For a high school senior, preparing for the final grade is a grueling battle.

Moreover, just thinking about the upcoming college entrance exam is enough to make one’s stomach churn. The earlier awkwardness dissipated as if it had never existed, lost in the heat of studying.

Na Eun, who was re-solving the mock exam problems the teacher had told them to review, collapsed onto her desk in despair.

“What confidence did I have to choose physics…?”

She felt like going back in time to give her second-year self a knock on the head.

Jae Kyung, who was also solving mock exam problems, said with a smile.

“But isn’t it fun?”

“It’s not fun anymore.”

And honestly, now she wondered what use all these physics laws were.

After directly seeing beings who could fly through the sky and support buildings with their hands, all these numerous physics laws felt meaningless.

They can break all of these. Gravitational acceleration? They ignore such things.

As Na Eun grumbled, thinking of the two friends she saw every day at school, Jae Kyung asked in an interested tone.

“Don’t your friends have any other reactions?”

“What kind of reactions?”

“Now that they know.”

He was asking how her friends reacted now that what they had pretended not to know while knowing had been openly revealed.

Na Eun thought for a moment before opening her mouth.

“…Not really. I guess when you’re too close, those things don’t matter.”

It’s not even interesting anymore. Hearing her nonchalant response, Jae Kyung probed a bit more.

“But aren’t you curious? How they got such abilities, what kind of powers they mainly have, things like that.”

“We see it on the news every day, so not really.”

“Hmm…”

Jae Kyung seemed to have many questions, perhaps because he had great affection for those who protected citizens day and night.

Na Eun held Jae Kyung’s hands, which were holding a pen, and admonished him.

“Jae Kyung, I told you. We shouldn’t be curious about those things, okay?”

It’s the first step to an early death! Don’t raise unnecessary death flags! Jae Kyung laughed at her motherly tone, as if scolding a young son.

“Is that so?”

“That’s how it is.”

Of course, if something like that ever happens, I’ll protect you! At her voice, which sounded like a pledge, Jae Kyung rested his chin on his hand and stared at her intently.

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?”

“I should be the one saying it because you got involved because of me. I’ll protect you no matter what happens.”

She doesn’t regret becoming friends with those children.

But if by any chance, even the slimmest possibility, they got caught up in something wrong and both she and Jae Kyung were put in danger, Na Eun was determined to protect Jae Kyung by any means necessary.

Jae Kyung was truly an uninvolved person who got entangled because of her.

“…”

Jae Kyung looked silently at his girlfriend, who was holding his hand with both of hers and had a serious look in her eyes.

Then, from such a close distance that even Na Eun could tell, his eyes curved gently.

“…Thank you.”

“…”

Ah.

That silence from earlier again.

The natural atmosphere was suddenly enveloped in awkwardness.

What should I do?

What to do.

Na Eun pondered for a very brief moment, then gathered her courage.

Chu. Na Eun leaned her upper body forward first between the two who were facing each other across the desk.

Jae Kyung froze blankly for a moment at the sensation that touched and left his cheek in an instant.

Strangely afraid of that expressionless face, she lowered her head with a bright red face.

Since the spilled water couldn’t be gathered back up, all that remained was to wait for Jae Kyung’s reaction.

A thread-like hope peeked its head into a corner of her heart, but it eventually faded.

“Did you finish all the problems? I have the answer key here.”

At Jae Kyung’s nonchalant change of subject as if nothing had happened, Na Eun almost cried inside for a moment.

[This is the timeline separator]

– How to kiss your boyfriend.

– Dating for a year.

– Physical intimacy after dating for a year.

– What does it mean if you’re dating but not kissing?

“Haah…”

It was the precious self-study time given by the school as the final exams approached.

Normally, she should be fiercely digging into the expected problem booklet, but since last weekend, Na Eun had been a bit off-kilter.

After secretly searching here and there on her phone, she collapsed onto her desk, feeling pathetic about her own actions.

That’s right. They still hadn’t kissed. Even though they had been dating for over a year.

At first, she actually liked it.

It was her first time dating, and that kind of contact was burdensome, so Jae Kyung’s cool attitude seemed even more admirable.

But as almost half a year passed with no contact beyond holding hands and hugging, she started to feel a bit frustrated with her boyfriend, and now that it had been a year, she even felt a little hurt.

