It was summer break of the second year of high school. During a tutoring session, the students burst into laughter at a joke made by the teacher.

The teacher, who liked working out, caused a stir in various ways by saying he wanted to go on his honeymoon to Mexico where there was a gym on the beach.

The girls were indignant, saying what kind of honeymoon is that, while the boys chuckled, saying it sounded fun but the bride would scold him.

Usually, off-topic conversations during class are the most entertaining. The subject became ‘Where do you all want to go for your honeymoon when you grow up?’

Even the dozing students woke up and joined the conversation, and among the ten or so students, the teacher randomly picked some to ask where they would like to go for their honeymoon when they get married later.

Jae Kyung, sitting in the middle, smiled softly when he was called on.

He didn’t particularly want to join this trivial conversation, but knowing he had to go along with the mood, he casually named any country.

Hearing the answer, the teacher’s eyes lit up and he nodded.

‘Oh, France. Yes, Europe is nice.’

He told him about other countries that would be good to visit along with France, and Jae Kyung listened with one ear and let it out the other.

He had learned through various undercover experiences that it was meaningless to pay attention to every little detail of such trivial conversations.

Then, a mischievous voice from the back seats changed the atmosphere.

‘But Han Jae Kyung, shouldn’t you ask Yoon Na Eun before deciding?’

By that time, everyone openly knew that Jae Kyung and Na Eun were dating.

They had become close during winter break, and within a few months, they became a couple.

Everyone believed that Na Eun, who had quit the academy shortly after winter break ended, had returned under the pretext of summer break special lectures to be with Jae Kyung again.

Whether still slow to such news or not, the teacher asked what they meant, and the students, excited by the new topic, started chattering away.

‘Yoon Na Eun is dating Han Jae Kyung!’

‘That’s why she quit and came back, they say.’

‘Hey, Jae Kyung. What if Yoon Na Eun doesn’t like France?’

There’s nothing as interesting to gossip about as other people’s love lives. Especially during class time.

Even in this top class of the best students in the region, the casual chat during class time seemed enjoyable.

Jae Kyung was even less interested, but he pretended to laugh awkwardly and embarrassedly.

No one doubted him as he perfectly acted out the image of a high school boy feeling shy about starting to date.

And simultaneously, most of the gazes in the classroom turned to another direction.

To Na Eun, who was sitting far from Jae Kyung, alone and unswayed, taking notes.

Despite being in a relationship, she never sat with Jae Kyung during class or self-study time, and now she seemed busy copying the notes the teacher had written on the board earlier into her notebook.

The students whispered among themselves, looking at Na Eun who seemed completely uninterested in this topic, ‘Is she really dating Han Jae Kyung?’

As the teacher was about to raise a hand to stop them, Na Eun stopped writing and turned her head.

She faced exactly diagonally towards where Jae Kyung was sitting.

‘I like France too.’

Simply but clearly, in a voice loud enough for everyone in the classroom to hear, Na Eun expressed her opinion and then turned back to look at her book.

She pretended to write again, fidgeting with the pen in her hand, but it was obvious she had nothing more to write.

Na Eun’s cheeks flushed pink as she stared blankly at the edge of the paper.

And exactly three seconds later, the classroom erupted.

Their honeymoon destination is decided, Yoon Na Eun is amazing, it’s annoying to look at, and so on.

Na Eun, who had provoked such passionate reactions and teasing typical of their age group, was just blushing at the center of the chaos like the eye of a storm.

That expression of obvious embarrassment showed no sign of regret.

Leaving the noisy classroom be, Jae Kyung watched from behind as Na Eun’s soft hair swayed gently around her back and chest, matching her mood, and inwardly clicked his tongue.

In his life, he had never seen someone who so transparently revealed their emotions outwardly like this.

‘Do you have to give it to her right now?’

The guy Jae Kyung had superficially befriended to blend in grumbled in a low voice beside him.

It was during the relatively free lunch break in the academy’s summer special lecture schedule.

In Jae Kyung’s hand was a problem printout that the math teacher had asked him to pass on to Na Eun.

His friend seemed to not understand why Jae Kyung was roaming the hallway looking for Na Eun when they were in the same class and could give it to her later during class time.

‘You’re just using that as an excuse to see her face one more time, right?’

‘Ugh.’

At Jae Kyung’s nonchalant reply, his friend pretended to vomit and acted distressed.

