Chapter Text
𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦
𝑀𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝘩𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒
𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝘩𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝘩𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡
𝑇𝑜 𝘩𝑒𝑟, 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔
𝑁𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦, 𝑠𝘩𝑒'𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡𝘩𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒
-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-
“Sometimes I stare at these romantic shows and wonder… why is love so important?”
Park Sunghoon sputtered the question out while slouching so low on the sofa his chin almost touched his chest. Beside him, his two best friends, Jay and Jake, were in equally terrible posture, staring blankly at the glowing television screen.
The TV was currently playing the latest, ultra-popular K-drama—the exact one Sunghoon had overheard his mother and her friends obsessing over during tea time earlier that week. It was all about a girl meeting a boy in a dramatic rainstorm, holding hands, and talking about "destiny."
Jay snorted loudly, resting his chin in both hands like a grumpy gargoyle. “Yah, we’re six years old! Why should we even care? And honestly, this show is so boring!” he whined, kicking his legs rhythmically against the couch cushion.
“Right? I say we watch Spider-Man instead! My older cousin said the new one came out and it's super cool!” Jake cheered happily, scrambling right over Jay’s lap to snatch the remote off the coffee table.
Sunghoon let Jake switch the channel to bright red-and-blue explosions without a fight, but the thought stayed stuck in his little head like a piece of chewed bubblegum.
Why is romantic love such a big deal? Isn't love just for family, friends, and maybe pet dogs? Why do grown-ups lose their minds over it?
Noticing Sunghoon’s unusually quiet demeanor, Jay leaned over and gave his shoulder a rough, affectionate shake. “Hey! Knock it off, drama queen! I’m sure when we’re older, we’ll all find the love of our lives!” Jay said cheerfully, puffing out his chest like a hero in a Saturday morning cartoon.
Sunghoon huffed, crossing his small arms with absolute, unbreakable conviction. “Hah! Never. I am neverfalling in love. It’s a total waste of time!”
Jake, who was in the middle of taking a giant sip from his apple juice box, snorted so hard liquid nearly sprayed out of his nose.
“Yeah, right,” Jake teased, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “Watch him be the first one to fall head over heels for someone!”
“Never!” Sunghoon declared, glaring at the TV screen as Spider-Man swung into action. “Not in a million years!”
"Mhm , I can sense the lies" Jay retorted.
Two Years Later...
Eight-year-old Park Sunghoon was a master of discipline. He tied his shoelaces in tight double knots, always organized his colored pencils by the order of the rainbow, and took immense pride in his spotless record: zero late stamps, zero missed homework assignments, and zero playground detentions.
Which made this morning an absolute, unmitigated disaster.
It started at 7:15 AM. Or rather, it didn't start, because Sunghoon’s trusty blue alarm clock—the one shaped like a race car—had mysteriously run out of battery overnight.
When Sunghoon’s eyes finally snapped open, the morning sunlight wasn't soft and gray; it was bright, blinding, and practically screaming at him. He glanced at the wall clock, gasped, and nearly rolled off the edge of his bed.
"I'm late. I'm late. I'm SO late!" Sunghoon panicked, his voice pitching high into a squeak.
He lunged for his school uniform, putting his left sock on inside out and accidentally buttoning his white shirt one hole off. He didn't even have time to comb down his wild morning bedhead or eat his favorite strawberry jam toast.
"Sunghoon-ah, eat your breakfast—" his mother called out from the kitchen, but Sunghoon was already a blur of chaotic motion.
"No time, Mom! My perfect attendance record is in jeopardy!" he yelled back, grabbing his heavy yellow backpack, shoving his feet into his sneakers without unlacing them first, and bursting out the front door.
The morning air hit his face as his tiny legs pedaled as fast as humanly possible down the sidewalk. He looked like a miniature businessman in a panic.
If I cut through the park, turn left at the bakery, and sprint past the high school hill, I can make it to the elementary gates before the 8:00 AM bell, Sunghoon calculated frantically in his head, his chest heaving. Come on, Sunghoon! Speed of light! Fast as a cheetah!
He zoomed past the local convenience store. He dodged a stray orange cat. He leapt gracefully over a wide puddle near the sidewalk—feeling momentarily like an Olympic athlete—and rounded the sharp corner by the high school neighborhood block at maximum velocity.
His eyes were locked entirely on the green pedestrian light across the street. He didn't see the pedestrian turning the corner from the opposite direction.
BAM!
It was like running full-force into a soft, flower-scented brick wall.
Sunghoon bounced backward instantly from the impact. The momentum sent him skidding onto the pavement with a dramatic gasp, his backpack slipping off one shoulder. The zipper on his front pouch gave up completely, bursting open and scattering markers, pink erasers, and a wooden ruler all over the concrete like a mini explosion.
"Ouch..." Sunghoon groaned, rubbing his scraped elbow. His knee throbbed, and his pride throbbed even harder. He opened his mouth, ready to scold whoever had dared to block his record-breaking sprint to freedom. "Hey! Watch where you're—"
"Oh no! Are you okay, little guy?"
A soft, melodious voice cut him off instantly.
Sunghoon blinked, rubbing his eyes, and slowly looked up.
Standing over him, bathed in the golden morning sunlight, was a girl in the local high school uniform. The light seemed to frame her like an angel dropping straight down from the sky. She had the softest, warmest eyes he had ever seen, glowing skin, and a bright smile that instantly erased the pain in his elbow.
It was Kim Sunoo. The prettiest girl in the entire universe. (He had heard about her from one of his classmates but this was the first time he ever saw her and frankly speaking , they werent wrong. Sunoo is pretty and gorgeous and beautiful and-)
Sunghoon’s brain completely short-circuited. The world around him froze. The sound of morning traffic, barking dogs, and distant school bells faded into absolute silence, replaced by the dramatic, booming sound of his own heart pounding against his ribs like a drum.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Is she real? Sunghoon thought, his jaw hanging open so wide a fly could have wandered in. Is she an angel? Did a fairy tale princess escape into my neighborhood?
Sunoo quickly knelt down in front of him, her smooth hair falling softly over her shoulders. She didn't mind the dust on the pavement at all. With gentle, graceful movements, she picked up his scattered markers, gathered his wooden ruler, and slid them carefully back into his pencil case before zip-locking his backpack shut.
She offered the yellow bag back to him, resting a soft hand lightly on his messy bedhead and giving it a gentle pat.
"Here you go," Sunoo said with a sweet, comforting chuckle. "You shouldn't run so fast, okay? Be careful next time, little boy."
She stood back up, gave him a small, cheerful wave, and turned to walk toward the high school gates, her soft laughter echoing as she rejoined a group of her friends down the sidewalk.
Sunghoon stayed completely frozen on the pavement for a full minute, clutching his pencil case against his chest like a sacred relic. His face was burning so hot he thought his ears might melt off, and his mind was spinning in complete, glorious, terrifying chaos.
Suddenly, the eight-year-old boy remembered his absolute, solemn vow from two years ago:
“I am NEVER falling in love. It’s a total waste of time!”
Sunghoon gulped, staring at her retreating figure with wide, star-struck, completely defeated eyes.
Well... change of plans.
Sunghoon did not move for three whole minutes.
The morning air rustled through the maple trees overhead, scattering a few stray leaves across the pavement, but as far as Sunghoon was concerned, the universe had suspended all regular operations.
His brain—normally a neatly organized filing cabinet of multiplication tables, alphabetized vocabulary lists, and precise Lego-building blueprints—was currently on fire.
“Be careful next time, little boy.”
Her voice kept repeating in his head, looping on a endless, melodious reel. Little boy. She had called him little boy. And she had patted his hair. Sunghoon slowly raised a trembling hand and touched the crown of his head, right where her soft fingers had rested just moments before. It felt warm. It felt holy.
A sharp, shrill sound pierced through his romantic trance.
RINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
The elementary school bell, echoing loudly from two blocks away.
Sunghoon blinked. The color flooded back into the real world. His perfect attendance record! His spotless reputation!
“Oh, no,” he whispered. He scrambled to his feet, threw his yellow backpack over his shoulders, and bolted down the street like a panicked duck.
He made it through the school gates at precisely 8:04 AM.
Mr. Lee, the terrifying vice principal who stood at the front gates every morning with a clipboard and a scowl, marked a red check next to Sunghoon’s name.
“Late, Park Sunghoon,” Mr. Lee rumbled, adjusting his glasses. “First time in two years. What happened?”
“I… I collided with destiny, sir,” Sunghoon squeaked out, his cheeks flushing brilliant red.
Mr. Lee stared at him for a long, bewildered moment before shaking his head. “Go to class, kid. Wash your face while you’re at it.”
Sunghoon practically floated down the hallway. He didn’t care about the red mark on his record. He didn’t care about the scraped skin on his left knee, or the fact that his left shoe was completely unlaced and trailing behind him like a sad tail. Nothing mattered. The world had shifted on its axis.
When he slid into his classroom, the teacher was already writing the morning math problem on the blackboard. Sunghoon ducked into his seat at the back of the room, right next to Jay and Jake.
Jay leaned over immediately, his eyebrows furrowed in deep concern. “Dude! Where were you? We thought you got kidnapped by aliens!”
“Or worse,” Jake whispered solemnly, leaning in from the seat in front of them. “We thought your mom caught you sleeping in and made you do chores.”
Sunghoon didn’t answer right away. He carefully placed his pencil case on his desk, staring at it with intense reverence.
