Chapter Text
[INITIATING SYSTEM: GOING ONLINE]
[SYSTEM ONLINE: NO REGISTERED USER]
[SYSTEM ONLINE: SEARCHING FOR USER]
[SYSTEM ONLINE: USER KIM SUNOO]
[INITIATING TRANSFER - 0%]
[20%]
[40%]
[50%]
[75%]
[100%]
[TRANSFER COMPLETE]
[UPLOADING ROLE SEQUENCE…]
[ROLE SEQUENCE UPLOADED]
[WE WELCOME YOU, BYSTANDER KIM SUNOO]
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Sunoo woke up with a blinding light sneakily protruding from the open window harassing his vision. It took him a couple of seconds before he could handle the light, blinking as he looked at the blurry room. Once he regained his vision, he scanned his room - feeling familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.
Everything was still the same from the dull bluish hue of his walls to the comics-infested shelves, there was nothing stranger. Yet, here he was having this strange feeling that something was wrong, very wrong in his room.
Something was off, he knew it, he simply can’t tell what it is. He looked at every nook and cranny of the room from the bottom of his bedside lamp, to the top of his cabinets, he simply couldn’t understand what felt wrong.
There was one last place he hadn't checked and it was his bed. Ever since he woke up, he scattered around his room trying to find the problem, forgetting about his bed till now. Just as he was about to remove the blanket and covers, his mother's voice rang loudly from the kitchen up to his room.
“Kim Sunoo, time for breakfast! You’re gonna be late for your first day of school”
“Coming mom!”
Sunoo replied as he went back to slowly removing the covers and blanket on his bed. He slowly peeled off the covers only to find nothing. There was nothing wrong and out of ordinary in his bed which had only caused him to question it much more.
“Sunoo-yah, come eat your breakfast”
He went down the stairs scratching his head in confusion. His mind was constantly running as he tried to come up with any possible reason as to what the problem was. He sat down at the table as his mother placed a plate of food for him.
The delicious smell of noodles pulled him out of his thoughts. They ate quietly with small talk from here and there. He and his mother were quite close, especially since they are the only people they have right now. It wasn’t tragic or anything, his mother had already explained to him that she and his father had lost love for one another.
It broke Sunoo when he had to watch his own family split apart. It broke him further when he received a letter inviting him to his very own father’s wedding with a new woman. He felt betrayed but there was nothing else he could do but be glad his mother stayed by his side.
As soon as Sunoo finished eating, he quickly went back to his room to get dressed. After making sure he had everything in his bag, he left the house, dashing away but not before saying goodbye to his mom.
It wasn’t until Sunoo was now walking to school that he remembered what he was originally doing this morning. Sunoo was about to run back home but the sudden ping from his phone stopped him. He pulled out his phone only to receive a notification that the manhwa he was reading had been updated today.
“Oh my God! It’s finally here, the day she finally gets her revenge!”
Sunoo was a very avid fan of manhwa’s, comics, and manga. He would always be found reading one of those in his spare time. It wasn’t a big deal for his mother as he could still manage to earn averagely high grades despite almost always being stuck reading anything else other than his English or Math books.
Sunoo continued walking down the sidewalk, his eyes glued to the countless panels in his phone. Too immersed with what he was reading to notice the lamp post in his way. He was nearing the lamp post when he was harshly pulled back causing Sunoo to lose grip on his phone, slipping off his grasp and falling to the ground with a gruesome crack that continuously rang in his ears.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?! Fucking stupid idiotic dumbass”
Sunoo glared at the stranger who had wholeheartedly pulled him out of being publicly humiliated. The stranger held a face of disbelief as Sunoo glared at him. He was expecting a thank you and not profanity being thrown at him.
“Dammit, why would you fucking pull me. You stupid bitch”
The stranger remained silent as he studied Sunoo’s flushed cheeks due to the anger he was feeling. Sunoo was getting annoyed as time passed, the stranger was still silent as he looked at Sunoo. He wasn't even a bit bothered at Sunoo's continuous barrage of profanities at him.
Sunoo studied the man’s face, acknowledging that the stranger in front of him was given some godly visuals. He could swear that if it wasn't for the fact that this stranger just pulled him and caused him to break his phone then he would be gawking at this man’s visuals.
“What are you gonna do about my fucking phone?”
“...”
“Are you just gonna stay silent and not compensate for it?”
The man snickered at Sunoo’s questions, which only further ticked the other off.
“Tsk? Did you just snicker at me? What the hell? Fine, if that’s how you wanna play the game”
Sunoo scavenged to his bag with the man curiously trying to take a peek into what Sunoo was doing. Sunoo then pulled out a marker further increasing the man’s curiosity.
“Give me your hand”
“What?”
“Glad you can talk but give me your hand”
Su noo met the man’s curious gaze which only ticked him further as the stranger did not make any moves of extending his arm out. Sunoo harshly pulled the man’s arm causing the man to stumble a bit closer to Sunoo.
“Text me in this number, I’m gonna be expecting a text by today. I swear to God if I don’t receive a text, I will murder you”
The threat sent a shiver down the man’s back as he met Sunoo’s murderous glare. He knew that it wasn’t an empty threat but it made him curious as to what this man could do.