Am I the only one who wants to?

She couldn’t help but feel a bit depressed.

When you like someone, it’s inevitable to feel excited just by touching them.

Every time she saw such scenes countless times in movies or dramas, her fantasy about the first kiss grew abundantly, but in reality, there was no progress at all.

Her friends seemed to assume that Na Eun had at least kissed by now, but she was too embarrassed to tell them that she had never done it even once.

They’d been dating for a year. In American dramas, things would be crazy by this point.

It was only because this was Korea, and she was steeped in Confucian values to her bones, that she only felt this much disappointment.

This makes me seem like I’m the only one dying to kiss.

While it was true that she was dying to, Na Eun didn’t want to admit it. As she was sighing heavily with her head down on her desk,

“What’s this?”

Gasp. It seemed the self-study time had ended without her noticing.

Na Eun opened her mouth as she raised her head at Seung Joo’s voice, who had approached her desk at some point.

Her eyes filled with shock. Because Seung Joo was holding Na Eun’s phone that she had carelessly thrown onto the desk in frustration.

Seung Joo, who was so close that they already knew each other’s phone passwords, frowned at the screen that appeared as soon as she unlocked it.

Na Eun desperately flailed her arms trying to snatch the phone, but sadly, it was no use against someone with superhuman strength.

Lightly restraining Na Eun’s arm and dodging here and there while slowly scrolling through the screen, the corners of Seung Joo’s mouth started to curl upwards.

Na Eun sincerely wanted to die.

“Seung Joo…”

She wondered if she had ever called her name this desperately since they became close.

Sadly, Na Eun’s pitiful, whimpering plea didn’t reach Seung Joo.

“Lee Sun Jin!”

Seung Joo loudly called for Sun Jin, who was playing a phone game with another friend outside the classroom.

Thanks to this, not only Sun Jin’s but also the attention of other students in the classroom turned to Seung Joo and Na Eun.

Kyaak, kyaaak.

Na Eun screamed as if a bomb had fallen, and beside her, Seung Joo called her friend without hiding her twitching mouth.

“Come see what Yoon Na Eun searched for here!”

“Kyaaaak!”

Seung Joo, please save me. I was wrong!

Despite Na Eun’s desperate struggle to hug Seung Joo’s neck and cover her mouth, the most mischievous hero in this world did not grant her request.

Sun Jin, with eyes like a hyena that had found its prey, quickly ran over after closing her game.

If there is a God, please help.

Na Eun prayed sincerely from the bottom of her heart, but unfortunately, that prayer did not reach heaven.

[This is the timeline separator]

“So, you really haven’t done it even once?”

Even though you’ve been dating for a year? Na Eun nodded with a gloomy expression at Sun Jin’s incredulous question.

The three of them had gone out for dinner before going to academy after school and were now huddled in a corner where few people passed by, rehashing today’s biggest issue.

At Na Eun’s unintended confession, Seung Joo, who didn’t know how to beat around the bush, threw a straight pitch.

“Maybe he doesn’t like you?”

“…”

“That’s not it. You’ve seen how his eyes drip with honey too.”

Sun Jin denied it, remembering the few times she had encountered her friend’s boyfriend, even though there weren’t many occasions to see him often.

But Na Eun herself didn’t deny it and just gripped her hamburger tightly as if tormenting it.

“You know, you once made a scene in front of his school, crying and begging him to get back together. Maybe he’s gotten tired of you since then?”

“Hey, stop it.”

Sun Jin poked Seung Joo’s side, watching her reaction as she deliberately threw stones.

“…Maybe he’s really just dating me out of pity.”

Come to think of it, even holding hands and hugging, it was always me who initiated and Jae Kyung just went along with it.

Maybe he really doesn’t like me, so he doesn’t want to touch me.

As Na Eun seemed to be digging herself deeper and deeper into the ground, Sun Jin quickly grabbed a cola and shoved it into her mouth.

Patting Na Eun, who habitually accepted and drank it, Sun Jin said,

“It’s not like that. How could he date you until now if he really disliked you? It’s just, we’re all students so he’s probably being careful.”

“He seems to be too careful for that.”

“Kwon Seung Joo, you shut up for a bit.”

