Chapter 2
Imperial High School.
As soon as I heard the name, I thought it was a school with an atmosphere that reeked of elitism. While it sounded kind of cringey and unfamiliar to me—someone living in a democratic country—the school had a class structure among students that lived up to its name.
Called the pyramid structure, it descended from High Class to Middle Class to Low Class. In other words, royalty, nobility, and commoners.
On the screen, a black-haired boy was lying pathetically on the ground. Next to him, a boy with similar but more glamorous features spoke with a face full of sadness and anger.
“All of the mistakes my brother made were overlooked only because Seoheon hyung didn’t say anything. What were you thinking, acting so viciously? You can’t even tell right from wrong… I didn’t know my brother was this stupid.”
“……”
The black-haired boy couldn’t say anything and hung his head weakly, but still managed to glare resentfully at his own brother and those watching from behind. He quickly turned his head away, though, from the chilling gazes intense enough to make his whole body tremble.
“I’m sorry. My brother didn’t know any better, so please show leniency and allow him to continue attending school.”
When his brother said this to the four standing behind him, the one with blue hair smiled politely and said, “Well… I understand he’s Low Class, but what’s his grade?”
“…Three stars.”
At those words, the pink-haired one standing nearby spoke with slight surprise, “That’s just below Middle Class?”
“Even so, Low Class is all the same. This is such a pain in the ass, let’s just deal with it and go. I heard that transfer student and Seoheon have been acting weird lately.”
“Ah, that crazy sunbae. He’s been getting kind of annoying. Yeah, let’s finish this quickly and leave.”
Seeming to agree with the irritated red-haired one’s words, the rest began leaving with hardened expressions. By then, they were already treating the black-haired boy as if they’d forgotten about him entirely. The scene showed him looking blankly after them, appearing even more miserable…
“Wait! So what about my brother…?”
His brother urgently called out to them as they left the dark warehouse one by one. Then the yellow-haired one, who’d been quiet until then, spoke indifferently, “Take away two stars.”
That would leave him with one star. Even within the same class, they weren’t all equal. One star meant rock bottom. Knowing full well what that meant, the brother looked flustered but soon nodded in understanding, and the black-haired boy’s expression darkened as the scene changed.
From now on, that black-haired boy probably either wouldn’t appear again, or if he did show up briefly, he’d be in the worst possible state.
Slurping a mint chocolate smoothie loaded with chocolate chips, I muttered while watching the screen, “It’s fucking hilarious seeing students who aren’t even adults acting like this.”
Plus, it’s so cringey! While it wasn’t unwatchable, there were scenes that sometimes made me want to squeeze my eyes shut. Yet I couldn’t stop because it was genuinely entertaining.
Sure, there were the minor flaws I just mentioned, but considering the setting, they were forgivable. I’d had nothing else to do and watched it out of curiosity, but it wasn’t easy at first. Not because of the BL genre, but because of the characters’ antics.
That’s right. The world setting was just… talking about class hierarchy while normalizing bullying. Not to mention character assassination, violence, and sexual harassment. Maybe because school was the setting, it was predictable and childish, but if you could get past these elements, it was actually a well-made anime.
Above all, the characters had distinct charms and their appearances were striking, making it visually appealing. Also, since it was an adult anime, the scenes that came up were pretty sensual and interesting. Even I got pretty worked up watching it, so I could understand why people were going crazy over it.
“Anyway, since it’s fiction, I’m watching because it’s entertaining to see these lunatics causing chaos.”
With that, the anime ended as the brown-haired boy playing the lead was surrounded by the dominant characters, receiving endless affection, when he suddenly became confused by his friend who started avoiding him.
I immediately clicked on the next episode and kept watching, managing to finish all 10 episodes in a single day.
Only after seeing the entire ending did I get up from my seat and stretch. As always, after finishing something, I savored that feeling of satisfaction mixed with a bit of regret, and after a nice shower, I went to bed.
I felt gloomy thinking about having to go to work tomorrow. But tomorrow was also the opening day of a dessert shop I’d been dying to try, so I deliberately consoled myself with that thought.
I fell asleep quickly and soon began to dream. Maybe because I’d watched the anime before sleeping, I dreamed that the characters from it were doing terrible things to me.
When I opened my eyes with an uneasy feeling, I saw an elegant light fixture. Confused by the simple yet bold design, I shifted my body and looked around.
Unlike my old closet-sized room, it was a spacious, unfamiliar bedroom.
“…What’s going on?”
City scenery visible through the floor-to-ceiling glass window. A neat desk and sofa. I was admiring the pretty well-done interior when I pinched my cheek hard.
“Ow…”
It hurts? Actually, it fucking hurt a lot. I tried to collect my thoughts and jumped out of bed. Apart from the difficulty of getting up from the ridiculously soft mattress, the current situation was extremely confusing.
“What the hell is this? Where am I?!”
While it was fortunate that I wasn’t lying in some dark basement or on a hospital bed, the fact that I’d woken up in a completely unknown place was enough to drive anyone crazy.
Bam.
Just then, someone opened the door and entered. Black hair, large eyes, and a straight nose. How should I put it—a pretty boy who looked like a deer. But his face seemed somehow familiar. Was he a celebrity?
While I was thinking this, the boy raised one eyebrow as if something was strange and said, “What are you doing, hyung? You’re not even ready yet. Seoheon hyung is waiting outside.”
“Huh?”
As I stared at him awkwardly as if to ask what he meant, he frowned and stepped into the room.
“Are you sick or something? Or is it because of the fight with Seoheon hyung? Go and apologize to him. Seoheon hyung has been waiting outside since early morning.”