He seemed to find Jae Kyung’s attitude incomprehensible and cringeworthy.

It didn’t matter since that’s exactly how Jae Kyung wanted to appear.

For Jae Kyung, figuring out how others wanted to perceive him and then acting based on those expectations to achieve desired results was easier than breathing.

Right now, he needed the image of ‘Han Jae Kyung who likes Yoon Na Eun so much that he endlessly treats her well.’

And for the past six months, he had been steadily achieving the desired results.

He found out from a girl who often hung out with Na Eun that she was in the lounge now.

The lounge, equipped with vending machines, simple food tables, and chairs, was a popular spot for students during lunch breaks.

Half-listening to his friend’s muttering beside him, he arrived at the place where Na Eun was expected to be.

As it was a space that didn’t require knocking, Jae Kyung slowly opened the door to the lounge without hiding his presence.

In the small space, there were vending machines on the left side of the center and tables with a few empty chairs on the right.

And in the center, instead of the person Jae Kyung was looking for, stood a girl who seemed to have recently become close with Na Eun.

As Jae Kyung and his friend entered the lounge, she smiled awkwardly and scratched her neck in an uncomfortable posture.

‘Haven’t you seen Na Eun? I have something to give her.’

‘Ah, well…’

The girl seemed quite flustered at Jae Kyung’s question and closed her mouth for a moment.

Jae Kyung calmly waited for her answer, while his friend beside him urged for a response, saying wasn’t Yoon Na Eun here until just now?

After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Jae Kyung finally heard Na Eun’s voice calling him.

Jae Kyung.

A careful voice, filled with just as much affection. It was Yoon Na Eun.

Jae Kyung started to turn around abruptly, but quickly realized her voice wasn’t coming from behind.

He briefly wondered about the strange sound coming from above, then on a hunch, raised his head.

And at the sight he witnessed, his friend beside him reacted first, as if expressing Jae Kyung’s feelings.

‘Whoa, what the heck.’

For once, Jae Kyung understood his friend’s reaction.

He blinked slowly, not quite believing what he was seeing even as he looked at it.

On the left side in front of the vending machines, there were several large lockers where students usually kept their textbooks.

On top of these lockers, which were so tall they nearly touched the ceiling, Yoon Na Eun was lying down, looking down at Jae Kyung and his friend.

In one way, she looked comfortably sprawled out, and in another, she seemed wedged between the ceiling and the top of the lockers.

It was a rare moment when Jae Kyung, who had cultivated the ability to smoothly handle any situation without being flustered during his long undercover life, was at a loss for words.

Na Eun, facing Jae Kyung who was silently looking up at her with his mouth closed, averted her gaze with an infinitely embarrassed expression.

Moreover, it was Jae Kyung’s friend who broke the awkwardness. He looked at Na Eun, who was lying on top of the lockers like some ghost looking down at them, with disbelief.

It was fortunate that she had her hair tied up because it was summer; if it had been down as usual, her hair would have been flowing down, truly recreating a scene from a horror movie.

‘What are you doing up there?’

At his friend’s question, which clearly showed his bewilderment, Na Eun tightly closed her mouth and avoided eye contact.

In place of Na Eun, who was feeling embarrassed, her friend standing below answered.

‘Well, Na Eun suddenly said she wanted to try getting in there while drinking cola…’

Even after hearing the reason, it was still completely unacceptable.

Jae Kyung rarely took time to find words, and in the meantime, his friend beside him expressed his feelings much more easily, showing his astonishment.

‘Why would you go in there?’

‘…It just looked cozy somehow.’

Knowing that she must be embarrassed, Na Eun, who had been avoiding eye contact, muttered in a small voice.

Her answer to why she hadn’t come down was even more outrageous.

‘I managed to get up somehow, but when I tried to get down, my body got stuck and I can’t get out well…’

‘…’

‘I’m too scared to move carelessly.’

In short, while having a snack in the lounge, she happened to look at the top of the lockers and thought it looked cozy, and out of curiosity to see if she could lie there, she climbed up without thinking. As evidence, there was a chair leaning against the side of the locker, which she had apparently used as a stepping stone to climb up.

Although he knew she sometimes did odd things, this was such an unexpected situation that Jae Kyung didn’t know how to react.

Moreover, it was even more bewildering that after managing to climb up, she got stuck between the ceiling and the locker, and was too scared to move freely, staying like that.