“I have seen her,” Sunghoon murmured, his eyes wide and unblinking.
Jay squinted at him. “Seen who? The principal? Did he give you detention?”
“No,” Sunghoon breathed, resting his chin on his hands and staring dreamily out the classroom window at the high school building visible in the distance. “An angel. A goddess. The future Mrs. Park Sunghoon.”
Jake choked on his own saliva. He turned around in his chair so fast his desk let out a loud SCREECH, drawing a warning glare from the teacher.
“What did you just say?” Jake hissed under his breath.
“Her name is Kim Sunoo,” Sunghoon said, a dreamy, silly smile spreading across his eight-year-old face. “She wears the high school uniform. She has hair like black silk, eyes like glowing stars, and when she smiles, it feels like spring morning.”
Jay stared at Sunghoon as if his best friend had suddenly grown a second head. Then, slowly, a massive, mischievous grin spread across Jay’s face. He poked Jake’s shoulder repeatedly.
“Jake. Jake, do you remember what he said two years ago?” Jay whispered, his voice trembling with suppressed laughter.
Jake’s eyes lit up with pure evil joy. “Oh, I remember. 'Hah! Never! I am NEVER falling in love! It’s a total waste of time!'” Jake mimicked, dramatically throwing his hands in the air and putting on a ridiculously deep, pompos voice.
“I was young and foolish two years ago!” Sunghoon hissed defensively, his ears turning bright red. “I was six! I didn’t know anything about the world! But now I am eight. I am mature. And I have found my soulmate.”
Jay buried his face in his arms on his desk, his shoulders shaking violently as he tried not to laugh out loud. “Soulmate! He called a high school girl his soulmate! Hahaha!”
“Keep it down!” Sunghoon snapped, glaring at them. “This is serious! It was fate! I ran into her—literally! I crashed into her, my markers exploded everywhere, and instead of being mad, she helped me pick them up. She touched my hair, guys. She touched my hair.”
“Did she also tell you to run along and wash your sticky hands?” Jake wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye.
“No! She told me to be careful!” Sunghoon argued proudly, puffing out his chest. “That means she cares about my physical safety and wellbeing! It’s basically a declaration of affection!”
“She’s sixteen, Sunghoon!” Jay snickered, leaning over his desk. “She’s practically an adult! She probably thinks you’re a lost elementary baby who forgot his pacifier!”
“She does not!” Sunghoon growled, crossing his arms and pouting. “She recognizes a true gentleman when she sees one. I just… need to have a strategic approach.”
For the next two weeks, Sunghoon became a man (boy) on a mission.
Every single day, the moment the final 3:00 PM bell rang, Sunghoon didn’t rush to the playground to play tag, and he didn’t head over to Jay’s house to play video games. Instead, he initiated Phase One: The Encounter Strategy.
The plan was simple: position himself near the high school gates at 3:10 PM, wait for Sunoo to walk out, make smooth, suave eye contact, and strike up a sophisticated conversation.
Unfortunately, eight-year-old logic does not translate well into real-world execution.
On Monday, Sunghoon stood near the high school brick wall, casually leaning against a lamppost while trying to look like a mysterious, brooding hero from a comic book. He had even used half a tub of his father’s hair gel to slick his hair back.
Jay and Jake were hiding behind a nearby bush, wearing dark sunglasses they had bought from a dollar store, eating potato chips, and providing "tactical support" (which mostly consisted of stifling their giggles).
“Target sighted at ten o’clock!” Jake whispered loudly from behind the leaves.
Sunghoon’s heart slammed into his ribs. He straightened his back, adjusted his collar, and took a casual step forward just as Sunoo walked out of the school gates, laughing with three of her classmates.
She looked breathtaking. Her hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, and she was holding a strawberry milk carton.
Sunghoon took a deep breath, opened his mouth to say something exceptionally smooth—like “Good afternoon, Sunoo-ssi, fine weather we’re having”—but the moment she looked in his general direction, Sunghoon’s brain short-circuited.
Panicking, he tried to do a cool pivot, tripped over his own oversized sneakers, and face-planted directly into a bed of flower bushes.
“Oof!”
Sunoo paused, looking over at the rustling flowers. “Huh? Did something fall?”
Her friend giggled. “Probably just a stray cat, Sunoo. Come on, let’s go to the boba shop!”
By the time Sunghoon managed to untangle himself from the roses, a red flower petal stuck awkwardly in his hair, Sunoo was already halfway down the block.
Jay and Jake tumbled out of the bushes, howling with laughter and clutching their stomachs.
“Smooth, Sunghoon! Real smooth!” Jay cackled, pointing at the flower in Sunghoon’s hair. “The floral disguise was a brilliant touch!”
“Shut up!” Sunghoon snapped, furiously pulling the petal out of his hair. “It was a accident stumble! I was testing the terrain!”
On Wednesday, Sunghoon decided to change tactics. Physical charm had failed, so he would rely on Phase Two: Demonstrating Superior Intellect and Capability.(The title sounds cool right?)
He brought his favorite Lego set to the bench right across from the high school gates. It was a massive, 1,000-piece Star Wars spaceship. His idea was brilliant: Sunoo would see an eight-year-old casually building a complex engineering masterpiece on a park bench, be utterly dazzled by his intelligence, and stop to chat.
At 3:12 PM, Sunoo emerged from the gates.
Sunghoon immediately began snapping Lego bricks together with dramatic, hyper-focused intensity, making loud, intellectual hums like “Hmm, yes, the structural integrity of this hyperdrive engine requires precise alignment.”
Sunoo strolled past the bench. She glanced at him, smiled warmly, and whispered to her friend, “Aww, look at that cute little boy playing so hard. Kids are so sweet!”
They walked away.
Sunghoon froze, a half-built Lego wing slipping from his fingers.
Cute little boy.
From behind a nearby trash can, Jay’s voice drifted over: “Hey, 'Engineer Sunghoon'! Want me to fetch your baby rattle so you can finish the spaceship?”
“I am going to throw a Lego brick at your forehead, Jay,” Sunghoon promised through gritted teeth, his soul crumbling into dust.
By Friday of the second week, Sunghoon was desperate. He had tried leaning against walls (tripped), tried looking smart (called cute), and tried casually walking past her (got distracted by an ice cream truck and lost her in the crowd). He had not managed to say a single word to her.
Every single time he saw her, his legs turned into jelly, his throat locked up, and he turned into a red, stuttering mess.
That afternoon, the three boys sat around the wooden table in Sunghoon’s backyard. Jay was sipping an apple juice box, Jake was drawing funny faces on a napkin, and Sunghoon was aggressively scribbling in a spiral notebook titled OPERATION SUNOO.
“Look, Sunghoon,” Jake said, leaning back in his chair. “I’m no romance expert, but I think you have a slight problem.”
“A slight problem?” Jay chimed in, tossing a pretzel into the air and catching it in his mouth. “His problem is that she’s seventeen and he still needs a booster seat when his dad drives him to the movie theater!”
“I do NOT need a booster seat anymore! I passed the height requirement last month!” Sunghoon shouted, slamming his fist on the table. “And age is just a construct! Nine years is nothing!”
“Nine years is more than your entire lifespan, bro!” Jay pointed out reasonably. “When she was eight like you are right now, you weren’t even born! You were literally imaginary!”
Sunghoon winced. The math was brutal. Unforgiving. Cold.
“It doesn’t matter!” Sunghoon insisted, turning his notebook around to show them a complex, hand-drawn flowchart filled with arrows, stick figures, and wild calculations. “I’ve solved the math! I’ve created... The Ten-Year Master Plan.”
Jake squinted at the paper. “Why is there a drawing of a stick figure with a mustache?”
“That’s me at age eighteen!” Sunghoon explained proudly, tapping the paper with his pencil. “Listen carefully. Right now, I am 8, and she is 16. The gap seems huge, right?”
“Huge,” Jay agreed.
“BUT!” Sunghoon raised a finger dramatically. “In ten years, I will be 18, and she will be 27! An 18-year-old marrying a 27-year-old? Completely acceptable! Grown-ups do it all the time!”
Jake tapped his chin, thinking hard. “Wait… he actually kind of has a point.”
“No, he doesn’t!” Jay yelled, throwing a pretzel at Jake. “Sunghoon, what are you going to do for the NEXT ten years?! Just follow her around like a lost puppy while she goes to college, gets a job, and buys a car?!”
Sunghoon’s confidence wavered for a second, but he quickly puffed his chest back out. “I will build my reputation! I will become the most handsome, successful, and reliable guy in the neighborhood! When she comes back from college, I will be eighteen, six feet tall, driving a sports car, and wearing a tuxedo!”
“You can’t even ride a bicycle without training wheels yet!” Jay shrieked with laughter.
“I’m taking the training wheels off this weekend!” Sunghoon yelled, his cheeks burning red. “Just you wait, Jay! Next week, I’m going to go up to her, introduce myself properly, and tell her my vision!”
The following Monday afternoon, the universe gave Sunghoon his ultimate test.
It was a rainy afternoon. Light drizzles tapped against the pavement as school let out. Sunghoon stood near the high school gates, holding a massive, bright pink umbrella that belonged to his mother.
His plan today was simple, chivalrous, and foolproof: wait for Sunoo to walk out, notice she didn't have an umbrella, and offer to walk her home like a true, heroic gentleman.
Sure enough, at 3:15 PM, Sunoo stepped out of the high school building. She paused under the awning, looking up at the gray sky with a small pout. She didn't have an umbrella.
