Incomprehension

During the lunch break, Ji-won took a shortcut behind the old gym. He stopped dead when he saw a cloud of grey smoke drifting from the corner. There stood Tae-oh, leaning against the wall, surrounded by the school’s most notorious troublemakers. They were laughing, cigarettes in hand.

Ji-won’s stomach turned. He scowled, his disappointment sharper than he expected. "He’s an athlete, yet he has the audacity to smoke?" he muttered to himself, pivoting on his heel and storming away.

Later that afternoon, he ran into Tae-oh near the lockers. Tae-oh noticed his icy glare and smirked, stepping into Ji-won’s path.

"What's with the face, Mr. Perfect? Did the taxi lady come back for more money?" Tae-oh provoked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Ji-won’s grip tightened on his bag straps. He tried to walk past, but Tae-oh shifted to block him again, leaning down to look Ji-won in the eye. "Aw, come on. Don't be like—"

"Get out of my way," Ji-won snapped, his patience finally snapping like a dry twig. He looked up at Tae-oh with genuine heat in his eyes. "You’re in sports, yet you smoke? You’re not better than any of those losers behind the gym. You're just a hypocrite who acts cool while ruining his own lungs."

The hallway went silent. Tae-oh’s smirk didn't vanish, but his eyes flickered with something unreadable—maybe surprise, or maybe a secret he wasn't ready to share.

"Is that what you think?" Tae-oh asked, his voice dropping to that low, dangerous hum again.

The echoes of Ji-won’s shout seemed to bounce off the lockers, hanging in the air like heavy fog. Students stopped in their tracks, whispers breaking out instantly. “Did he just say Tae-oh smokes?” “Is he going to get kicked off the team?”

Tae-oh stood perfectly still. For a moment, he looked like a statue—frozen by the sheer audacity of the accusation.

He hadn't been smoking. He had been disgusted by the smell and had reached out to snatch the lit cigarette right out of the bully’s mouth, intending to crush it under his boot. But in the split second Ji-won had glanced over, the timing was cursed. It looked like he was part of the group.

Tae-oh’s jaw tightened. A cold, sharp realization washed over him: Ji-won had just risked his entire athletic career in front of the whole school based on a guess.

The playful smirk was gone. In its place was a look of genuine, chilling offense. Tae-oh stepped closer, his shadow falling over Ji-won, forcing the shorter boy to look up.

"You really love playing the hero, don't you?" Tae-oh’s voice was dangerously quiet, cutting through the murmurs of the crowd.

"I—" Ji-won started, his heart suddenly hammering against his ribs. He saw the flicker of real anger in Tae-oh’s eyes and felt a bead of sweat down his neck.

"Who do you think you are?" Tae-oh interrupted, his voice like ice. "Because I gave you a ride? Because I was 'friendly' for five minutes, you think you have a seat at the table to judge my life?"

Tae-oh leaned in, his eyes narrowed. "You didn't see anything. But you decided to yell it loud enough for the coaches to hear. You’re so busy being 'Mr. Perfect' that you don't care who you destroy in the process."

He reached into his pocket, pulled out the crumpled cigarette he had snatched earlier—unlit and broken—and dropped it at Ji-won’s feet.

"Check your facts before you open your mouth next time," Tae-oh said flatly. He didn't wait for a response. He shoved past Ji-won’s shoulder, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the hallway as the whispers turned toward him instead.

Ji-won sat at the back of the cafeteria, his lunch tray untouched. He had spent the entire morning feeling like a weight was pressing down on his chest. Every time he saw a group of athletes, he looked for Tae-oh, but the other boy was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, a rowdy group of boys sat at the table behind him. It was the same group from behind the gym. Ji-won stiffened, intending to leave, until he heard a name that made him freeze.

"Man, did you see Dong-shik's face yesterday?" one of the bullies laughed, slapping the table.

"Total joke," another replied, mouth full of food. "He was mid-puff, feeling all cool, and then Tae-oh just snatched the cigarette right out of his mouth. Didn't even say a word, just crushed it and glared at him. Dong-shik was so embarrassed he didn't even try to fight back."

"Tae-oh’s a buzzkill lately," the first one grumbled. "Ever since he made the starting lineup, he’s been acting like our coach's shadow. He told Dong-shik if he sees him smoking near the lockers again, he’s going to drag him to the office by his ear."

The tray in Ji-won’s hands rattled.

The air felt thin. Every word was like a physical blow to his stomach. Tae-oh wasn't joining them. He was stopping them. Ji-won remembered the way he had screamed in the hallway. He remembered the crowd of students watching. He hadn't just misunderstood a situation; he had publicly attacked someone for doing the very thing he claimed to stand for.

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