The house wasn’t quite as extravagant as Ban Eun-hyeol’s, but even at a glance, it didn’t seem like an ordinary home—a dignified and solid residence.
“Wow… Could this kid also be a chaebol heir?”
The front door opened, and as Do Yi-hyun stepped inside first, I cautiously followed, eyes fixed on the garden visible beyond him.
The interior was clean, but somehow felt empty.
It was as if this wasn’t a house where a whole family lived together, but a place where Do Yi-hyun lived alone.
“Does he really live alone?”
I’d seen high schoolers living on their own in houses like this before.
I figured his parents were probably overseas for work most of the time.
“Do you live alone?”
“Yeah. My parents are overseas because of business.”
That made sense.
Following Do Yi-hyun up the stairs, I looked around the entirely white interior with curious eyes.
The marble floors and large windows gave the house an airy feel, while pieces of furniture in deep blue were spaced out here and there, adding a sense of presence.
It wasn’t as flashy a mansion as Ban Eun-hyeol’s, but somehow this place felt more welcoming.
Upstairs, a small living room and Do Yi-hyun’s room came into view.
“I’ll go in first.”
Thinking the view from this floor looked nice, I tried to enter Do Yi-hyun’s room, but a brown poodle came out and circled around me.
“Choco, let’s go inside.”
“This your dog? So cute.”
I entered the room with Choco and set down the problem book I had brought, ready to get started.
“… Are you planning to finish all of this today?”
“Ah, I don’t know what I’ll need, so I brought everything.
I didn’t think your house would have problem books.”
I pointed to Do Yi-hyun’s desk, which was not a bookshelf by any stretch, and smiled.
I expected he’d have few books, but not having even a single bookshelf was surprising.
It seemed like he avoided studying altogether, so I just assumed he wouldn’t have any problem books—yet he had nothing at all.
Do Yi-hyun flipped through the problem books I brought, looking at the theory explanations with interest.
Then he slammed the books shut.
“This won’t be easy…”
But contrary to my expectations, Do Yi-hyun actually showed a fair amount of focus.
With Choco on his lap, he furrowed his brows in concentration and even began solving the problems.
“You got them all wrong.”
“That’s fine. You don’t have to be good at studying.”
Whether you can’t study, inherit the family business, suddenly raise your grades one day, or become a celebrity—whatever it is, your future will surely be brilliant.
“Because you’re the main character of the story.”
In stories with new endings, I’d never once seen the protagonist’s future turn out dark or unhappy.
Besides, if a high school student lives alone in a house like this, their future must be pretty solid.
“But Choco is so calm. Is he always this quiet?”
“Hmm, maybe he takes after me.”
I averted my gaze from the problem books on the desk to look at Choco.
Pushing the problem books aside completely, I played with Choco, shared a meal with Do Yi-hyun, and chatted about this and that until it was already dark outside.
“Hey… what do we do? I didn’t study at all.”
“It’s okay.”
“What’s okay about it?!”
“Come visit again later. Let’s play with Choco.”
The same guy who dragged me over to study had spent the whole day just playing, yet he acted like he had never planned to study from the start.
“… Choco’s cute, so I’ll come again.”
I hoisted the bag filled with problem books I barely looked at, said my goodbyes to Do Yi-hyun, and stepped outside.
“This feels like a lost cause.”
No matter how I thought about it, Do Yi-hyun seemed hopeless.
Clothes, clothes, clothes.
After seeing me off, Do Yi-hyun turned around holding Choco.
The usually spacious and cold living room suddenly felt even emptier.
Just as I expected, this was a house prepared solely for him to live alone.
It wasn’t that his parents had temporarily gone on a business trip, but a house his parents had bought just for him.
Aside from the guest room for visitors, everything was present in only single quantities—just one desk, one dresser, everything was only one.
The empty rooms, except for his own, were used as a game room with only computers, a dressing room filled with clothes, and a room dedicated entirely to Choco, full of pet supplies.
“Choco, aren’t you bored when I leave?”
Do Yi-hyun sat on the living room sofa, holding Choco, silently staring out at the garden.
‘Maybe I should’ve made him study harder.’
We met to study together, but instead I ended up sending him off without any studying done, and I felt a pang of guilt.
Until now, I hadn’t really cared about studying because I wasn’t interested, and no one ever pressured me about my grades.
So I’d never really paid attention before.
Standing up from the sofa, he went to his room and stared at the empty desk.
‘Wasn’t having no bookshelf too much?’
Shouldn’t there at least have been a few basic problem books or textbooks?
“Ugh…”
Holding the door handle, lost in thought for a moment, he put on a jacket and went out into the rain.
Wearing slippers and carrying his wallet, his destination was the large bookstore at the Sa-gori intersection.
