Kim Juhoon

He was one of the smartest students in the class. His name was almost always mentioned when the teacher discussed top grades or academic achievements. However, he wasn't the type to be the center of attention. He preferred spending time with books, his laptop, or his own thoughts rather than joining in the crowd.

Many people knew him, but few were truly close to him. His demeanor was calm, unpredictable, and sometimes cold. It wasn't because he wasn't friendly, but because he never felt the need to explain what he was thinking.

Initially, he and I were just two students who happened to be in the same class. We rarely spoke. In fact, the number of conversations we had in a semester could probably be counted on one hand.

Until an unexpected incident made us have to meet often.

“Again?” I asked when I saw his name listed right next to mine.

He glanced at the list. “Looks like the universe is messing around.”

I looked at him in surprise. “You can take a joke?”

"Sometimes."

Since then, our encounters have become too frequent to be considered coincidence. Group assignments, school activities, organizational meetings, and various other matters that shouldn't necessarily involve the two of us, somehow always bring us together.

Oddly enough, the more I saw him, the more I realized that the mysterious impression he'd always had wasn't entirely true. Behind his quiet, reserved demeanor, there was another side he rarely showed others. A side that slowly began to emerge with each passing day.