“Ah, right. Seoheon is…”
Seoheon is waiting. Who the hell is that? And who are you, damn it? It was an extremely confusing situation, but not knowing how to act, I just nodded dumbly, causing him to sigh softly.
“It seems like you’re still not fully awake. Hurry up, wash up, and get ready. We’ll be late. I’ll go ahead and tell Seoheon hyung.”
With that, he closed the door and left. Only then did I start wandering around the room to check it out. It seemed like a pretty wealthy household, but it definitely wasn’t anywhere I knew.
“What should I do?”
Judging by how that guy had called me hyung, we weren’t strangers, but what was going on? Just as I was about to panic, I stared for a long time at my reflection dimly visible in the window.
“Did I always look like that?”
I seemed taller somehow.
Only then did I check my appearance. My body, dressed in soft pajamas, was definitely different. When I touched my face, I got even more confused and rushed to the bathroom. And upon seeing my face in the mirror, an involuntary sound escaped me.
“Huh, what’s this? This isn’t… this isn’t me?”
Thick eyebrows, slightly sharp eyes, and clear pupils. A rounded but straight nose. Looking kind of cold when still, but when I smiled slightly, the corners of my mouth turned up nicely, giving off a completely different vibe. Not as glamorous as the guy who’d just left, but how should I describe it? Right—a clean-cut and handsome guy would be a good way to put it.
Was this body too thin? I felt a bit depressed about the slender frame, but after admiring my upgraded appearance compared to my original face, I quickly snapped out of it, realizing this wasn’t right.
“Wait, what the hell! But this face looks familiar too?”
Unfamiliar yet familiar. While caught in this strange feeling, I pondered the words of the guy who’d just left.
He said Seoheon was waiting so I should get ready quickly. Seoheon, Seoheon… Come to think of it, that’s the same name as the main character in the anime I’d watched before falling asleep.
“No way, it can’t be.”
I went back into the room and checked the closet. The uniform immediately visible was indeed a familiar design. It was the Imperial High School uniform. Plus, the name engraved on the name tag.
“Yoon Taeho. And…”
Below the name tag, there were three star-shaped badges.
“…Fuck. Holy shit!”
This guy is that guy! The main character’s friend who secretly tormented him out of inferiority and jealousy, then got caught by the dominant characters, demoted, and bullied.
There was definitely a scene in the latter half that briefly showed him—befitting his status as the lowest rank, unable to fit in anywhere, receiving nothing but contempt and ridicule, even getting drenched with water as he fell into the abyss.
“Wait… if I still have three stars, does that mean it hasn’t gotten that far yet?”
That guy who just left had definitely said Seoheon was waiting. So we’re still on friendly terms for now… But what did he say about us fighting? Had this character and the main character fought before?
There was no such scene in the anime. There was a part where Yoon Taeho secretly sabotaged the main character, got caught by the dominant characters, and then started avoiding them. While the main character didn’t know why he was being avoided, in the end, Yoon Taeho was manipulated by someone else, desperately tried to sexually assault someone after gathering people, and instead ended up being brutally punished.
“Ah, no!”
I clutched my head and curled up. It seemed I’d become Yoon Taeho. No—even if I had to become someone, why this petty villain? Faced with this sudden reality that didn’t feel like a dream at all, I fell into a panic again and stayed dazed for a while.
“Phew… okay, let’s get my bearings.”
My legs had started to go numb from how long I’d been crouching. Realizing that nothing would change by just sitting still, I slowly got up, thinking about what to do now.
“First… I should go to school, right?”
It had been years since I’d graduated high school, and now I had to go back. I could barely remember what it was like back then. I felt lost, but going to school seemed like the best way to understand the situation, so I changed into the uniform.
After grabbing what looked like a school bag and opening the door, I suddenly realized I didn’t know the way to school.
“This is insane.”
Once outside, I looked around to see if there might be anyone else wearing the same uniform, but there wasn’t a soul in sight.
Looking at my watch, it was already past 8 o’clock. If school hours were similar to a regular school, I’d be late.
Should I just skip it? I thought. But I wouldn’t have anything to do at home anyway, so since I was already out, I decided to at least see the school building and started walking aimlessly.
Suddenly remembering the wallet I’d brought, I checked it. Seeing it contained quite a bit of cash and cards, I decided to take a taxi. Fortunately, once I reached the main road, I was able to catch one quickly.
“Please take me to Imperial High School.”
“It’s faster to get to Imperial High if we go the opposite way… Did you just transfer?”
The taxi driver said this while looking at me—someone catching a taxi at such a late hour and from the wrong side.
“Ah, yes. I don’t know my way around well yet. I’m sorry.”
“Haha, no problem. Get in. It won’t take long anyway.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I bowed my head slightly as I sat in the back seat, and the taxi driver asked what year I was in. What a chatty guy.
“Um, I’m in second year.”
Since the main character was in second year, that should be right. I think he was also in Class 1. As I recalled things I hadn’t thought of before, reality suddenly hit me.
“Imperial High, huh? You must be very smart. Anyway, you look like you’ve been raised well… My son really wants to go there too.”
I wanted to strongly discourage him. Why would you want to go to such a terrifying place? Your son clearly doesn’t know anything.
“…No. I’m just ordinary. There must be better places than Imperial High.”
“No way, where could be better than Imperial High?! It’s the best high school in Korea.”
“Haha, is that so?”
“Of course. Anyway, your parents must be so proud.”
“Ye-es.”
By the time I awkwardly answered, we’d already arrived at the school. After thanking him and paying, the driver wished me well at school before driving off.
I wondered if I could really do well here.