THIS IS IT, Sunghoon’s brain screamed. THIS IS THE MOMENT DESTINY PREPARED YOU FOR!
“Go, Sunghoon, go!” Jake whispered frantically from under a nearby tree, where he and Jay were sharing a blue raincoat. “Do the umbrella thing!”
Sunghoon gripped the pink umbrella tightly, took a deep, shaky breath, and marched forward. His heart was hammering so loudly he could barely hear the rain tapping on the fabric above him.
He stopped three feet away from her.
Sunoo blinked, noticing the small boy standing beside her holding a giant pink umbrella that was practically twice his size. She recognized him immediately and her face lit up with that soft, angelic smile that always made Sunghoon’s soul melt.
“Oh! It’s the little marker boy!” Sunoo said warmly, crouching down to his eye level. “Hi there! What are you doing out in the rain?”
Sunghoon’s vocal cords immediately shriveled up into dust.
Say something! he screamed at himself internally. Say 'Allow me to escort you, fair maiden!' Say ANYTHING!
“I… I… ugh…” Sunghoon squeaked out, his voice cracking horribly. His face turned as red as a cherry tomato.
Sunoo tilted her head, her brown eyes sparkling with amusement. “Are you waiting for your mom?”
Sunghoon’s arms began to shake. The sheer intensity of her beauty at close range was too much for his eight-year-old brain to handle. He gripped the umbrella stem with all his might, opened his mouth to finally speak—
SWOOSH!
A sudden, powerful gust of wind caught the inside of the massive pink umbrella.
Before Sunghoon could react, the wind lifted the umbrella—and Sunghoon, who refused to let go—several inches off the ground!
“Whoa!” Sunghoon yelped as he was dragged backward by the umbrella like a helpless kite. He lost his footing on the slick pavement, slid backward into a shallow puddle, and landed flat on his bottom with a loud SPLASH!
The pink umbrella immediately inverted, turning inside out like a broken metal mushroom.
Sunoo gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. “Oh my goodness! Are you okay?!”
Sunghoon sat in the puddle, completely soaked, cold water seeping through his uniform pants, holding the ruined, inverted pink umbrella above his head.
From across the street, behind the tree, Jay was literally rolling on the grass, clutching his stomach in silent, tearful agony, while Jake covered his face in second-hand embarrassment.
Sunoo quickly stepped into the light rain, extending her hand to help him up. “Here, let me help you—”
The sheer, utter humiliation of the moment was too much for Park Sunghoon. He had wanted to look like a knight in shining armor. Instead, he looked like a wet, flying bird.
“I’M FINE!” Sunghoon squeaked out in a panic. He scrambled to his feet on his own, abandoned the broken pink umbrella on the sidewalk, and turned around.
“Wait, your umbrella!” Sunoo called out.
“KEEP IT! IT’S A GIFT!” Sunghoon screamed over his shoulder, his tiny legs moving like windmill blades as he sprinted down the street in full, glorious defeat, tears of embarrassment mixing with the rain on his cheeks.
Ten minutes later, three soaked eight-year-olds were sitting under the porch overhang of the local convenience store, eating hot chicken nuggets from a paper cup.
Sunghoon sat on the wooden bench, wrapped in a dry towel Jay had brought from his bag, staring blankly at his muddy sneakers.
Jay wiped a tear from his eye, still chuckling softly. “Man… 'Keep it! It’s a gift!' That’s the greatest line in romantic history, Sunghoon. Shakespeare couldn’t have written it better.”
“I’m moving to another country,” Sunghoon whispered hollowly, staring into the abyss. “I’m going to change my name to Bob, move to Antarctica, and live with penguins. Penguins don’t laugh at you when you get blown away by umbrellas.”
Jake patted Sunghoon’s shoulder sympathetically. “Look on the bright side, Sunghoon.”
Sunghoon turned his head slowly. “What bright side?”
“Well,” Jake said cheerfully, taking a bite of a chicken nugget. “She definitely knows who you are now! You’re not just 'little boy' anymore. You’re 'The Flying Umbrella Boy'!”
Jay burst into another fit of laughter, nearly choking on his nugget.
Sunghoon sighed, leaning his head back against the brick wall. He looked up at the gray sky, watching the rain trickle down the glass windows of the store. He was soaked, humiliated, and his mother was definitely going to ground him for destroying her favorite umbrella.
And yet, as he closed his eyes, all he could picture was the way Kim Sunoo had crouched down to look at him, her eyes soft and full of kindness.
He opened his notebook—the pages damp and wrinkled from the rain—and pulled out his red crayon. He flipped past the drawing of the mustache, past the failed flowchart, and wrote in big, bold, messy letters across the page:
OPERATION SUNOO: PHASE 3 — BECOME SIX FEET TALL IMMEDIATELY.
Sunghoon crossed his arms, a small, stubborn smile slowly returning to his face.
“Mock all you want, guys,” Sunghoon declared softly, looking out at the high school in the distance. “I’m taking off my training wheels tomorrow. And in ten years… she’s gonna marry me.”
Later that night , Sunoo sneezed. "..what the hell?.."
Taking off the training wheels turned out to be a resounding success.
By the time Park Sunghoon turned nine, he had officially mastered two-wheeled bicycle riding, grown a whole inch and a half, and successfully upgraded his strategy notebook from OPERATION SUNOO to OPERATION SUNOO: THE MATURE ERA.
However, one major problem remained: Sunghoon still couldn't speak to Kim Sunoo for more than three seconds without his brain melting, his face turning the color of a ripe tomato, or a freak gust of wind ruining his life.
Enter Yang Jungwon.
It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon at the neighborhood playground. Sunghoon, Jay, and Jake were sitting on top of the jungle gym, engaged in a very intense, highly intellectual debate over who would win in a fight: Godzilla or a giant robot equipped with laser swords.
"Obviously the robot!" Jay argued, swinging his legs back and forth. "It has lasers! Godzilla is just a big lizard!"
"Godzilla breathes atomic fire, Jay!" Jake shot back, holding a juice box like a microphone. "Lasers mean nothing against atomic fire!"
Before Jay could counter, a low, squeaky voice chimed in from below the jungle gym platform.
"Actually, according to the official monster stats, Godzilla’s hide is immune to standard energy beams, so the robot would lose in under two minutes."
The trio stopped and looked down.
Sitting in the sandbox directly beneath them was a seven-year-old boy. He had deep, adorable dimples, round cat-like eyes, a slightly oversized blue cap, and was meticulously building a sand castle with the precision of a professional architect.
Jay blinked. "Who are you?"
The kid didn't even look up from his sand bucket. "Yang Jungwon. I live in the yellow house down the street. I'm seven."
"A seven-year-old?" Jay smirked, leaning over the bar. "Listen here, kid, we're nine. That means we're basically grown men. You can't just join our conversation with cold, hard facts like that."
Jungwon finally looked up, blinking innocently. "I just did."
Jake gasped. "He's fast. I like him."
Within twenty minutes, Jungwon had been officially inducted into the group. He was quiet, surprisingly sharp, and possessed a deadpan, brutally honest humor that fit right in with the rest of them. By 4:00 PM, the four of them were sitting on the park bench, sharing a bag of shrimp chips.
That was when the atmosphere shifted.
The high school bell chimed in the distance. Sunghoon instantly froze mid-chew. His back snapped straight as a board. His eyes dilated, and his posture transformed from a slouched nine-year-old into a brooding, tragic hero staring dramatically toward the park gates.
Jungwon, who was in the middle of reaching for a chip, paused. He looked at Sunghoon, then at Jay, then back at Sunghoon.
"Why is his face doing that?" Jungwon asked blankly, pointing a small finger at Sunghoon. "Is he having a cramp?"
Jay cackled, clutching his stomach. "Oh, you don't know yet! Jungwon, meet 'Romeo'."
"Her name is Kim Sunoo," Sunghoon whispered, his voice trembling with deep, poetic reverence as he stared at the park entrance. "The light of my life. The star in my night sky. The reason I drink milk every day so I can grow six feet tall."
Jungwon’s cat-like eyes blinked once. Then twice.
Kim Sunoo?
Jungwon slowly turned his head to look at the girl currently walking through the park gates, carrying a tote bag and drinking a boba tea.
It was, without a shadow of a doubt, his seventeen-year-old older sister, Sunoo. The exact same Sunoo who, just this morning, had stolen his favorite cereal, fought him over the TV remote, and worn a ridiculous, fluffy pink monster face mask while screaming at a spider in the bathroom.
Jungwon looked back at Sunghoon.
Sunghoon was currently running a hand through his hair, trying to look like a handsome model, while staring at Sunoo with wide, worshipping, star-struck eyes.
Jungwon’s brain simply refused to process the scene.
"Wait," Jungwon said, his deadpan voice dropping an octave in pure, unadulterated confusion. "You're... transfixed by her?"
"She is not a 'her', Jungwon," Sunghoon said dreamily, completely oblivious. "She is a goddess walking among mortals."
"She’s a high schooler who eats dry ramen noodles in bed at 11:00 PM!" Jungwon blurted out before he could stop himself.
Sunghoon turned to him, looking deeply offended. "How dare you spread such scandalous rumors about my future bride! She probably eats light, elegant salads and listens to classical piano music!"
Jungwon stared at Sunghoon as if the older boy had lost his absolute mind. Future bride?!
Jay leaned over and slapped Jungwon on the shoulder, laughing hysterically. "Don't bother arguing with him, Jungwon! Sunghoon's been obsessed with her for a whole year! He even tried to fly into her heart with a pink umbrella once!"