“If there’s a lot to choose from, then it should be easier to pick something.”
That simple reason was why he pulled his hat low and stopped by the bookstore at the Sa-gori.
While there, he also briefly visited the stationery store attached to it.
“Do you have a membership card?”
“Yeah.”
Exiting the stationery store, he was holding a mechanical pencil, Bi-Sharp, with a sticker of a red bird on it—Danja’s favorite.
At the bookstore, Do Yi-hyun picked up only problem books labeled ‘Basics’ and ‘Concepts’ before heading home.
Until now, his pride had never been bruised, but hearing Ban Eun-hyeol say he was bad at studying cracked his confidence for the first time.
‘Maybe I should try a little harder.’
Determined to study on his own for the first time in his life, he walked with the heavy problem books.
“Don’t want to?”
A sharp voice rang out from somewhere.
Having never cared much about others, he naturally intended to just pass by.
“Don’t be like that.”
The familiar voice followed, sharp and insistent.
The sound came from a narrow alley.
Holding the problem books, Do Yi-hyun stood still, deep in thought.
Should he go over there or just ignore it?
“I said it’s fine since I like it.”
While he was still pondering, another sharp voice leaked from the alley.
Probably knowing that Do Yi-hyun would immediately recognize the owner of the voice, he even used a stealth skill as he walked closer.
Peeking slightly from around the corner of the alley, he confirmed two faces.
“Why can’t you just come to our school?”
“I said no. I like my school.”
Ji Gang-han was holding the wrist of a male student and pleading with a desperate look.
What the hell was going on?
Even Do Yi-hyun, who rarely cared about others, knew enough about Ji Gang-han’s usual personality.
Ji Gang-han, who almost never showed emotion, pleading with those eyes, telling someone to transfer to his school?
It was a strange sight difficult to understand, and his eyebrows tightened.
“If you’re so sure, then why don’t you transfer to my school?”
The husky voice of the male student glared at Ji Gang-han with a displeased expression and shook off his hand.
He looked much shorter than Ji Gang-han. Not only short, but thin arms and legs as well.
“No… I can’t go there. I’m worried about you.”
Despite the male student’s firm response, Ji Gang-han didn’t give up and begged once again.
Not knowing what they were doing in the alley, Do Yi-hyun soon lost interest and turned back home.
Clothes, clothes, clothes.
“Isn’t Gang-han acting weird lately?”
During break, when Ji Gang-han disappeared alone somewhere, Han Ji-bin turned her body to look at us and spoke in a very low voice.
“He’s not even sleeping during class, keeps staring out the window, and sighs a lot.”
“That’s definitely strange.”
“Guys… isn’t it weird to NOT sleep during class?”
Recently, I hadn’t really seen Ji Gang-han acting all clingy like before.
I thought maybe it was just because he was now a senior and seriously trying to study, so I hadn’t paid much attention—but Han Ji-bin was noticing other things.
Sighing.
Ji Gang-han was quiet and didn’t show much emotion, so I’d never once seen him sigh.
If Han Ji-bin was saying this, it meant he had sighed several times, which was unusual for him, so it did worry me.
“Think something’s wrong?”
“Come to think of it, he’s never left his seat this long during break before.”
The class bell would ring soon, and except for going to the bathroom, he usually didn’t go anywhere—but he still hadn’t come back.
“Why make such a fuss over that? He’s probably just got a stomach ache or something.”
“You’ve lost your friend status.”
Han Ji-bin gave Ban Eun-hyeol a very hurt expression, saying this as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Then how about we watch Ji Gang-han all day today, and if he really is acting strange, ask him about it?”
At that moment, Yeon Ha-yeon pulled out a neat solution book.
And so began the observation of Ji Gang-han.
[Just sighed. Fifth time.]
[Sigh show.]
[It’s math class but he’s not sleeping either? That’s strange.]
Ban Eun-hyeol and I communicated through notes, exchanging looks in real time whenever Ji Gang-han acted differently from usual.
Even during lunch, Ji Gang-han’s strange behavior continued.
“I’m going to buy some bread at the cafeteria. You guys eat without me.”
“You’re… not going to eat?”
Usually, he followed friends to the cafeteria or at least ate snacks or bread by himself.
But for the first time, he said he was skipping a meal, which shocked everyone.
We were stunned and ate lunch in the cafeteria with serious expressions, discussing what was going on.
“Something’s definitely up.”
“Finally noticing now?”
“Didn’t know Eun-hyeol had that kind of intuition…”
Now that we were sure something was wrong, we teased Ban Eun-hyeol but also wondered how to bring it up to Ji Gang-han.
“Gang-han, hey, um…”
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