While the expression “ordinary” can be interpreted in various ways, Na Eun acknowledges that she is both extremely ordinary and not ordinary at the same time.

Compared to the extraordinariness of the friends she hung out with for all three years of high school, it may not be much, but growing up in a relatively, or rather very wealthy family compared to others was quite out of the ordinary.

Na Eun still feels embarrassed when she recalls the expressions Seung Joo and Sun Jin made when she confessed that she had never ridden the subway or bus in her life. So starting from summer vacation in her second year of high school, she insisted on going out using public transportation once or twice a week.

When she thinks about the time she fell for a friend’s mischievous lie that there were assigned seats on the subway, wandering from car to car wondering “Where is my assigned seat?”, she still wants to kick off her blanket in her sleep.

The teasing of her two friends, bending over with laughter behind her, was an added bonus.

Of course, that’s an old story now.

Now quite adept at checking routes on apps in advance and using the subway naturally, Na Eun climbed the stairs leading out of the station with familiar steps.

She smiled brightly at the figure that appeared to be waiting for her at the top.

“Jae Kyung!”

“Come slowly. Don’t run.”

Jae Kyung, who had been fiddling with his phone, smiles and tries to stop Na Eun as she runs up the stairs.

Knowing she wouldn’t listen even if told not to, Jae Kyung went down a few steps first and naturally reached out to take the bag hanging from Na Eun’s arm.

Na Eun, equally accustomed, handed over her bag and linked arms with Jae Kyung, her face excited.

“Did you miss me?”

“I missed you.”

Na Eun’s cheeks turn bright red at her gentle boyfriend’s answer.

Even though they’ve been dating for almost a year, Jae Kyung remained consistently affectionate.

Feeling shy, Na Eun averted her eyes slightly and changed the subject, idly pulling out her phone.

“What time was our movie again?”

But Jae Kyung doesn’t let her off so easily.

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“Did you not miss me?”

“…”

With their arms intertwined, their faces are so close that their cheeks would touch lips if they moved just a bit closer.

Na Eun only held out for 3 seconds against Jae Kyung’s playful questioning.

One. Two. Three.

“…I missed you.”

Jae Kyung bursts into laughter at Na Eun’s confession, made with her reddened face bowed deeply, as if finding her cute.

Annoyed by this, Na Eun shook off their linked arms as if to escape.

As she tried to walk away first from his side, Jae Kyung grabbed her arm to stop her and asked soothingly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know! I don’t like you.”

“Don’t dislike me. We’re meeting after a week. Like me.”

“I don’t know!”

Jae Kyung laughed as he hugged Na Eun from behind as she pouted and tried to avoid him.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Let’s eat popcorn. Your favorite flavor.

Na Eun narrowed her eyes and looked up to meet Jae Kyung’s eyes, who was much taller than her, at her boyfriend’s approach, knowing all too well her weakness for food.

“Buy me nachos too.”

“Yes, yes.”

We’ll be late for the movie. Let’s hurry.

Jae Kyung, who was skilled at soothing Na Eun like an older brother despite being the same age, naturally led her towards the movie theater.

Dating? You? When she told people around her that she had a boyfriend, that was the reaction most of them showed.

It’s understandable, as Na Eun, who had been a so-called “honor student” at school since middle school until now, had an almost obsessive focus on her grades, so it didn’t seem like she would turn her attention to anything other than academics.

But a first love that came unexpectedly shook her heart in an instant, and before she knew it, she had a boyfriend.

Although they couldn’t see each other every day because they went to different schools, they consistently went on dates every weekend, and sometimes Jae Kyung would visit Na Eun’s school to see her face, so she never really felt lonely throughout their relationship.

When she talked about it to those around her, it was clear that Jae Kyung was much more mature than his peers.

They had never had a big fight while dating, and on days when they had arguments, he was always the first to give in and apologize, being such a mature boyfriend that he even made other friends who were dating envious.

Seung Joo and Sun Jin, who had never had boyfriends, just watched Na Eun’s love life from the sidelines, maintaining the stance of “They’re having fun.”

Anyway, from Na Eun’s perspective, Jae Kyung is always a reliable boyfriend.

Na Eun stared blankly at Jae Kyung as he unwrapped the cake that came as her portion at the dessert cafe they visited after watching the movie.

Feeling her gaze, Jae Kyung tilted his head.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just like you.”

He laughed at the silly remark and asked.

“Did you enjoy the movie?”

“Yes. But I cried. The ending was too…”

Na Eun’s expression turned gloomy as the ending of the recently released superhero movie was too heartbreakingly sad.

