Kim Do-yeon

Summer. The holidays had long since begun, but the school hallways were almost empty. Only the occasional slam of a door or the sound of teachers finishing up for the new school year could be heard.

Yes, it sounds stupid, but you still had to come to school. Yesterday, your homeroom teacher wrote that you still haven't turned in your final math textbook. If you don't return it today, the backlog will remain in the system, which means you might have problems with moving up to the next grade.

With a heavy sigh, you climbed up to the second floor, clutching a tattered textbook under your arm. To your surprise, you weren't alone.

A boy in a red and white tracksuit stood by the lockers. His black hair was slightly tousled, and he held a foreign language textbook in his hands. It was Kim Doyoung, one of the quietest students in school. He rarely showed up at school events, interacted with almost no one, and always left immediately after class. It seemed he, too, had been forced to return his textbook. Doyoung closed his locker door and, without even looking around, headed for the same room you were heading for. The hallway was too narrow for you to pass each other comfortably. As you turned a corner, you both took a step one way... then the other. You bumped shoulders. The textbook slipped from your hands and fell to the floor with a dull thud. Doyoung stopped immediately.

• Sorry.

He leaned over calmly, picked up the textbook, and handed it to you. His voice was even, without irritation or awkwardness. Your eyes met for a second.

— Do you also hand in your textbooks?

The question was mundane, yet unexpected. Especially coming from someone who, rumor had it, never talked to anyone. A brief silence fell over the empty school hallway. It seemed like only a few steps remained to the classroom… but for some reason, none of you seemed in any hurry to move forward.