"It was a windy incident!" Sunghoon snapped, his cheeks burning red.
Jake nodded solemnly. "Yeah, Jungwon. Sunghoon has a Ten-Year Master Plan. In nine years, he’s going to wear a tuxedo, drive a sports car, and propose to her."
Jungwon looked back at his older sister, who had just dropped her boba straw on the grass, let out a loud dramatic sigh, picked it back up, and wiped it on her jacket.
This guy wants to marry MY sister? Jungwon thought, horrified. The same sister who puts cold spoons on my eyelids when I'm sleeping?!
"Sunghoon-hyung," Jungwon said slowly, trying to save this poor, delusional boy from a lifetime of disappointment. "Have you ever actually... talked to her? Like a normal human?"
"Of course I have!" Sunghoon declared proudly, puffing out his chest. "She told me to be careful, patted my head, and gave me her blessing to keep her umbrella!"
"You ran away screaming," Jay reminded him.
"I RETREATED STRATEGICALLY!"
Jungwon pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like a tired fifty-year-old man trapped in a seven-year-old's body. The temptation to shout, “HEY! THAT’S MY SISTER, YOU WEIRDOS!” was extremely high.
But then, Jungwon looked at Sunghoon’s utterly serious, deeply passionate face. He looked at Jay and Jake, who were clearly using this whole situation as their primary source of daily entertainment.
A tiny, mischievous light sparked in Jungwon’s eyes.
If he told them the truth right now, Sunghoon would probably pass out from embarrassment, and the fun would be over. But if he kept quiet... he had front-row seats to the greatest comedy show in the neighborhood. Plus, he held ultimate leverage over both his crazy sister and his new, overly dramatic neighborhood hyung.
"So," Jungwon said, a sly, dimpled smile slowly spreading across his face as he took another shrimp chip. "You really want to win her over, Sunghoon-hyung?"
"More than anything in the world," Sunghoon swore, clutching his chest like a knight taking a vow.
"Well," Jungwon purred, leaning back against the bench. "I happen to know a lot about high school girls. If you buy me an ice cream every Friday... I might just help you with your master plan."
Jay and Jake gasped. "A secret advisor!" Jake cheered.
Sunghoon’s eyes illuminated with pure hope. He grabbed Jungwon’s small hands with intense enthusiasm. "Deal! Name your flavor, Jungwon! You are now the Official Chief Strategist of Operation Sunoo!"
Jungwon took a slow sip of his juice, watching his sister walk out of the park, completely unaware that her little brother had just become the double-agent mastermind of her eight-year-old admirer's secret romance.
"Strawberry with chocolate" Jungwon said calmly. "And hyung... you’re going to need a lot more than that to impress her,"
Jay looked at him , "how do you know so much about her?" to which Jungwon replied with a shrug.
If there was one thing Yang Jungwon understood at seven years old, it was the power of secret information.
In his household, information was currency. Knowing who took the last ice cream bar got you television privileges. Knowing where their mother hid the spare house key got you immunity from weekend chores. But knowing that the nine-year-old neighborhood "Ice Prince," Park Sunghoon, was hopelessly, tragically, and desperately in love with his seventeen-year-old older sister?
That wasn't just currency. That was a localized gold mine.
"Alright, Chief Strategist," Sunghoon whispered, crouching behind a low wooden sandbox fence near the neighborhood convenience store. He had his spiral notebook open, clutching a slightly chewed red crayon like a military general mapping out a frontline invasion. "What’s our first move?"
Beside him, Jay and Jake were sitting cross-legged on the grass, eating freeze-dried strawberry snacks and watching the scene unfold like spectators at an arena.
"Yeah, Jungwon," Jay chimed in, leaning forward with an evil grin. "What’s the secret to winning over a terrifying, high-school-aged goddess?"
Jungwon sat calmly on an overturned plastic bucket, his legs dangling slightly. He adjusted his blue cap, took a slow, deliberate lick of the double-scoop strawberry chocolate ice cream cone that Sunghoon had just bought him with his sacred allowance money, and let out a thoughtful hmm.
He looked over toward the entrance of the convenience store. There she was. Sunoo.
She was currently wearing oversized gray sweatpants, a yellow hoodie with a faded duck printed on the front, and pink fluffy slides. She was holding a plastic bag containing a two-liter bottle of soda and a bag of extra-spicy potato chips, looking thoroughly unbothered by the universe.
If Sunghoon knew she spent thirty minutes this morning complaining to the bathroom mirror because she got a tiny pimple on her chin, Jungwon thought, he would probably cry.
"First," Jungwon said, pointing his ice cream spoon toward Sunoo with absolute, professional authority, "we must analyze her weaknesses."
Sunghoon’s eyes widened with intense reverence. "Weaknesses! Genius! What are they, Jungwon? Does she prefer poetry? Classical literature? Dramatic gestures under the moonlight?"
"She likes spicy chips," Jungwon deadpanned. "And she hates doing her own homework."
Sunghoon slammed his crayon onto the paper, scribbling frantically. "Spicy... chips... intellectually... challenging... coursework..." he muttered, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he wrote. "Got it! So if I buy her a family-sized bag of spicy chips, it shows I am a provider!"
Jake choked on a strawberry snack. "Sunghoon, you're nine! You're providing her with snack food you bought with your allowance!"
"It's about the gesture, Jake!" Sunghoon snapped, turning his glare toward his friends. "A true gentleman anticipates his lady's culinary desires!"
"Right," Jungwon chimed in, his cat-like eyes sparkling with pure, quiet mischief. "And second, Sunghoon-hyung... you need to show her you’re a mature man of culture. High school girls don't like boys who act like kids."
"I am extremely mature," Sunghoon declared, straightening his collar. "I don't even like sweet candy anymore! I eat dark chocolate now! It's bitter, like life!"
Jay fell backward onto the grass, howling with laughter. "You spat it out in the sink on Tuesday because you said it tasted like dirt, Sunghoon!"
"IT WAS AN ACQUIRED TASTE THAT I AM CURRENTLY ACQUIRING!" Sunghoon yelled, his ears turning bright crimson.
Jungwon took another calm lick of his ice cream, totally unfazed by the screaming. "If you want to impress her today, hyung, you can't just stand there staring like a frozen statue. You have to walk past her, make eye contact, and drop a sophisticated line."
Sunghoon gulped. His bravado vanished in a fraction of a second, replaced by pure, unadulterated panic. "A... a line? To her face? Right now?!"
"Right now," Jungwon confirmed, nodding solemnly. "She's about to leave the store. This is your moment. Go forth, my brave soldier."
"Wait, wait!" Sunghoon gasped, grabbing Jungwon’s small shoulders with shaking hands. "What do I say?! Give me a line, Chief Strategist! Give me a line!"
Jungwon tapped his chin, pretending to think deeply. In reality, he was choosing a phrase that would inflict maximum second-hand embarrassment while remaining technically harmless.
"Tell her..." Jungwon whispered leaning in, "...'The afternoon breeze is nearly as refined as your presence.'"
Jay choked again. Jake put his face directly into the dirt to muffle his screams of laughter.
Sunghoon’s eyes glowed with utter, naive amazement. "That's... that's incredible. It's so poetic! It sounds like a drama! Jungwon, you are a genius!"
"I know," Jungwon said smoothly. "Now go. Before the chips get cold."
Sunghoon stood up. He smoothed down his shirt, wiped a faint trace of strawberry powder off his shorts, and took a deep, grounding breath.
You are Park Sunghoon, he told himself internally, stepping out from behind the sandbox. You are nine years old. You are mature. You eat bitter dark chocolate. You ride a bike without training wheels. You are a man of destiny.
He began his approach.
Sunoo walked out of the convenience store sliding doors, humming a pop song under her breath and swinging her plastic bag. The afternoon sun hit her hair, making it look shiny and golden.
Sunghoon felt his knees instantly turn into lukewarm jelly. His heart went THUMP-THUMP-THUMP like a jackhammer inside his ribs.
Walk cool. Walk natural, he chanted in his head.
He marched forward, stiff as a wooden fence post, his arms swinging synchronously with his legs. He managed to angle his path so he would cross her directly on the sidewalk.
Five feet away.
Four feet away.
Sunoo glanced down, noticing the boy marching toward her with the intensity of a soldier going to war. She paused, recognizing the pale, serious-looking kid from the neighborhood.
Three feet away.
Sunghoon stopped right in front of her. He cleared his throat. He puffed his chest out as far as his nine-year-old lungs would allow. He looked her straight in the eye—well, straight at her shoulder level, since she was much taller—and opened his mouth to deliver the ultimate, poetic line.
"The... the..." Sunghoon stammered.
Sunoo tilted her head, her soft eyes crinkling with genuine curiosity. "Hmm? Oh! Hi there! Aren't you the umbrella boy?"
CRASH.
The memory of the pink flying umbrella hit Sunghoon’s brain like a lightning bolt. His carefully prepared line disintegrated into dust. His vocal cords snapped.
"THE BREEZE IS REFRACTED LIKE SPICY CHIPS!" Sunghoon shrieked at the top of his lungs.
Silence descended upon the sidewalk.
A stray crow cawed in the distance.
Sunoo blinked, her mouth slightly open. "Uh... what?"
Sunghoon’s soul left his body. He stood completely frozen, his eyes wide with horror as he realized what had just come out of his mouth. Refracted?! Spicy chips?!