Can’t you see her expression? As Sun Jin glared, Seung Joo snorted and said while putting french fries in her mouth,

“If you’re that curious about what he’s thinking, why don’t you just do it first?”

Do what? At Sun Jin’s question on behalf of Na Eun, Seung Joo answered.

“Just do it first.”

Kiss. At those words, Na Eun rolled her eyes.

“…I tried kissing his cheek, but he pretended not to notice.”

“Huh.”

“Wow, Yoon Na Eun, really.”

Both of them couldn’t hide their shock at Na Eun’s unexpected bold move.

They say the quiet cat climbs onto the kitchen counter first.

They never expected Na Eun, the most exemplary student among the three, to do such a thing.

“Do you like him that much?”

Na Eun made an indignant face at Seung Joo’s question while drinking cola.

“Yes. I like him.”

“Your eyes look really angry, different from your answer.”

“…”

Well, that’s because I really am angry. Na Eun now didn’t hide her rising anger and tightly closed her mouth.

Do I want to do something else? It’s just something that everyone who’s dating does! I just want to try that, why won’t he reciprocate at all-!

“…I want to kiss.”

“What the.”

“Look at this girl.”

The two were amazed at Na Eun’s blatant statement, but only for a moment,

“I want to kiiiiss-!”

“She’s crazy.”

“Oh my.”

The two heroes jumped up in alarm at Na Eun’s outburst that could have brought down the hamburger joint.

Seung Joo hurriedly covered Na Eun’s mouth, while Sun Jin quickly looked around to see if anyone was nearby.

Fortunately, there was no one else inside, and Sun Jin sighed in relief before gently flicking Na Eun’s forehead.

“Sometimes I think she’s a bit crazy.”

“Not just a bit, this is…”

Mmph-, mmph! Despite her two friends’ scolding, Na Eun was still struggling to remove Seung Joo’s hand covering her mouth when it happened.

Beep-.

At the sudden strange mechanical sound, Sun Jin and Seung Joo’s gazes immediately turned to their phones.

Noticing the change in their eyes at that peculiar ring that wasn’t a normal ringtone, Na Eun stopped struggling and picked up the cola on the table.

Feeling that Seung Joo’s hand covering her face had been removed, she said with a sulky expression,

“Go. I’ll finish this and go to the academy.”

Should I tell the teachers that you both caught a cold? Na Eun, who had even kindly provided an excuse for their absence at the academy they were supposed to go to soon, wasn’t surprised at all.

This situation was very familiar because similar scenarios had been repeated tediously since their first year.

We used the ‘something came up at home’ excuse last week, so saying we’re sick today would be most appropriate.

Na Eun, who had been providing this kind of support discreetly since figuring out their identities, urged the two with a look that said ‘why aren’t you leaving quickly?’

Although they all now knew that Na Eun knew everything, the two packed their bags sheepishly with apologetic looks.

They knew that when the three of them came out to eat something together, Na Eun had been unintentionally abandoned like this far too many times.

Once, they even made her eat alone at a salad bar.

Because of that, they watched Na Eun, who joked about becoming a master of eating alone, with not entirely comfortable feelings.

Whether they knew the circumstances or not, feeling sorry was still feeling sorry-

“In exchange, all your french fries are mine.”

As she calmly moved the french fries from Seung Joo and Sun Jin’s trays to her own, both of them couldn’t say anything.

Beep-. The warning signal that sounded again meant they should not delay any longer.

Sun Jin gave a look saying they should go, and Seung Joo also tried to turn around, hiding her uncomfortable feelings, when,

“Ah, guys.”

Both turned around simultaneously at Na Eun’s voice.

Then, a clear smile without a trace of resentment was directed at them.

“Be careful and don’t get hurt.”

Smiling as she said she had always wanted to say these words every time they left, even when she was pretending not to know, the two looked at Na Eun silently before smiling.

“…Okay, thanks.”

“We’ll be back.”

[This is the timeline separator]

After cheerfully sending off her two friends who left with uncharacteristically shy faces, Na Eun looked around at the suddenly empty surroundings and took out her phone.

As she habitually took out her earphones and turned on a video app, preparing to eat alone, she suddenly recalled the second virtue she had created for herself as a civilian friend of heroes.

The second virtue.

Don’t feel hurt even if suddenly abandoned.