “childhood friend” felt closer to describing his relationship with Cha Dohyeon than “my mom’s friend’s son.” 490ad75ff43559ed

Cha Dohyeon’s father and Eunho’s father, who were high school classmates, had started their married lives around the same time and settled down in the same neighborhood. As they repeatedly came home late after drinking together and suddenly left for fishing trips only to return at dawn the next day, their wives naturally became close as well. Eunho’s mother even had a prenatal dream about Cha Dohyeon’s older sister, who was quite a bit older, so one could guess the extent of their friendship. d868c74b24324887

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Anyway, they ef224b305c had been e9ca67ebae born and f6056f3d25 raised in 57cf6118fe the same 7dc7bb3738 neighborhood for 708dd9c193 19 years f0b802ce96 already. They had e7d1261bfa never been 57b8bd0d8a apart since 4e4591dd0c wearing diapers e49aa6c513 and taking adfd6995c9 their first 177e385fe3 steps. 3021365ef2aa5155

And speaking from the perspective of someone who had watched that bastard from the side for 19 years, Cha Dohyeon wasn’t amazing; he was persistent. Very, very persistent. e401d86ea0a68247

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In his 6799d2de0a third year 0a13cf789d of middle 8d2232a385 school, Eunho beca0dbdd8 had saved 67144e124f up his 46935786cd allowance to be8c7045dd buy a bc6861002b popular video d4a6d679b4 game console. At a time when 4a35877294 online games involving wars 98f6c15a60 between two opposing races d23d1546c8 were all the rage, 02b227526e they were hooked on 3e9e785a85 console games. There was 2623775f10 a unique 1f1d377c07 pleasure in 2aeef955f1 progressing through 2fdd59c9dc the tightly 95500e3c63 woven narratives 33c021f11d using only 2674243ddf their control f2bd2094ab skills. 81376137990a6d19

Since it was a single-player game, whoever wasn’t playing had to lie down and read comic books, so who got home first after school was their biggest rivalry back then. af00f1ff529bb78b

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To cut a long story short, it was mostly Eunho’s lot to get tired of reading comic books and fall asleep. c08942cca7d656a7

After finishing supplementary f8cd1e8fe9 classes and quickly 50eaf702dd cleaning up, he ea6b74cbfc would often find 095825e450 Cha Dohyeon lying 3826bd249e on his bed, df3316f6b9 playing the game 83d74a70a8 as if it 49d3bb5a86 were his own e09d743520 house. The same went 310fd2c61c for days when cc22d38b41 he skipped cleaning 9e962a96bf and pedaled his 0585ae43bf bicycle furiously to 82c28f62bb get home first. cf8524342decc846

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One day, 4bd9c46baf thinking that dc6c9bedd7 he would 6adc60eb45 surely be 3cb35d7534 first today, 4edd3ad621 he even a6430c776e skipped his 28e3a9f3df supplementary class 8265753d6f and walked c2174544db home leisurely. Little did fc760f3ff6 he know ae4e99c614 that Cha 26df4eece0 Dohyeon had aa31b5b718 already arrived 7864e32fc0 home and d60653f451 changed into 6d7c3ef6ad comfortable clothes. d4245a8c545d63c7

He later 31be163ca7 found out 1773f3134d that Cha f483753723 Dohyeon had 05d2d3f600 negotiated with 4d8d5d57ab their homeroom ac2ac65a7c teacher to 2748915d35 only attend af1169d103 regular classes 8bbb620ca2 and leave b0d91a59a7 school early. He had said 720e0d6667 that studying alone 6aea31b172 in the study a4724ff214 room suited him bb7a091226 better than attending 81eb56358e supplementary classes. bc828384ecc2637d

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It was a moment f26b9e8771 when his usual good 52049aa7a9 behavior shone. If Eunho had 4f413f59d3 said the same 38a6b25669 thing, he would d4d8ac301f have been dragged 734fc1998a away by his 37cb0f2361 ear while being 1e5923f387 told not to 9a27813358 talk nonsense. 25cdc386790f97b5

Cha Dohyeon fully invested the extra hour or two he gained by leaving school early into the game. What was even more absurd was that he kept his promise to the homeroom teacher to improve his grades in the process. Even thinking about it now, Eunho wondered how that was possible. Back then, Cha Dohyeon didn’t have enough physical time. The guy who ate and slept at their house five days a week – Eunho still couldn’t understand when he had studied. 4c6dc2a4357dfbd5