Behind the sandbox, Jay was pounding the ground with his fists, tears streaming down his face as he choked on his breath. Jake was rolling on the grass, clutching his stomach in sheer agony. Even Jungwon had to raise his ice cream cone to cover his mouth, his shoulders shaking with quiet, uncontrollable laughter.
"Are... are you okay, little guy?" Sunoo asked gently, crouching down slightly to check on him. "Do you want a chip?"
She reached into her plastic bag, pulled out her bag of spicy potato chips, and offered it to him with a sweet, comforting smile.
Sunghoon stared at the red bag of chips. Then he looked at her angelic face.
She offered me her chips, his brain frantically rationalized through the sheer terror. The Chief Strategist was right! She loves chips, and now she's SHARING them with me!
Instead of taking a chip like a normal human being, Sunghoon let out a high-pitched, panicked squeak, grabbed the entire unopened bag of spicy chips out of her hand, bowed at a sharp ninety-degree angle, and screamed, "THANK YOU FOR YOUR BLESSING!"
Before Sunoo could even react, Sunghoon spun on his heel and sprinted down the street at maximum velocity, his sneakers slapping against the pavement like gunfire.
"Wait, hey! Those are my chips!" Sunoo called out, standing up in utter bewilderment as she watched the nine-year-old vanish around the corner like a sprinter in the Olympics. "What just happened?!"
Ten minutes later, behind the safety of the park slide, Sunghoon was sitting on a wooden crate, holding the stolen bag of spicy potato chips against his chest like a trophy won in bloody battle.
He was breathing heavily, his face still bright red, but his eyes were filled with triumph.
"I did it," Sunghoon whispered, awestruck. "I communicated with her. And she gave me her most prized possession."
Jay, who had finally recovered from his laughing fit, wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve. "Sunghoon, you screamed about 'refracted breeze' and stole a high schooler's snacks! That’s not a romantic interaction, that’s a mugging!"
"It was NOT a mugging!" Sunghoon argued defensively, hugging the chip bag tighter. "It was an exchange of mutual respect! Right, Jungwon?"
They all turned to look at seven-year-old Yang Jungwon.
Jungwon was sitting casually on the steps of the slide, polishing off the last bit of his waffle cone. He looked at Sunghoon, then looked at the bag of spicy chips—the exact chips he had been hoping to eat when his sister got home.
"Well," Jungwon said smoothly, his cat-like eyes narrowing into a sly, brilliant smile. "It was... unconventional. But you successfully acquired her favorite item. That means Phase One is complete."
Sunghoon gasped, his heart leaping with joy. "Phase One is complete?!"
"Yes," Jungwon lied without a single hint of hesitation. "Now, Phase Two requires strategic patience. We must hold those chips as a sacred symbol."
"Can we eat them?" Jake asked, reaching a hand out.
"NO!" Sunghoon yelled, swatting Jake's hand away. "These are sacred! They will be framed in my bedroom!"
Jay threw his head back and groaned. "You are totally insane, Sunghoon. Completely, utterly insane."
"He's not insane," Jungwon corrected calmly, standing up and dusting off his shorts. "He's just a man with a plan. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go home. My sister is probably throwing a temper tantrum because someone did something bad today."
"Your sister sounds very dramatic," Sunghoon noted thoughtfully.
Jungwon looked Sunghoon dead in the eye, his dimples popping out in a sweet, terrifying smile.
"You have no idea, hyung," Jungwon said softly. "You have absolutely no idea."
Later that evening, inside the Yang household, chaos was underway.
"MOM!" Sunoo whined loudly, stomping her feet as she walked into the kitchen. "A weird little kid in the neighborhood stole my spicy chips!"
Their mother, who was busy chopping onions at the counter, didn't even turn around. "Sunoo, why would a little kid steal your chips? You probably just dropped them."
"I didn't drop them!" Sunoo protested, throwing her hands in the air. "He was standing there talking about 'refracted breeze' or something, and then he grabbed my chips, yelled 'THANK YOU FOR YOUR BLESSING,' and ran away like a ninja!"
Jungwon walked into the kitchen, carrying his homework folder. He sat at the dining table, opened his math notebook, and began calmly unboxing his colored pencils.
"Was he pale?" Jungwon asked innocently, without looking up. "Did he have dramatic dark hair and look like he was trying really hard to look tall?"
Sunoo paused, turning to glare at her younger brother. "Wait... do you know him?!"
"Maybe," Jungwon said smoothly, drawing a neat red circle around a math problem. "Saw him before. He lives three houses down."
Sunoo gasped, crossing her arms. "Why is he acting so weird?! Every time I see him, he either falls into a flower bush, flies away with an umbrella, or screams nonsense and steals my food! Is he crazy?!"
Jungwon paused his pencil. He looked up at his older sister—the girl who currently had a smudge of flour on her nose and was wearing mis-matched socks—and thought about Sunghoon's spiral notebook titled OPERATION SUNOO.
Jungwon’s lips twitched into a tiny, evil smile.
"He's not crazy, Noona,"Jungwon said softly, turning his head back to his homework. "He's just... practicing his chivalry."
"Chivalry?!" Sunoo shrieked, throw her hands in the air. "Stealing my potato chips is CHIVALRY?!"
"You wouldn't understand," Jungwon murmured under his breath, shaking his head like a wise old man. "It's a ten-year plan."
"What did you say?!"
"Nothing!" Jungwon said cheerfully, holding up his completed math page. "Mom, Sunoo is yelling at me again!"
"Sunoo, leave your brother alone and go wash the dishes!" their mother called out from the stove.
Sunoo let out a loud, dramatic groan, stomping her feet as she dragged herself toward the sink. "I hate this neighborhood! The kids here are all completely out of their minds!"
Sitting at the dining table, Jungwon took a quiet sip of his water, feeling like the absolute puppet master of the entire universe.
Out in the neighborhood, Sunghoon was currently placing a unopened bag of spicy potato chips on his bedside bookshelf, right next to his Lego Star Wars ship and his race-car clock, staring at it with wide, romantic, undying devotion.
The Ten-Year Master Plan was progressing smoothly. And Jungwon was going to get a lot more free ice cream before it was over.
By February of the following year, Sunghoon had elevated Valentine’s Day from a simple calendar holiday into a strategic military operation.
While other kids his age were trading cheesy cartoon-themed paper cards with sticky lollipops attached to them, Sunghoon was sitting in his bedroom with a magnifying glass, a ruler, and three rolls of silk ribbon.
The calendar on his wall had February 14th circled in bright red crayon, surrounded by tiny, intensely drawn stars.
"Valentine’s Day," Sunghoon whispered to himself, staring at his reflection in the mirror while smoothing down his collar. "The day of destiny. The day a gentleman declares his devotion."
An hour later, the four boys were assembled in Jay’s living room.
The coffee table was covered in chaos: colored construction paper, rolls of double-sided tape, heart-shaped chocolate boxes, and Sunghoon’s sacred spiral notebook, now open to OPERATION SUNOO: VALENTINE'S DISPATCH.
"Alright, gentlemen," Sunghoon announced, standing at the head of the table with his hands resting on his hips like a commander addressing his battalion. "Today is the day we prepare the ultimate Valentine's gift for Sunoo. I need ideas. High-level, romantic, sophisticated ideas."
Jay, who was currently eating the chocolate out of a sample box he was supposed to be helping test, groaned softly. "Sunghoon, it’s 9:00 AM on a Saturday. Why are we doing this so early?"
"Because romance waits for no man, Jay!" Sunghoon snapped passionately.
Jake raised a glue stick like a microphone. "I have an idea! What if you buy her a giant stuffed bear? Like, a bear that's three times bigger than you! Girls in cartoons always love huge stuffed animals!"
"Inaccurate," Jungwon interjected smoothly from the armchair. He was casually sipping a strawberry milk carton, looking like a high-powered CEO reviewing corporate proposals. "If you give her a giant bear, she’ll throw it on her bed, it’ll collect dust, and she’ll end up using it as a footrest while she plays games on her phone. Waste of money."
Sunghoon turned to Jungwon, his eyes wide with admiration. "As expected of our Chief Strategist! Brutally perceptive. What else, Jay?"
Jay wiped chocolate off his thumb. "What about flowers? Red roses! Grown-ups always give red roses!"
"Red roses mean 'passionate love,'" Sunghoon noted, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Is that too strong for a nine-year-old to give a seventeen-year-old?"
"You literally stole her chips and called it a blessing, Sunghoon," Jay deadpanned. "I think the boundary for 'too strong' was crossed months ago."
"Flowers die in three days anyway," Jungwon added calmly, taking another sip of his milk. "And if she takes them home, her mom will make her put them in a vase, and then Sunoo will complain about having to change the dirty water."
Sunghoon’s shoulders slumped slightly. "Then what do I give her?! It has to be perfect! It has to show her that I am mature, thoughtful, and capable of being the love of her life!"
Jungwon set his milk carton down on the table, leaned forward, and rested his chin on his folded hands. His dark, cat-like eyes glinted with quiet, mischievous brilliance.
He knew Sunoo better than anyone because he literally lived with her—though Sunghoon, Jay, and Jake still had no idea they were related.
"She likes sweet things," Jungwon revealed slowly, dropping precious intelligence like gold coins. "Specifically, handmade chocolates. Not the cheap ones from the convenience store. The nice, pretty ones wrapped in gold foil with small ribbons."
