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The biting air seeped through the gaps beneath the metal door leading to the Hyosan High rooftop. You gripped the paper bag tightly, pressing it against your chest as if the gesture alone could shield the gift from the winter wind that was already threatening to freeze the city. Your heart was hammering wildly… not just from sprinting up the final flights of stairs, but from the sheer anticipation of what you were about to do.
Your relationship with Yoon Gwi-nam was an absolute secret, a quiet pact locked away in the most deserted corners of the school building.
To the rest of the student body, Gwi-nam was an uncomfortable presence: the bullies underling, the boy who walked a step behind Myeong-hwan, the one who endured public humiliations only to take his frustration out on the weak.
People saw him as either a dangerous thug or a coward with a superiority complex. However, you had been lucky enough to see past the rough exterior he fought so hard to maintain. You had discovered the insecure boy underneath, the one from a home where money was tight and affection was an unpardonable luxury.
You remembered perfectly the day you found out his birthday. It hadn't been through social media nor because he had told you, Gwi-nam would never talk about himself like that. You found out by pure chance, catching a glimpse of a registration sheet on the guidance counselor’s desk weeks prior.
From that exact moment, you set a goal for yourself: he wouldn't spend that day alone nor would he feel like his existence was invisible to the world. You knew all too well that his family wouldn't bother celebrating and the delinquents he ran with didn't even care to know his middle name, let alone his date of birth.
To them, he was just a lackey.
To you, he was the keeper of your sweetest daydreams.
You nudged the door open with your shoulder and the autumn wind immediately whipped across your face, forcing you to squint. The sky was washed in a leaden gray and from the rooftop, you could see the bare branches of the treetops.
There he was.
Gwi-nam was standing with his back to you, leaning against the railing at the edge of the building. As usual, he seemed to defy the weather in the most absurd and stubborn way possible. He wore only a black cotton t-shirt under his white uniform shirt, which was left completely unbuttoned. His hands were shoved deep into his pants pockets and his shoulders were slightly hunched… a subtle giveaway that the cold was actually getting to him, even if his pride wouldnt let him admit it.
The creak of the door made him spin around quickly, his face instantly hardening into that fierce and defensive look he used to scare off anyone looking for trouble. But the millisecond his eyes landed on you, all that hostility vanished. His brow relaxed and his lips parted slightly in pure surprise.
"What are you doing up here?" he asked, walking toward you while keeping his eyes fixed on the rooftop entrance, making sure no one had followed you. "Its freezing. You should be downstairs in the classroom. If Myeong-hwan or any of the others see you coming up here alone..."
"There's no one downstairs, Gwi-nam" you interrupted gently. Your shyness always flared up whenever he was this close, but this time you forced yourself to hold his gaze. "Everyone is in the cafeteria or the first-floor hallways. No one saw me."
He let out a scoff, trying to slip back into his usual detached posture and ran a hand through his wind-tousled hair. Despite his attempt to look stern, you could see the flush creeping up his cheeks and you knew it wasn't just from the low temperature.
Gwi-nam stopped a mere inches away from you. His tall and broad body immediately acted as a natural shield, blocking the worst of the wind.
"You're so stubborn" he muttered, though he made no effort to step back. "What's the big emergency that you had to see me up here?"
You held the paper bag with both hands and took a step even closer, feeling the faint warmth radiating from his body despite how underdressed he was.
"Today is a very important day" you said, feeling your own cheeks begin to burn. "And I didn't want the day to end without us seeing each other."
Gwi-nam frowned, genuinely confused. He glanced around, as if the concrete surroundings could give him a clue as to what you were talking about, before looking back at you.
"Important? Why? It’s just another day in this godforsaken place."
"It’s not just another day" you corrected, a small smile breaking through your nerves. "Happy birthday."
Gwi-nam went entirely still, as if his feet had been glued to the concrete. His eyes widened a fraction and his Adam's apple bobbed sharply as he swallowed. For several seconds, the only sound on the rooftop was the whistling wind and the distant echo of the city. He just stared at you with a mix of bewilderment and a vulnerability so raw it squeezed your heart. It was the look of someone who wasnt used to receiving anything that didn't come with an order or a blow attached to it.
"How... how do you know that?" he managed to bring out, his voice barely above a whisper.
"That doesn't matter" you replied softly, holding out the paper bag to him. "What matters is that I remembered and I wanted to give you this. Please, take it."
He didn't take the gift right away. He stared at your trembling hands and then at the bag, as if fearing it was some cruel joke. His insecurity always made him wary of kind gestures. In his world, nobody gave anything away for free, much less something that looked like it took actual effort.
"You didn't have to do this" he said, taking half a step back, hiding his hands in his pockets in a knee-jerk reaction of pride. "I don't need gifts. I don't care about birthday crap."
"Gwi-nam, please" you insisted, stepping forward to close the gap he had just made. "I bought it thinking of you. Open it, please. Do it for me."
At your final plea, the boy's defenses crumbled entirely. He let out a long sigh and reached out a hand. His fingers were freezing and he had a few small scars across his knuckles, marks from fights he always seemed to find himself in. When his skin brushed yours as he took the bag, a shiver that had nothing to do with the weather ran down your spine.