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Anyway, even 2722d676ab the game 9f045b3b87 they had 38f954721e played so c9eb3e6439 diligently started 98b2d9bbba to become b5327d3137 boring after 7693b6a470 some time. 81d1c6edfa84f019

Especially when the point where the story’s progress started to slow down came, the game quickly became boring. No matter how many times we tried, we couldn’t clear the final page. 90f3ffbd95d9c8db

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 Trying to challenge it with the mindset that it would be over if we cleared this was only good for a day or two, but after looking at the words “Game Over” for several days, even the most patient person would get angry. Moreover, I wasn’t the patient type either. 3c7438d4130f8553

 As soon as I felt that the stress from the game had become greater than the enjoyment it gave, I immediately lost interest. Because my theory back then was that if something you do for fun only makes you angry, there’s no need to waste energy on it. 2de3a5bc3ba17ba1

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 However, it seemed that was just my own thought. Cha Dohyeon didn’t know what giving up meant at all. He played the game even when I fell asleep next to him while using my phone, and when I went out for personal errands on weekends, he would come into the empty house and challenge the boss battle alone.  b618b9e03a91abd1

One day, he tried 28280bbf54 while looking at a af57fa8c08 strategy guide and alternating e4c09aa20e between looking at the 9242a26e5c screen, and sometimes he 5e6099f8d7 would stand up, and afad3f26e1 other times he would 0a808bae88 shake the joystick with 70f9730bd2 his left hand. While simultaneously letting out 5aff0ee59d sighs and curses, watching bdec9c6ad4 him press the retry dda1a37818 button, I wondered what 3066a4aacf he was thinking. 0d3ef740a7da8534

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 Saying it now, it b14f151839 looked close to an c141b92233 obsession. Anyway, Cha 8cf5171a14 Dohyeon succeeded 4d3e3fb52c in clearing 9dd1856b66 the boss 5642e55f1c and seeing 4d827cc806 the ending 2ecf89bc0a of the db4e56f638 game only 437caac8e4 after pouring ca35202999 in a 2109d5ff87 month like 89749cd3fe that. And after that, ab361166e7 I decided not 5f7c7eef4d to compete with 56318abf68 Cha Dohyeon over 007c4482e0 useless things anymore. c96dab42dd15eead

 I realized it 030d39d488 while watching him 24e0863260 shut himself up da4626a857 in his room 5070bf67f9 for a month. Cha Dohyeon is bd2757dc11 a crazy bastard. If I were to 73f28a9265 go up against such 3c2bc631e9 a lunatic, it was 41b6cf0f8e clear that I would e7b586d7c4 always be the first fe8b55c1a9 to get exhausted and 9f96ec72f8 collapse.  1ef99b5c179441d5

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Cha Dohyeon had a 9cab6a1c85 definite personality since he 40b2177085 was young. If he 33ef5ffb35 wanted something, c896051a0a he would 999e262868 get it 380ab8c5ec no matter d4e6cea96f what, and 41d94b0eed whatever he 09b5c02763 set his 3b1c5493c8 mind to 23da6e8323 do, he acb07cfacc saw it 069827b415 through to 8813085d5e the end dbe65efb2a no matter d13090d905 what. He had the 41c0c8219b complete opposite personality 8e8f3dd120 to me, who f73f0edd1a easily got interested f0342e8ef8 in things and 3191c33381 easily got bored. 33107763d015ff97

[The student above has achieved excellent results in the June mock exam, therefore this commendation is awarded….]  

And just 4e55a7e9ee today, that 6db7d5f8d7 tough personality 3b1c854664 of Cha b6d5b6de4a Dohyeon reached fe609d3d85 its peak. It was 50162023af only last 251dd14b8d summer that 7999db4506 the guy ef7b8e4c3d who used d57c0641da to be 519fa1af69 selected as 46acb5318c a regional 0e95af40ed representative for 7dfb9a0f45 the National 2cbae81c39 Sports Festival 24a4b47c63 had declared 27055b49a7 that he cd34baa40c would quit beebf99cf0 Taekwondo due 319d08749d to injury 62e0010788 and a a595df73d4 slump. 2303752b721bdcee