Sunghoon’s eyes illuminated like two fireworks exploding in the night sky. "Handmade chocolates! Gold foil! Ribbons! Jungwon, how do you know high school girls so well?!"
"I have my sources," Jungwon lied smoothly with a innocent, dimpled smile. Plus, Jungwon thought with a secret smirk, if Sunghoon buys fancy gold-wrapped chocolates, Sunoo will leave them on the kitchen counter, and I can eat half of them when she’s not looking.
"Then it is settled!" Sunghoon declared, slamming his hand onto the table. "We are going to buy the highest-quality, gold-wrapped chocolate box in the neighborhood! And I will hand-deliver it to her at the high school gates on Monday afternoon!"
Monday, February 14th arrived with crisp, chilly winter air.
Sunghoon stood near the stone pillar outside the high school gates at precisely 3:05 PM. He was wearing his best winter coat—a sharp, dark blue coat his mother had bought him for family weddings—and a red knitted scarf wrapped neatly around his neck.
Clutched tightly in his gloved hands was a small, elegant velvet box containing artisanal, gold-wrapped dark and milk chocolates, tied with a silky red ribbon. He had spent three whole days practicing his posture in front of his bedroom mirror.
Behind a nearby concrete bench, Jay, Jake, and Jungwon were huddled together under a shared blanket, watching him.
"He looks like a little penguin in that coat," Jake whispered, giggling into his mittens.
"Shh!" Jay hissed, grinning nervously. "He’s in the zone! Look at his face!"
Sunghoon’s heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Today is the day, Sunghoon rehearsed in his head, clutching the velvet box closer to his chest. I won't trip. I won't scream about refracted breeze. I won't run away. I will bow, hand her the chocolates, and say: 'Happy Valentine's Day, Sunoo-ssi. May your afternoon be as sweet as these chocolates.'
Suddenly, the high school bell chimed.
Students began pouring out of the glass doors, laughing, chatting, and wrapping their scarves tighter against the chill.
Sunghoon spotted her immediately.
Sunoo was walking down the brick pathway, flanked by two of her female classmates. She wore her long padded winter coat, her cheeks flushed slightly pink from the cold, and she was laughing heartily at something her friend had said.
Sunghoon took a deep, shaky breath, stepped out from behind the stone pillar, and began walking toward her path.
He was only ten feet away when he heard her friends giggling loudly.
"Ah, seriously, Sunoo!" one of her friends teased, nudging Sunoo’s elbow. "Did you get any chocolates today? I saw that guy from the basketball team trying to hand you a letter earlier!"
Sunoo let out a soft, dramatic groan, tossing her head back. "Oh, don't remind me! It was so awkward!"
Sunghoon froze in his tracks. The mention of another guy made his stomach drop like an elevator with snapped cables. He ducked slightly behind a large bulletin board near the walkway, his ears straining to listen.
"Why awkward?" her friend asked, giggling. "He's pretty handsome and popular!"
"Yeah, but he's just... not my type at all," Sunoo replied, taking a sip from a warm canned tea.
"Wait, really?" her friend pressed. "Then what is your ideal type, Sunoo? You've rejected like three guys this semester!"
Behind the bulletin board, Sunghoon pressed his back against the wood. His breath hitched in his throat. His fingers tightened around the velvet chocolate box until the cardboard creaked under his gloves.
Her ideal type... Sunghoon thought, his heart pounding in his ears. This is it. The blueprint of her heart.
Sunoo giggled, her sweet voice carrying clearly over the winter breeze.
"Hmm... my ideal type?" Sunoo pondered out loud, tapping her chin with her gloved finger. "Well... first of all, he has to be tall. Like, really tall. At least six feet tall! I want to look up at him when we talk!"
Height: Six feet, Sunghoon noted in his mind, his eyes narrowing with fierce determination. Current height: 4 foot 3 inches. Distance remaining: 1 foot 9 inches. Achievable through intensive milk consumption and daily hanging from monkey bars.
"And second?" her friend asked.
"He has to be smart and reliable," Sunoo continued, her tone turning slightly dreamy. "Someone who gets top scores in school, someone who looks cool and calm under pressure... like an 'Ice Prince' type! You know, sharp, sophisticated, and composed!"
Smart, reliable, Ice Prince, Sunghoon logged into his brain. Top scores in school: Already achieved in elementary level, will maintain until university. Cool under pressure: Will eliminate all panicking, shrieking, and falling into flower bushes immediately.
"And most importantly!" Sunoo added with a bright, cheerful chuckle, "He has to be athletic and strong. Like a figure skater or a martial artist! Someone with amazing posture, broad shoulders, and effortless grace!"
Athletic. Figure skater. Broad shoulders. Graceful.
"Ah, so basically a webtoon main character!" her friends laughed, linking arms with her as they continued walking toward the school gates. "Good luck finding a guy like that in our school, Sunoo!"
"Hey, a girl can dream!" Sunoo laughed, her melodious chuckles fading into the distance as they walked down the street.
Sunghoon stayed hidden behind the bulletin board for a long moment.
The cold winter wind blew past, rustling the edges of his red scarf. He looked down at the velvet box in his hands—the cute, small chocolate box he had bought thinking it would make her smile.
Suddenly, the cute, small box felt... childish.
Behind the concrete bench, Jay, Jake, and Jungwon ran over, seeing that Sunoo had already walked away.
"Sunghoon!" Jake called out, breathless. "What happened?! Why didn't you go up to her?!"
"Yeah, man!" Jay said, looking confused. "She was right there! You had the chocolates and everything!"
Sunghoon slowly stepped out from behind the bulletin board.
His face was completely changed. The anxious, red-cheeked, panicking nine-year-old was gone. In his place stood a boy with sharp, unblinking eyes, his jaw set in a line of absolute, unbreakable resolve. He stood up straight, pulling his shoulders back into flawless, military-grade posture.
Jungwon tilted his head, noticing the sudden shift instantly. "Hyung... did you hear what she said?"
Sunghoon didn't answer right away. He looked down at the velvet chocolate box, then turned to his three best friends.
Slowly, deliberately, Sunghoon raised his right hand and clenched his glove into a tight, powerful fist.
"I heard everything," Sunghoon said, his voice dropping into a low, steady tone that sounded far too mature for a nine-year-old.
"What did she say?!" Jay asked urgently. "Is she dating someone else?!"
"No," Sunghoon declared, staring straight ahead at the horizon with fiery ambition. "She described her ideal man."
Jake blinked. "And?"
"And," Sunghoon continued, his eyes burning with intense, unstoppable conviction, "I am going to become every single word she just described."
He held up his clenched fist, counting off on his fingers with absolute precision.
"One: Six feet tall."
"Two: Top of the class. Cool, composed, an Ice Prince."
"Three: An elite athlete. Effortless grace. Broad shoulders."
Jay stared at him, bewildered. "Sunghoon... you're nine! You can't just decide to grow six feet and become an Ice Prince overnight!"
"Not overnight, Jay," Sunghoon corrected, turning his intense gaze toward his friends. "We have eight years until I turn seventeen. Eight years to forge myself into her absolute perfection."
He looked at Jungwon. "Chief Strategist."
Jungwon raised an eyebrow, taking a slow sip of his strawberry milk while hiding his amusement. "Yes, Commander?"
"As of today, Phase Two is canceled," Sunghoon commanded, his voice filled with iron will. "We are initiating OPERATION ICE PRINCE."
Jungwon’s lips twitched. A slow, deeply amused, dimpled smile spread across his face. The trio had absolutely no idea that the "goddess" Sunghoon was dedicating his entire youth to was currently Jungwon's annoying older sister who left dirty socks under the couch.
"And what are the parameters of Operation Ice Prince, hyung?" Jungwon asked smoothly.
Sunghoon handed the velvet box of chocolates to Jake. "First: I will double my daily milk intake to three cartons a day. Second: I will study two hours extra every night so my grades never drop below ninety-five percent. Third..."
Sunghoon paused, looking over toward the local ice-skating rink building visible past the park trees.
"Third: I am signing up for figure skating lessons starting this weekend."
Jay’s jaw hit the pavement. "FIGURE SKATING?!"
"She said she wanted an athlete with grace, poise, and broad shoulders," Sunghoon stated, completely unbothered by Jay's shock. "Figure skating requires extreme discipline, perfect posture, and physical strength. It is the ultimate path."
Jake looked down at the velvet box of gold-wrapped chocolates in his hands. "Wait... so what do we do with these chocolates?"
Sunghoon didn't even glance back at the box. He turned around, pulling his red scarf up over his chin, his eyes locked on the road ahead.
"Eat them," Sunghoon said calmly, beginning his march down the sidewalk with long, deliberate, perfectly posture-aligned strides. "A real Ice Prince does not offer simple chocolates. When I present myself to her at eighteen... I will be the gift."
Jay and Jake stood frozen on the sidewalk, staring at Sunghoon’s retreating figure in absolute, speechless shock.
Jay turned to Jungwon, pointing a trembling finger at Sunghoon’s back. "Jungwon... your friend has completely lost his mind."
Jungwon opened the chocolate box, popped a gold-wrapped truffle into his mouth, and savored the rich cocoa taste with a quiet, contented sigh.
"He hasn't lost his mind, Jay," Jungwon murmured, his cat-like eyes watching Sunghoon march like a future king toward the sports center. "He's just terrifyingly dedicated."
Jungwon took another chocolate, handing one to Jay and one to Jake.