After writing down the number of his mom’s phone in the man’s hand, Sunoo then eyed the other’s clothes. Realizing it was from a neighboring school, Sunoo let out a silent sigh of relief. Glad to have as little to no future chance of interaction with the man. The very same man who was eyeing him with such amusement.
“Is there a problem?”
“Yes, there is. The fact that you ruined my day is a substantial problem”
“I’m sorry then. I promise to text this number about the compensation for this”
“You better, I’m gonna go now”
Sunoo was about to walk away when the man grabbed his hand, stopping him from moving away further. Sunoo raised an eyebrow at the man’s grip on his hand. Looking up to meet the man’s sheepish smile.
“Do you need anything?”
“Your name”
“Excuse me?”
“I said your name. Can I get your name?”
“No. I was hoping this was the last time we would see each other. So if you don’t mind letting go before I yell for help.”
The man slowly let go of Sunoo’s hand, sighing in defeat. Sunoo rolled his eyes, not even giving a second look back to the stranger as he went his way.
“My name’s Sunghoon, Park Sunghoon by the way!”
The stranger now known as Sunghoon screamed aloud just before Sunoo was about to walk away out of ear reach. Sunoo simply replied with a raised middle finger high up in the air, not even a simple glance back as Sunghoon watched the smaller disappear into the corner of the street.
Sunghoon was in disbelief as the other walked away with as little interest as ever. This was a first, everyone knew who he was but it looks like not everyone does. He wanted to meet the other once more but how could he when he couldn’t even get his name. That’s until Sunghoon remembered the number written on the palm of his hand. A sense of joy and excitement filled him.
The few people that walked along the road looked at him weirdly as Sunghoon unconsciously bore a smile on his face as he traced the ink-stained numbers on his hand. Some were afraid of Sunghoon as they passed by but some who recognized the teen suddenly stopped and silently took pictures of the other.
A few people had started to crowd Sunghoon who continued to trace the number on his palm. He was seemingly unaware of the crowd surrounding him, his mind wandering on what to do next just to meet the rude, brave man.
“Woahhh, excuse me but we have to go”
Sunghoon was pulled out of his thoughts as he was painfully smacked on his back. Slightly arching his back, he looks at Jake with a deadly glare. Jake simply laughed it off as he walked ahead, not even waiting for Sunghoon to follow.
“Why did you do that”
Sunghoon asked as soon as he caught up with Jake, walking along with the other. The man replied with a shrug of his shoulder, not even giving a proper reply. Sunghoon furrowed his eyebrows at his best friend’s reply.
“Anyways, why were you just standing there looking at your palm?”
“It’s nothing…”
“Yah, why are you smiling then?!”
Sunghoon quickly shifted his head to the other side, hoping to hide the redness of his cheek and smile on his face. However, he did not take into account his ears which were as bright red as well.
“Stop hiding, it must be someone you find cute then”
“Yeah…”
“Got their name?”
“He didn’t give me it”
“Damn that’s rough”
“Yeah, hoping to meet him soon again.”
“Did you really find nothing about him?”
“Yeah”
“Do you even know what school he goes to?”
“I don’t know…”
“Really? You know nothing about him”
“Yeah…”
“We can ask Jay for help then. That dude has so many connections it's scary to think about”
“Alright”
“Come on, lighten up. We have more important things to deal about”
“Like?”
“Like this stupid system we have”
“Mine hasn’t triggered yet”
“Same here. Wanna transfer to the cuties school once we find out where he studies then?”
“I’m not sure besides isn’t today our first day here”
“Come on, don’t you want to meet him again. Besides, I’m intrigued what this main character role that we all have is for”
“Fine”
“Nice! Anyways, what were you looking at your palm again?"
“N-nothing”
“Sure, it must be his number then”
Sunghoon didn’t respond any further causing Jake to snicker as they continued walking. Jake knew Sunghoon so well that it even scared him for how good his best friend was at catching on. It’s helpful but it’s truthfully more annoying than it should be.
Jake lets out a sigh out of frustration as they eyed their school gate in the distance. Students had also started to walk with them in their very own world but some were annoyingly flaunting over them as they walked by. It was a normal occurrence wherever they went.
They’re used to it but sometimes get annoying, especially right now. A couple of girls were trailing them as they entered the school gates. Some weren’t even from their school yet have managed to sneak in. The trail of people was only cut off as they had reached the school building, a couple of guards had pushed away almost half of the students following.
Sunghoon and Jake entered their room only to be greeted with a paper ball thrown at their face. Sunghoon sent a quick glare at Riki who was smiling proudly at them. Jake, however, was getting ready to throw it back, once he did it managed to hit Heeseung who was peacefully sleeping in the back.
Riki laughed loudly as Heeseung woke up explicitly confused as he eyed the paper ball on the side of his chair. Jake had a sheepish smile as he met Heeseung’s confused gaze. Sunghoon however felt incredibly ashamed at his friends' antics.
Opting to take his seat instead of acknowledging the three arguing loudly in the back. His mind had started to once again wander back to the rude small teen he had met a while ago. A smile had once again unconsciously climbed back to his lips causing everyone, except for Jake, to wonder what made the ice-cold person smile so warmly.