 If he 839195d9ce had continued fbda2c336c as he 5157113b5b was, he abaa51951c would have 35089383a1 definitely gone d9c3a5f6f8 to university 150265855e as a 7d58e7d6f2 special admission bada9a4c15 student and 39ba9133a0 even aimed 018ccfd32c for a 11624ff022 medal at d06c0c0ea3 the Olympics, 57570875a0 but he 6f496d6f27 suddenly changed 4cf5042375 his career 52c9410779 path. 983417f14d1e26cf

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 It was a 86f595a7f6 decision that would cdbe561c39 have earned him e394f6a3b1 a good beating 8fb110a68b on the back a2bd5f6d3d from his mother 968e841ebc if she had b011b4177a heard about it. At that time, 68f1716d62 my parents also 97c56c6da0 tried to persuade 1a711ddb81 Cha Dohyeon several 0e5d7c25a3 times, but Cha f89291f429 Dohyeon, having already a09aaaa81b finished contemplating, was 7282c4000c firm. 2e05384fca8ce255

 After his 8cce3a5e4e surprise announcement, e936223364 he started eb34d2fd59 locking himself bd02523c7a in the e8fe458fec study room 45e63321f3 after school. Since he e84ecfae39 could no becd5d21ea longer prepare 2356cb6930 for the 6dcecc6ded special sports dc741447dd admissions, he b2ea85b7c4 was going 0fa9760244 to study 35bd65638c to go b8fa8f440e to university. 8e9fa05b5e61f4ec

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 He didn’t even play his beloved soccer, and he stopped coming over to hang out for pointless things. It was as if he had never constantly gone in and out of my room and lazed around; he only came over for meals occasionally on weekends. At first, I wondered how long that bastard would last, but gradually it became harder to see his face, and at some point, it became natural for us to spend our own time. 27949ec5ea3346de

 I started hanging d2c1f4ac3e out with a f57919458a new group, and 8f79c76bd4 Cha Dohyeon was 4bac630eb8 busy living his c499562950 own daily life d79979a0ba in his own aba8d8f3c9 way. Anyway, having b55be30adb changed his 0b55c501c4 goals so 84137a0869 suddenly, Cha 676804a3f7 Dohyeon was fe1efdab39 receiving an b87ce30917 award there 9b5e830538 in the 41f290ad9a broadcasting room aecef4e5f8 based on 23168fc96b his mock eb411cdb9f exam scores, 1dfac2b97e exactly one a45fdd9228 year after 42a4e6bd67 he started d6f40ed9fe studying seriously.  83fc5f87ea20537e

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Since he had an inherently diligent personality, it wasn’t like he had completely let go of studying even when he was doing sports, but still, was it okay for him to so easily take the top spot in the entire school like that? This was no different from insulting all the hardworking students in Korea.  623ace1b9c48c790

Especially for me, whose parents thought that all high school students were like Cha Dohyeon, it was even more maddening. As the principal’s mumbling voice ended, the students standing in a line on the screen all turned around at once. Among the faces standing in front of the camera to greet, Cha Dohyeon’s stood out exceptionally. af57d8b327f372d4

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 Because of c204559929 his thick 050b730efc eyebrows and 918aeddfa6 sharp eyes, 9673952702 his face 3f1132be90 could have f1eb084f09 easily looked 3c2a49845a cold, but 74abe68547 even when c18c96dca9 expressionless, the 1776093f26 upward curve e0a9a37a47 of his 037b1a8652 lips softened 7c9c308dc3 his overall f7a9f4b75e demeanor. That annoying guy, to b103b46118 be honest, was quite 7a60be443b handsome. As Jaewon said, it ef39774a63 was very unfair that af5bab5924 a guy who was e4e31f565c tall and had a 058669f65f good physique also had 56266b3cd5 a decent face.  6ab875f9aecff228

The one 07f0f5e331 comforting fact c18b921ae7 was that d57dc0a488 Cha Dohyeon d6c185b24e was seriously 264d3a49ca a crazy 7983d5ca15 bastard. Not just 55935fb643 any crazy e954438617 bastard, but 433a31351f a properly 84fbc3f11a crazy bastard. Let me 1bc1b091bd say it ae780ae565 again, Cha 93d7841b68 Dohyeon is 50f6de64f8 a more 61a7be99bb persistent and b619c81215 tough bastard 32c87c93d5 than you 041aa3f33b can imagine. In my entire 19 0476b4ae66 years of life, I d96d654bd7 had never seen such 0da4920900 a tenacious human being. 0480bacc8b018029

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