001. Tutorial Begins (1)
Sometimes in life, your thoughts and body just don’t align. This was one of those moments for Jaehee. In his head, he knew it would be better to stay home in a warm room peeling tangerines on a day like this, but when he came to his senses, he found himself standing in front of Hongdae Exit 9.
Come to think of it, today was Christmas Eve. The air was filled with cheerful carols and happy couples.
The sky looked hazy—it would probably snow soon. He zipped his padded jacket all the way up and pulled his fur hat down tight. It felt like even his nostrils were freezing.
“This bastard knows I hate the cold more than anything, yet he asks to meet outside on a day like this. And if we’re meeting, he should at least be here waiting! This fucker, seriously.”
Jaehee sighed as he thought of Jeongwoo.
Jeongwoo had started acting strange a month before the college entrance exam when he turned in a blank paper for the final mock test. The school was in an uproar, and Woo Jeongwoo’s parents were called in. All of Jeongwoo’s close friends were summoned by the homeroom teacher and questioned about him. But no one knew why he was acting this way.
After that, Jeongwoo refused to attend any classes and locked himself in his room.
The homeroom teacher, who had been running around trying to find the cause, eventually concluded that Jeongwoo was suffering from exam stress. Exam stress? For Jeongwoo, who ranked first in the school without even studying much? Even Jeongwoo’s parents didn’t believe it.
Woo Jeongwoo, who had shut himself in his room, ultimately didn’t show up on the day of the college entrance exam. No one knew what he was doing in there. No matter how many calls or texts were sent, there was no response. But yesterday, a text finally came from Jeongwoo.
Tomorrow at 6 PM, Hongdae Station Exit 9. Be there without fail.
Jaehee immediately tried calling Jeongwoo after receiving the text, but Jeongwoo didn’t answer. Sending a text but not answering calls? Feeling annoyed, Jaehee had sworn he wouldn’t go, but as the meeting time approached, he ended up leaving home anyway.
He was determined to ask what the problem was, why Jeongwoo was acting this way, and get an answer. And if the answer wasn’t satisfactory, he’d beat him half to death.
Making people worry like that and then suddenly demanding they come out on Christmas Eve.
“Shit, did lunch give me indigestion?”
Jaehee rubbed his chest a few times—it felt uncomfortably bloated. Strangely, he wasn’t feeling well. He considered going to a pharmacy before Jeongwoo arrived, but he couldn’t leave his spot for fear of missing him.
While thinking that he should hit up a pharmacy first when he met Woo Jeongwoo, he spotted Jeongwoo in the distance. Even among the crowd, Jeongwoo was instantly recognizable. Standing a head taller than everyone else, Jeongwoo made everyone around him look like squids with his well-proportioned body and handsome face.
“Hey, Woo Jeongwoo! Can’t you hurry up? You leave me shivering out in this freezing street, and you’re walking all leisurely? You’ve got some nerve!”
“Jaehee.”
The moment he saw Woo Jeongwoo approaching, Jaehee realized that whatever the homeroom teacher had called exam stress—that inexplicable adolescent or post-adolescent phase—was still very much ongoing.
A black trench coat, completely unsuited for the freezing cold, fluttered dramatically in the wind. A sculptured handsome man was staring at Jaehee with melancholy eyes as he swept back his hair. The surroundings around Jeongwoo suddenly transformed into a scene from an old Hong Kong noir film.
The moment their eyes met, Jaehee unconsciously turned his head away. His mouth went dry. He considered pretending not to know Jeongwoo and just going home, but then he remembered the homeroom teacher’s words—that Jeongwoo was a much more delicate and sensitive boy than he appeared, and that his friends should be considerate.
“Jeongwoo, in this weather… Aren’t you—aren’t you cold?”
The reason passersby were glancing at Jeongwoo wasn’t just because he was handsome. But Jeongwoo didn’t seem to notice their stares at all. Despite his stylish appearance, his complexion was pale, and he seemed to have lost a considerable amount of weight.
“Cold is nothing to me. I’m fine.”
“I-I see. You don’t feel the cold. Wow, such a manly man, so manly. Um, but you know what? I’m very sensitive to cold. Let’s go inside somewhere, okay?”
Besides the cold, the stares of people around them were bothering him. He felt they needed to leave this place quickly. He tried to pull Jeongwoo’s arm to go inside somewhere, but Woo Jeongwoo didn’t budge.
“Hey, what are you doing? Let’s go already. Fuck. What’s with those eyes?”
Seeing Woo Jeongwoo looking at him with that profound gaze while fluttering his long eyelashes, Jaehee’s true feelings slipped out unintentionally. He clamped his mouth shut in shock, but he couldn’t take back what he’d said. Once again, the homeroom teacher’s words echoed in his mind—that Jeongwoo was delicate and sensitive.
“Ahh, Jaehee. Seeing your face again really… makes me so happy.”
When Jaehee saw Jeongwoo gazing at him with those wistful eyes, he felt goosebumps rising on his arms. It seemed like Woo Jeongwoo was a bit further gone than he’d thought.
“Haha, what… People might think we haven’t seen each other in years. This all happened because you didn’t answer my calls. Why didn’t you respond?”
“Yes… That was my fault. Jaehee, I called you out today because there’s something I absolutely must tell you.”
Jeongwoo’s tone was still dreamy. The way he looked and spoke as if they were long-lost lovers gave Jaehee a bad feeling. Jaehee wanted to leave quickly—more out of embarrassment than cold—but Jeongwoo showed no sign of moving.
