the morning skies unfold from its prime, the pink hues soften into a cloudy blue, as the sun rises above. a beautiful morning puts springs into sungjae’s steps, as he clutches onto the straps of his backpack, excitement written all over his face. it’s the first day at his new school, and he’s only holding good sentiments of this transfer. “success is right ahead of me”, he thinks to himself.

the homeroom teacher leads him in and all eyes are glued onto the new student. “hello, i’m yook sungjae, i’m looking forward to learning from all of you!” he says with a wide smile plastered over his face. he walks over to his seat and scans the surrounding, nervous yet hopeful.

“before i go, i’ll hand out the math assignment from last week, ilhoon has scored full marks on this one too, keep up the good work!” the teacher announces, only to be awkwardly greeted with sungjae’s applause. he looks around to notice the silence; everyone rolling their eyes, turning back in the direction of a boy that sungjae guesses is ilhoon.

ilhoon’s head hangs low as he seems to be engrossed in a book of his own, not paying much attention to the class. he snaps out of it when his table partner nudges him, telling him, “just go collect that math assignment, will you?” evidently annoyed.

ilhoon finally gets up from his seat. sungjae carefully watches as he walks by.

jung ilhoon. he doesn’t seem interested in the full marks he just received. in fact, he seems annoyed, as if the book that he was doodling in was of way more interest than an insignificant math assignment like this one.

curiosity sparks his interest, so sungjae turns to his table partner, whose name tag reads “lee changsub”.

“why’s he acting like that?”

changsub flinches at the sudden question, his sleepy eyes blinking open. “oh, you mean ilhoon? don’t mind that brat, he scores full marks on like EVERY test, we’re all used to it. he’s so annoying…”

“no, i mean, why’s he acting as if he doesn’t like scoring well on a test?”

“what nonsense are you spouting, of course he likes scoring well! he’s just being arrogant because he thinks he’s smart and all…” changsub’s voice fades off as he turns to look sungjae in the eyes. “wait, new guy, why do you care so much?”

 sungjae figures his new table partner won’t be of much help academically.

“it’s nothing, you can go back to sleep, thanks changsub.”

“yeah thanks, i need my sleep anyways… wait… how’d you know my name?”

“name tag.”

“oh.”

for the rest of the day, sungjae’s mind wanders off. what’s the back story to that boy named ilhoon? he tries to shrug off those thoughts, reminding himself why he even transferred here. he came to complete his high school studies and graduate off to a good college, he’s all set out, and he’s aiming to be a profiler. to record and analyze psychological and behavioral characteristics, to assess suspects and help fight crimes. he came with such intent, and he’s convinced he’ll make it. but for now, his thoughts are clouded by a single name.

jung ilhoon.

it’s finally lunch break. english class was boring and dry, no new concepts, just plain boring. of course, changsub spent the whole lesson dozing off, occasionally jerking awake out of his dreamland. his dream comes to a beautiful closure when the bell goes off and the class is over.

changsub asks if sungjae’s heading to the cafeteria and sungjae tells him to go ahead. his mind is already plotting a solution to his own questions. he turns to catch ilhoon, still doodling in his notebook. guess i’ll just have to find out for myself.

he walks over to stand by ilhoon’s desk, hands in his pockets. it takes a while for ilhoon to notice the tall figure beside him. he stares up at sungjae, who’s trying to sneak a peek at what he drew.

“what do you think you’re doing?” ilhoon finally speaks, unfazed by sungjae’s actions.

feeling slightly intimidated, sungjae laughs nervously, scratching the back of his head. “uhhh i… uhhh just wanted to ask if you… wanted to have lunch together?”

bad move.

ilhoon squints back at sungjae.

“sungjae you that is NOT how you start a conversation.” sungjae reprimands himself in third person, realizing how weird he made himself look.

ilhoon’s gaze sharpens.

“if you can’t tell by now, i’m busy. so if you’re hungry, go help yourself, and leave me alone.” ilhoon slams his book shut and gets up from his desk, giving sungjae one last dirty look before walking out of the classroom. the taller boy is left stunned in his position, hands still in his pockets. he heaves a sigh of relief. at least he didn’t punch me.

sungjae turns to walk back to his desk, feeling a little dejected that he can’t find out more. then, he stops. his peripheral vision catches sight of the notebook, left to fend for itself, no owner. the little devil in sungjae’s mind urges him to pick it up, to unravel the mystery; yet the little angel begs for him to leave it be, to save himself the risk of getting in trouble. what to do?

“success is right ahead of me.” he remembers the thoughts that started his day off. if he doesn’t take this chance, he’ll never know when the next might come. if he wants to uncover the story behind ilhoon’s behavior and attitude, then here’s the chance. who knows? this may be practice for a future crime he’ll partake in solving, in this case, if he turns a blind eye to such crucial evidence, the criminal gets away with it.

to hell with it, when i become a profiler, i’m sure he will understand me!

he takes the book.