And as if expressing Jae Kyung’s feelings, his friend muttered, not hiding his bewilderment.

‘Are you a cat?’

At his friend’s incredulous words asking why she climbed up there, the girl standing below burst into laughter.

Na Eun, knowing it was embarrassing even to herself, couldn’t offer any rebuttal.

Jae Kyung, after barely suppressing something that was about to burst out, approached the locker where Na Eun was with the face of an infinitely kind boyfriend and reached out both arms towards her.

‘I’ll catch you. Want to try coming out slowly?’

Na Eun looked at Jae Kyung with a grateful face, as he was trying to help her instead of laughing at her, even though the situation was silly even to herself.

That look, which really resembled a pitiful cat, made Jae Kyung suppress his breathing that was about to burst again.

Na Eun slowly moved her upper body, which was difficult to move due to the narrow space, towards the outside of the locker.

Gripping the edge of the locker with both hands and pushing her body, she came out more easily than expected.

She had been still out of fear of falling, but thinking that Jae Kyung would catch her from below made her feel at ease and removed her hesitation.

For Na Eun, who had been thinking about calling a teacher for help even if she’d get scolded if things really didn’t work out before Jae Kyung arrived, her boyfriend’s appearance was a salvation.

Meanwhile, the expressions of the three people watching Na Eun struggle to pull her upper body out from the top of the locker became increasingly peculiar.

Her creaking form, just like a ghost in a horror movie, combined with Na Eun’s awkward posture and her strained expression, was too bizarre.

In the end, laughter burst out from the two people except Jae Kyung, and Na Eun glared at them but didn’t say anything.

She looked at Jae Kyung with gratitude as he gazed at her kindly, reaching out both arms to support her.

Finally, her entire upper body came out of the locker, and Jae Kyung held both her arms to support her as she slowly came down.

Na Eun, who had been flailing for a moment because her legs got stuck and couldn’t move well, suddenly realized that this sight might be quite unsightly to show her boyfriend whom she hadn’t been dating for long.

Ugh. As soon as she realized this, her upper body that had come out lost balance and folded over the locker.

Like a cicada hanging upside down on a tree, a bizarre groan escaped from her overturned posture.

At this point, Na Eun had to ask.

‘Um, Jae Kyung.’

‘Yes?’

Thanks to Jae Kyung, who was still smiling and lifting her shoulders, Na Eun was barely able to raise her overturned upper body.

She carefully asked what had been on her mind for a while.

‘Do I look a bit stupid right now?’

‘…’

‘I guess I do look stupid…’

Seeing Jae Kyung biting his lip silently after hearing her question, Na Eun muttered dejectedly.

She didn’t want to show such a sight to her boyfriend, and knowing how foolish she looked right now made her even more dejected.

However, unfortunately, Na Eun’s honesty brought an unfavorable result for Jae Kyung.

Na Eun watched with round eyes as Jae Kyung, who had been calmly taking care of her until now, lowered his head and his shoulders began to shake more and more.

Meanwhile, she still hadn’t escaped from the top of the locker, her lower body still stuck bizarrely between the ceiling and the top of the locker.

‘Jae Kyung?’

‘…No, why, why on earth there…’

Jae Kyung finally bent over as if he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He leaned one hand on the locker and held his stomach with the other.

The slight trembling of his shoulders gradually became more intense.

‘Hahaha.’

Na Eun stared wide-eyed at Jae Kyung, who finally burst into laughter, bending over and busy laughing.

The other friends, seeing Jae Kyung laugh out loud like this for the first time, also looked at his back curiously.

But Jae Kyung now had no mental capacity to consider others’ gazes.

Like a dam that had finally burst after barely holding back, he held his stomach and laughed for a long time.

The aftermath brought on by the unpredictable quirkiness, which had no reason, situation, or any causal relationship that could be inferred, was tremendous.

In the end, after laughing for a long time while hitting the locker door, Jae Kyung finally calmed down and could only help his girlfriend come down safely after organizing his scattered breath.

To Jae Kyung, who belatedly apologized for laughing, Na Eun spoke in a dejected voice while roughly fixing her messy bangs.

‘It’s okay. If you found it funny, that’s enough for me…’

At that response, full of affection yet infinitely dejected, Jae Kyung eventually had to hold Na Eun’s hand and laugh for a long time again.