“Okay. Let’s go inside somewhere to talk about it. I want to hear your story too. But I’m freezing to death out here.”
“No, I have to do this right here.”
Jaehee barely swallowed the curse that was about to come out and glared at Woo Jeongwoo. When Woo Jeongwoo, who seemed so mild-mannered, started being stubborn like this, there was no reasoning with him.
“Sigh, fine. I give up. So hurry up and tell me.”
“Jaehee.”
As the sky darkened, it began to snow. A handsome man standing with melancholy eyes, with snow as the backdrop—it was like a scene from a movie. If this were a film, Woo Jeongwoo would definitely be the protagonist.
Was it the damp air or the embarrassment? His stomach churned more and more.
“I was so foolish. I realized everything too late.”
“W-what?”
“That I only need you.”
Shin Jaehee glared at Woo Jeongwoo while swallowing curses internally.
What is he saying? This bastard. Sensitive to others’ gazes, Shin Jaehee became sharply on edge when people around them started whispering.
“Shin Jaehee. No matter what anyone says, you are my King.”
His mind was in a haze. No one in their right mind could say such things. Jaehee examined Jeongwoo’s face carefully. Had he been drinking? Jeongwoo’s face seemed a bit flushed, but it was hard to tell if it was from the cold or something else.
“One more word and I’m leaving.”
Shin Jaehee’s face grew so hot from the giggling sounds around them that he no longer felt the cold.
Thinking he should get away from Woo Jeongwoo, he tried to back away, but Jeongwoo was one step faster and grabbed his wrist.
“Wait! I haven’t finished what I need to say.”
Woo Jeongwoo was holding his wrist and kneeling on one knee right there in the street. It looked exactly like he was proposing. Shin Jaehee took a deep breath.
He heard gasps of “Oh my, oh my.” He thought he also heard someone muttering something about “gay” nearby.
Jaehee tried to pull his hand away, thinking that he needed to escape regardless of their friendship, but Woo Jeongwoo’s grip was too strong to break free from.
This crazy bastard! If he wants to do crazy things, he should do them alone, not drag a friend who’s worried about him into it! In desperation, he covered his face with his hand and bowed his head low.
“T-this friend is j-joking! Hey! Stop it! I’m really getting angry.”
“Shin Jaehee. For you, I fear nothing. The Demon King? I can become even the Demon King if needed.”
Ah… he felt dizzy. No matter how much you like someone, there’s a limit to what’s acceptable.
It seemed that Woo Jeongwoo had fallen into some kind of cult. They say intelligent people are more likely to fall for cults—perhaps this was the case with Woo Jeongwoo. Hopefully he wouldn’t start talking about the end of times and demanding donations.
“What have you been doing? Did you join some religion? Hey, I’m scared now. Stop it, please!”
By now, quite a crowd had gathered around Woo Jeongwoo and Shin Jaehee. Some people were taking out their phones to record. With a handsome guy doing strange things, they probably thought it was some kind of performance or show. Determined not to let his face get caught on camera too, Shin Jaehee pulled his hat down to cover his face as much as possible.
“You—I’ll really kill you, Woo Jeongwoo.”
“Jaehee. Know that all of this is for you.”
As Shin Jaehee was gritting his teeth and whispering lowly, Jeongwoo suddenly stood up. Seeing his chance, Jaehee quickly shook off the hand that had been holding him.
Jeongwoo gazed at Jaehee with eyes like a male lead from a melodrama, then suddenly raised one arm high.
“I, the Seeker of Starlight, declare. I command by a contract redder than blood. Darkness! Now, the time has come!”
Hiccups started coming.
The shock was so great that he couldn’t understand what he’d just heard. People passing by on the street had now stopped completely and were looking in their direction. He felt dizzy from the embarrassment.
“Come! Demon King of the Red Power! Burning Flame!”
Ah… why must the humiliation be mine? Please stop…!
Just then, a timely wind blew. White snow drifted in the wind, adorning the black trench coat.
Jeongwoo’s genre, which had started as noir, had now moved beyond melodrama to become a magical girl transformation or superhero show.
Perhaps because he had surpassed the critical point of bearable shame? With things like this, his head actually became clearer.
Jeongwoo was clearly either seriously ill or had joined some cult. Either way, he needed to tell Woo Jeongwoo’s parents.
Jeongwoo stood still like the Statue of Liberty, with one arm raised high. Admiring gasps erupted from the onlookers.
Shin Jaehee was trying to pretend he had nothing to do with Jeongwoo when he suddenly noticed something.
That Woo Jeongwoo—that bastard—was actually feeling extremely embarrassed right now…!
Jeongwoo’s ears had turned bright red like roasted sweet potatoes.
A circular crowd had formed around Jeongwoo. People who had been walking by stopped to take pictures. Shin Jaehee thought he might see Jeongwoo’s face in news articles or on portal sites tomorrow and decided he should distance himself immediately.
That’s when it happened. Woo Jeongwoo suddenly turned his head. For a moment, blazing eyes locked onto Shin Jaehee.
Sensing something ominous, Shin Jaehee quickly turned to run away, but Woo Jeongwoo moved faster. Woo Jeongwoo reached out, grabbed Shin Jaehee, and pulled him into a tight embrace.
At the same moment, a tremendous boom exploded above their heads.