“Why are all heroes so pitiful? It’s upsetting.”

“Well, it’s because they chose to be that way.”

“How is that a choice? It’s a responsibility they shouldered.”

Na Eun shook her head, having over-immersed herself as a fan who thoroughly understood the worldviews of all kinds of superhero stories, including M and D companies.

Watching her, Jae Kyung laughed as if in disbelief.

“Do you find the main character that pitiful?”

“Yes. It makes me cry just thinking about it.”

Aren’t you the same? Na Eun asked in return, to which Jae Kyung shrugged his shoulders.

“Not particularly for me.”

“You’re heartless.”

“Haha.”

Neither affirming nor denying his girlfriend’s contextless criticism, Jae Kyung said,

“Well, I do feel sorry for the real heroes in our country.”

Did you see the news the other day? This time a bridge collapsed. Since it was already a hot topic that had stirred up the school yesterday, Jae Kyung couldn’t have not known about it.

Na Eun nodded as she chewed on the cake Jae Kyung had fed her with a fork.

“Yes. I saw it.”

“It was amazing. They were pulling cars out from under the collapsed bridge with their bare hands.”

“…It is amazing.”

That’s why Sun Jin was writing with her left hand yesterday. Saying her shoulder was bothering her.

Recalling yesterday when she had copied her notes for Sun Jin after seeing her messy handwriting, Na Eun swallowed a sigh.

Unaware of her peculiar reaction, Jae Kyung continued,

“The ones that appeared yesterday… were they called K and L?”

“How can you tell who’s who when they’re covered head to toe in black?”

“Their body shapes are slightly different. People who are interested can all tell them apart.”

“There are so many people with nothing better to do.”

Na Eun retorted in a sullen tone.

Is there really a need to try so hard to identify people who are wearing masks to hide their identities in the first place? She knew that fan cafes existed for some heroes, with memberships in the tens of thousands, but Na Eun was quite skeptical of such culture.

Attention itself is not beneficial to people who don’t want to reveal their identities.

Moreover, since her closest friends were at the center of that attention, she only felt a strong desire to protect them.

“Why? I’m a fan too. Heroes are cool.”

I should ask for just one handshake if I ever meet them. Na Eun just smiled awkwardly at Jae Kyung’s uncharacteristic cheerfulness.

You wouldn’t say that if you really knew them.

She remembered Seung Joo, who had been playing music during break time in the classroom yesterday, dancing along to a singer’s choreography, and suddenly complaining about back pain and lying down on the floor making a fuss. And next to her, Sun Jin, who had been dancing along with bizarre movements, describing Seung Joo’s writhing as looking just like a lizard.

Then Sun Jin suddenly remembered she was in pain too, clutching her right shoulder and rolling on the floor as well, saying she had forgotten about it. It was Na Eun’s role to look down at Sun Jin with disdain.

‘Ack! Sh… I forgot my shoulder blade was dislocated… sh.’

‘You should be careful. Showing off how stupid you are?’

‘Don’t tease me! You’re the one whose back gave out.’

‘Both of you be careful. Should I play this one next?’

Of course, it was Na Eun herself who had been playing songs on her phone like a conductor in front of them.

Birds of a feather truly flock together.

While her parents were open-minded people who didn’t strongly oppose their high school daughter dating, they weren’t indifferent enough to turn a blind eye to her coming home late on weekend evenings.

Sure enough, as soon as it passed 11 PM, her phone rang like clockwork.

Checking the message from Mr. Yoon, the driver, saying he was nearby, Na Eun, who had just left the cafe, said to Jae Kyung,

“I have to go now. Mr. Yoon says he’s here.”

“It’s 11 already?”

Jae Kyung, who knew exactly what his girlfriend’s mandatory return time was after dating Na Eun for over a year, made a regretful face.

“I wish we could stay together longer.”

“Should we meet tomorrow then?”

“Would that be possible?”

“Yeah. After my tutoring session, I’m supposed to take a baking class with mom, but after that…”

Although she did have a schedule, Na Eun was in the middle of recounting tomorrow’s itinerary, bending her fingers, trying to make time to date her boyfriend somehow.

Bang-! With a sudden loud noise, Na Eun’s body fell backwards.

More precisely, Jae Kyung, who had been facing her, embraced her and moved his body back.

“Kyaaaaa!”

A scream that wasn’t her own rang out from somewhere.

Thanks to being safely wrapped in Jae Kyung’s arms as they rolled on the ground, Na Eun, who didn’t feel much pain, rolled her eyes to assess the situation.

What’s going on? What happened?