"Now come on," Jungwon chuckled, walking after Sunghoon. "We have to go watch a nine-year-old try to learn how to glide on ice without falling on his butt. This is going to be hilarious."
If nine-year-old Park Sunghoon had learned anything from his brief nine years on Earth, it was that romantic glory required sacrifice.
Standing at the edge of the neighborhood ice rink, wrapped in three heavy layers of thermal winter clothing, Sunghoon stared down at his freshly laced figure skates. The steel blades gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights of the arena.
Behind the thick glass barrier, his loyal squad was lined up, holding warm cans of cocoa like a three-man comedy commentary panel.
"Look at him," Jay cackled, tapping his palm against the glass. "He looks like a baby penguin wrapped in a puffer jacket! If he tries to jump, he's going to roll away like a bowling ball!"
"Hey, be nice!" Jake said, though his mouth was twitching into a wide grin. "He’s doing this for love, Jay! True, romantic, six-foot-tall Ice Prince love!"
Jungwon took a slow sip of his warm tea, his dark cat-like eyes full of quiet, evil delight. "Ten-to-one odds he falls on his tailbone within the first thirty seconds," he said deadpanned, without breaking a smile.
"I heard that!" Sunghoon yelled back through the open gate, his cheeks burning red. "I am a man of focus! Grace and elegance are in my blood!"
Sunghoon took a deep, dramatic breath, gripped the wooden railing tightly, and took his very first step onto the slick, frozen surface.
SLIP!
"WHOA—!"
His right leg went forward, his left leg went backward, and gravity claimed its prize. With a loud, tragic THUD, Sunghoon landed flat on his stomach, his limbs spread out like a star-fish, his nose pressed firmly against the freezing ice.
The glass barrier practically vibrated as Jay threw his head back and howled with laughter, slapping Jake's shoulder violently.
"THIRTY SECONDS!" Jay wheezed, wiping tears from his eyes. "He didn't even make it TWO seconds! Pay up, Jake!"
"I am fine!" Sunghoon’s muffled voice echoed from the ice. He scrambled frantically to push himself up, but his sharp metal blades had zero traction on the slick floor. Every time he tried to push up, his knees buckled, and he slid another two feet like an upside-down turtle. "The ice is simply... improperly calibrated today!"
"Need a hand?"
A smooth, melodic, surprisingly mature voice drifted from above.
Sunghoon paused, his cheek still resting on the cold ice, and looked up.
Gliding effortlessly toward him was a fifteen-year-old boy. He moved across the ice with stunning, weightless grace, his long legs crossing over smoothly as he carved a perfect, razor-thin line into the surface. He was wearing a simple dark turtleneck sweater, black practice pants, and crisp white figure skates.
He stopped right in front of Sunghoon, spraying a fine mist of ice powder into the air, and offered a gloved hand with a warm, encouraging smile.
His name was Lee Heeseung.
Heeseung was one of the top junior figure skaters in the region—tall, lean, with gentle eyes, effortlessly charming demeanor, and a quiet aura of authority.
Sunghoon, whose pride was currently frozen to the rink floor, took Heeseung’s hand. Heeseung pulled him up smoothly, balancing the nine-year-old until Sunghoon’s blades were safely planted.
"Thanks..." Sunghoon mumbled, his ears turning pink. "I... I was just testing the ice."
Heeseung let out a soft, pleasant chuckle, patting Sunghoon's shoulder gently. "Sure you were. I'm Heeseung. You look like you're new here."
Over at the glass barrier, the commentary panel went dead silent.
Jake, who had been about to take a bite of a cinnamon pastry, stopped mid-chew. His eyes wide, fixed entirely on the fifteen-year-old skater who had just glided into view.
The morning sunlight coming through the high stadium windows seemed to hit Heeseung’s dark hair perfectly, casting a gentle, glowing halo around him as he adjusted his scarf. He held himself with such easy, effortless confidence that Jake felt a sudden, strange fluttering feeling in his chest—like a tiny swarm of butterflies had taken flight inside his stomach.
"Whoa," Jake whispered out loud, his eyes wide.
Jay blinked, turning to look at Jake. "Whoa what?"
"He's..." Jake stammered, his cheeks flushing a faint, unmistakable shade of pink. "He's... really good at skating, huh?"
Jay squinted at Heeseung, then looked at Jake’s red face. "Jake... why are you holding your cinnamon roll like it's a bouquet of flowers?"
"I'm NOT!" Jake squeaked, his voice cracking into a high pitch as he quickly shoved the pastry behind his back. "I'm just observing! As a friend! In an analytical way!"
Jungwon’s eyes darted between Heeseung on the ice and Jake’s flushed cheeks at the glass. A tiny, devious smirk formed on Jungwon's face. First Sunghoon, now Jake? This neighborhood is getting more ridiculous by the day.
Out on the rink, Heeseung was holding both of Sunghoon’s hands, skating backward slowly to guide the younger boy across the ice.
"Keep your knees slightly bent," Heeseung instructed patiently, his voice calm and steady. "Don't look down at your feet, look at me. Balance comes from your shoulders, not your shoes."
Sunghoon wobbled like a newborn deer, his teeth clenched in intense concentration. "Like... like this?"
"Perfect," Heeseung smiled. "You actually have great natural posture, kid. Why the sudden interest in figure skating? Most boys your age usually pick soccer or taekwondo."
Sunghoon’s eyes narrowed into a serious, intense line. "I am on a mission of vital importance."
Heeseung raised an eyebrow, genuinely amused. "A mission?"
"Yes," Sunghoon said gravely, his nine-year-old voice dripping with tragic seriousness. "I must become an 'Ice Prince'. I need broad shoulders, effortless grace, and flawless athletic discipline so that when I am eighteen, the girl of my dreams will look at me and see her ideal man."
Heeseung blinked. Then he let out a loud, delighted laugh that echoed off the high rafters of the arena.
"An Ice Prince?!" Heeseung laughed, shaking his head. "How old are you?"
"Nine!" Sunghoon stated proudly. "And my goal is absolute. I will drink three cartons of milk a day, get straight A's, and master the triple axle!"
Heeseung chuckled, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "Man, you're serious, aren't you? Well, 'Ice Prince'... if you want to become a real figure skater, it takes a lot more than just looking cool. It takes years of falling down, getting bruised, and waking up at 5:00 AM to practice."
"I don't care," Sunghoon declared, clutching his small fists. "I will do whatever it takes!"
Heeseung looked at the young boy’s wide, burning eyes. There was something undeniably charming—and surprisingly impressive—about Sunghoon’s absolute determination, even if the reason behind it was an absurd childhood crush.
"Alright then," Heeseung said, his smile turning warm and genuine. "If you're really that dedicated... I can teach you the basics after my official practice sessions."
Sunghoon gasped, his eyes lighting up like lanterns. "Really?! You'll be my master?!"
"Coach Heeseung sounds better," Heeseung teased, patting Sunghoon’s head. "Come on, let's work on your glide."
For the next two hours, Sunghoon pushed through the pain. He fell down at least twenty times, bruised his hip, and scraped his gloves, but every single time he hit the ice, he scrambled back up, corrected his posture, and tried again.
Heeseung was a fantastic teacher—patient, encouraging, and sharp-eyed. By the end of the morning, Sunghoon was actually able to glide across the width of the rink without holding onto the wall!
"Not bad, kid!" Heeseung praised, skating alongside him as they headed toward the exit gate. "You've got real grit!"
"Thank you, Coach Heeseung!" Sunghoon panted, wiping sweat from his forehead.
When they stepped off the ice and onto the rubber mats near the benches, Sunghoon’s friends ran over.
"Sunghoon! You didn't break your arm!" Jay cheered, clapping him on the back. "I owe Jake fifty cents!"
"I told you he had it!" Jake said, though his eyes kept darting nervously toward Heeseung, who was currently unlacing his white skates nearby.
Heeseung stood up, slinging his skates over his shoulder, and smiled down at the group of younger boys. "Hey guys. I'm Heeseung."
"I'm Jay!" Jay introduced loudly. "This is Jungwon, and that's Jake!"
"H-Hi..." Jake squeaked out, his cheeks instantly flushing a deep, radiant pink. He pulled his knitted beanie down over his ears, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about his messy hair. "Nice to... meet you..."
Heeseung smiled warmly at Jake, his eyes softening. "Nice to meet you too, Jake. Are you guys Sunghoon’s cheer squad?"
"More like his security team," Jungwon noted deadpanned, taking a sip of his juice box. "We make sure he doesn't try to fly off the ice with a pink umbrella."
"Hey!" Sunghoon yelled, his cheeks flaring red. "That incident is classified!"
Heeseung laughed, the pleasant sound making Jake’s heart do another wild, unprovoked backflip. "Well, your friend did great today. He’s going to be a real figure skater if he keeps this up."
Heeseung reached into his sports bag, pulled out a spare pack of strawberry fruit gummies, and handed them to Jake with a sweet, friendly wink. "Here, thanks for coming to support him!"
Jake stared at the red packet of gummies in his hands as if Heeseung had just handed him a piece of the moon. His brain completely glitched. "T-Thank you..." he whispered, his voice tiny.
"See you guys next weekend!" Heeseung waved cheerfully, turning and heading down the hallway toward the locker rooms.
The moment Heeseung vanished around the corner, Jay spun around and stared at Jake in utter disbelief.
"Jake," Jay said, his voice dripping with shock. "Why are your ears glowing red? Are you having an allergic reaction to the cinnamon roll?!"