Gwi-nam opened the bag gently, reaching inside and sliding the fabric out. As the material revealed itself, the skepticism on his face melted into pure awe.
It was a premium windbreaker jacket. A matte dark color with a sleek and modern design that resembled the style of the most respected students from neighboring schools. The kind of expensive gear that defined leaders. The fabric was thick, waterproof and specifically engineered to withstand the cold while maintaining a sharp, high-end aesthetic.
Gwi-nam held the jacket out in front of him, staring at it in silence. His right hand stroked the outer material, feeling the weather-resistant texture and then touched the thermal lining inside. His eyes shone with a different intensity… a blend of fascination and a profound emotional shock. He knew exactly how much a piece of clothing like this cost. He knew it wasn't something you could buy with spare lunch money.
"This... this is too much" he murmured and, for the first time since you’d known him, his voice sounded genuinely cracked. "How the hell did you get the money for this?"
You bit your lower lip, feeling the heat rush up to your ears again and averted your eyes for a brief second before looking back at him.
"I saved up for months" you confessed quietly. "I took some cleaning jobs after school and kept the money. They say this winter is going to be brutal and you're always freezing. I wanted you to have something nice and high-quality."
Gwi-nam stared at you, utterly dumbfounded. The idea that someone had dedicated months of their life, sacrificing their own time and effort just to make sure he was warm, was something his brain simply couldn't process. For a boy who had always been treated as expendable, your gift wasn't just a piece of clothing… it was proof that someone loved him with a purity he didn't think he deserved.
"Put it on" you asked him tenderly. "I want to see how it looks."
Without a word, Gwi-nam slipped into the windbreaker and it fit him perfectly. His broad shoulders filled out the jacket seamlessly and the cut accentuated his frame, giving him an air of confidence he rarely showed in the school hallways. He zipped it up to his chin and almost immediately, you could see his body relax from the cold. The thermal lining was doing its job, trapping his body heat.
He looked down at his arms, ran his hands across the front of the jacket and finally looked up at you, his eyes filled with a shyness that rivaled your own.
"How... how do I look?" he asked, attempting to regain a bit of his arrogant swagger, though the smile pulling at the corner of his lips completely gave him away.
"You look incredible, Gwi-nam" you said with total sincerity. "Seriously, it fits you perfectly."
You stepped so close that you could smell the scent of new fabric mixed with his body lotion. You gently lifted your hands and reached out to adjust the collar of his jacket, smoothing a small crease near his jawline. Your hands were noticeably cold from the time you’d spent out in the open.
The moment your fingers brushed his neck, Gwi-nam reacted. His hands gently wrapped around your wrists and he looked down at you with an intensity that took your breath away. He then guided your hands down and slipped them into the pockets of his new jacket. A second later, he shoved his own hands into those same pockets, covering yours with his and intertwining his fingers with yours in the warm shelter of the fabric.
"Your hands are like ice" he whispered, his tone of reproach so thick with affection it made you smile. "You buy an expensive coat for me, but you're freezing your own ass off just to come see me. You're an idiot."
"It was worth it" you replied in a whisper, feeling the warmth of his skin against yours inside the pocket.
The shared space was so intimate that you could see the tiny lashes of his eyes and the way his breathing had slowed down.
Gwi-nam let out a short breath and unexpectedly rested his forehead against yours. The touch of his skin was a caress and you felt his messy hair brush against your temples.
"Sometimes..." he started, his voice incredibly low. "Sometimes I feel like this place is going to drive me crazy. I hate Myeong-hwan, I hate the teachers, I hate having to be everyone’s goddamn dog. I feel like I'm turning into a horrible person. But then... then I come up here, and I see you and you give me this and... you make me feel like a person worth loving".
Tears welled up in your eyes at his confession. You knew exactly how much pressure and pain that boy carried inside, but knowing that you were his only safe haven in the entire universe was the greatest gift you could ever ask for.
You didn't answer with words. Instead, you stood on your tiptoes and leaned into his face. Gwi-nam caught on immediately and he tilted his head, closing his eyes. Your lips met his in a kiss that started as a soft and lingering touch, but the shyness didn't last long. Gwi-nam let out a low groan and squeezed your hands tighter, pulling your body flush against his. The kiss deepened, turning slow and sweet, heavy with a desperate devotion.
His lips moved against yours with absolute reverence. He kissed you as if you were the most sacred thing in his life, pouring into that gesture all the gratitude and love that his clumsy vocabulary would never be able to express.
The freezing wind continued to howl around you, but you didn't feel a thing. You were wrapped up in his scent, the firmness of his chest against yours and the warmth of the windbreaker you were now somehow sharing.
When you finally parted, Gwi-nam kept his forehead pressed against yours for a few seconds longer, soaking in the closeness with his eyes shut. When he finally opened them, the usual hardness of his gaze was entirely gone. In its place was a bright and sparkling light… a pure, genuine happiness that completely softened his features.
A beautiful, wide smile spread across his lips. It was the kind of smile he reserved exclusively for you, a smile the rest of the Hyosan students would never have the privilege to see.
"This is the best birthday of my entire life" he whispered against your lips, just before leaning back in to steal another kiss.