"NO!" Jake squeaked, clutching the gummy pack against his chest. "I'm not! It's just cold in here!"
"You're blushing!" Jay shrieked with laughter, pointing a finger at him. "Oh my gosh, Jake has a crush! Jake has a crush on the figure skating hyung!"
"I DO NOT!" Jake yelled, his face burning like a furnace as he kicked Jay's shoe. "He's just... really polite! And good at skating! And his hair is cool!"
Sunghoon, who was currently struggling to untie his ice skates, looked up in mild confusion. "Wait... Jake has a crush? But what about Operation Ice Prince?"
"Operation Ice Prince is YOUR thing, Sunghoon!" Jay cackled, rolling on the wooden bench. "Now we have OPERATION GUMMY BEAR for Jake!"
"STOP CALLING IT THAT!" Jake whined, hiding his burning face in his hands while Jungwon quietly took a picture of the scene with his small toy camera, adding another piece of priceless black-mail to his growing collection.
Sitting on the bench, wiping his sweaty hair back, Sunghoon looked out at the smooth, white ice rink. His body was sore, his knees were bruised, and his friends were completely out of their minds.
He looked at his reflection in the dark glass wall. He stood up straight, pulled his shoulders back, and adjusted his posture into a flawless line.
The Ice Prince transformation had officially begun. And with Coach Heeseung by his side, nothing was going to stand in his way.
Time, as Sunghoon quickly discovered, was an unforgiving beast.
It didn't care about romantic declarations, color-coded notebooks, or carefully mapped-out ten-year master plans. It just kept moving forward, season after season, semester after semester.
Six months had passed since Sunghoon first stepped onto the ice with Lee Heeseung. Six months of waking up at 5:30 AM, drinking four cartons of high-calcium milk every single day, and practicing his crossovers on the ice until his thighs burned and his toes went numb. He had even grown half an inch—a monumental achievement that he had proudly recorded in OPERATION ICE PRINCE using a bright blue crayon.
He was top of his third-grade class. His posture was military-grade. His shoulders were visibly broader from figure skating drills. Under Heeseung’s guidance, he was no longer the clumsy kid who tripped over his own oversized sneakers; he was becoming the very definition of cool, calm, and composed.
An Ice Prince in the making.
Yet, as the crisp autumn wind began to sweep through the neighborhood, turning the maple leaves into brilliant shades of crimson and gold, a heavy shadow fell over Sunghoon’s romantic campaign.
Exam season had arrived.
The four boys were gathered around a wooden picnic table at the neighborhood park after school.
The air was chilly, carrying the sharp scent of dry leaves. Sunghoon was sitting with immaculate, textbook posture, his back completely straight, reviewing a stack of advanced fourth-grade math worksheets Heeseung had recommended he study to "stay ahead of the curve."
Across from him, Jay was lying face-down on the wooden bench, letting out dramatic, muffled groans into his arms.
"I hate third-grade fractions," Jay moaned, his voice vibrating against the wood. "Why do I need to divide a pizza into eight equal slices in my head? If I have a pizza, I’m eating the whole thing! I’m not sharing it with math!"
"Fractions are simple, Jay," Sunghoon said smoothly, adjusting his notebook without looking up. His tone was cool, collected, and utterly devoid of panic. "It’s merely a matter of establishing a common denominator. An Ice Prince must command numbers, not fear them."
"If you say 'Ice Prince' one more time, I’m going to feed your math worksheet to a pigeon," Jay threatened, turning his head to glare at him.
Beside Jay, Jake was sitting quietly, holding a neatly organized folder filled with figure skating schedule pamphlets. He was staring blankly at the cover, his cheeks dusting a faint pink every time he glanced at Heeseung’s handwritten notes in the margins.
"Heeseung-hyung said he's taking his high school midterms next week," Jake whispered softly, almost to himself, clutching the folder to his chest. "I made him a lucky origami crane for good luck... Do you think it’s too much? Should I give him a pen instead? What if he thinks the crane is childish?"
"Give him the crane, Jake," Jungwon deadpanned from the end of the table. Jungwon was calmly sipping a warm honeydew milk carton, flipping through a comic book. "He’ll think it’s cute, he’ll pat your head, and then your face will turn into a chili pepper again like it always does."
"IT DOES NOT TURN INTO A CHILI PEPPER!" Jake squeaked, his voice pitching high as he pulled his beanie over his face.
"It really does, Jake," Jay agreed, sitting up and grinning. "It's bright red. You look like a tomato on a winter day."
While Jay and Jake squabbled over origami cranes and fractions, Jungwon turned his sharp, cat-like eyes toward Sunghoon.
Sunghoon hadn't turned a page in his math notebook for five full minutes. His eyes were fixed on the far side of the park, where the high school brick building stood against the autumn sky.
Jungwon took a slow sip of his milk, a quiet, knowing look passing through his dark eyes.
Unlike Jay and Jake, who were focused on their own third-grade struggles and crushes, Jungwon knew the exact date marked on the high school calendar. He lived under the same roof as the reason for Sunghoon's distraction, after all.
"Hyung," Jungwon said softly, his voice cutting through Jay and Jake’s loud banter.
Sunghoon blinked, breaking out of his trance. He turned his head slowly, keeping his face impassive. "Yes, Chief Strategist?"
"She's studying late at the library every night," Jungwon revealed, dropping the information with quiet precision. "I saw her mom has been packing her thermos flasks of warm ginseng tea. Her college entrance exams and final high school graduation tests are in three weeks."
The air at the table seemed to freeze.
Jay stopped mid-sentence. Jake dropped his origami crane onto the table.
Sunghoon’s hand tightened around his pencil. The lead snapped with a sharp CLICK.
"Graduation..." Sunghoon murmured, the word tasting like ash in his mouth.
"Wait..." Jay frowned, doing the math in his head. "If Sunoo-noona takes her final exams and graduates... that means..."
"That means she’s going to college," Jungwon finished calmly, turning a page of his comic book. "And high school seniors who go to college usually move to dorms in Seoul. Or go away to university across the country."
The reality hit Sunghoon like a bucket of icy water.
His grand Ten-Year Master Plan. His milk-drinking regimen. His posture drills. His figure skating lessons with Heeseung. His transition into the ultimate Ice Prince.
He was nine. She was seventeen—about to turn eighteen.
If she graduated and moved away to university, she wouldn't walk past the high school gates at 3:15 PM anymore. She wouldn't buy spicy chips at the neighborhood convenience store. She wouldn't be around to see him take off his training wheels, win his first skating medal, or reach six feet tall.
The gap between nine and seventeen hadn't felt real when it was written down in a crayon-drawn flowchart. But now, with high school graduation looming like a giant wall, the distance felt vast, terrifying, and completely impossible.
Sunghoon lowered his head. For the first time in six months, his military-grade posture crumbled. His shoulders slouched, and he rested his forehead against the cool wooden table.
"She's going to leave," Sunghoon whispered, his voice tiny and distinctly nine years old again. "She's going to go to college, meet real grown-up college guys who are already six feet tall, and forget the kid who dropped his markers in front of her."
Jay and Jake exchanged a rare, quiet glance. For once, Jay didn't crack a joke. He reached across the table and gave Sunghoon’s shoulder a firm, supportive squeeze.
"Hey..." Jay said softly. "She won't forget you, man. You literally stole her chips and yelled at her in the rain. That’s unforgettable."
"Jay's right," Jake added gently, pushing his warm cocoa can toward Sunghoon. "And you've worked so hard, Sunghoon! You can skate now! You get straight A's! You're... you're really cool now!"
Sunghoon didn't move. He kept his forehead pressed to the table, his heart aching with a strange, heavy sadness he had never felt before.
Sitting across from him, Jungwon watched the dramatic, heartbroken boy.
Jungwon knew the truth about his sister. He knew that Sunoo had spent the last three nights crying over her mock exam scores, complaining that her brain was turning into jelly, and eating cold cold rice directly from the fridge at 2:00 AM while wearing mismatched pajamas. She wasn't a mysterious, untouchable goddess floating off into the clouds—she was just a stressed-out high school senior terrified of failing her tests.
Jungwon looked at his milk carton, then at Sunghoon’s slouched back.
He could let Sunghoon give up now, wallow in sadness, and end OPERATION ICE PRINCE forever. It would be the practical thing to do.
But then Jungwon thought about the past six months. He thought about Sunghoon getting up at dawn, freezing on the ice, falling down fifty times a day, and stubbornly pushing himself back up just to become a better version of himself for a girl who didn't even know his name.
It was ridiculous. It was utterly insane.
And yet, Jungwon couldn't help but respect it.
Jungwon set his milk carton down with a firm THUMP.
"Get up, Hyung," Jungwon commanded, his voice sharp and authoritative.
Sunghoon slowly raised his head, his eyes slightly glossy, looking at the seven-year-old. "What?"
"I said, get up," Jungwon repeated, leaning over the table and staring Sunghoon straight in the eye. "An Ice Prince doesn't slouch. An Ice Prince doesn't whine about final exams. And an Ice Prince definitely doesn't give up before the battle is even over."
Sunghoon blinked, startled by the intensity in Jungwon’s small face. "But Jungwon... she's leaving for college..."
"She hasn't left yet!" Jungwon countered firmly. "She's still here. She's currently drowning in study guides, panicking about her entrance exams, and exhausted. Do you know what a real gentleman does when his lady is facing her greatest trial?"
Jay and Jake leaned in, completely invested. "What does he do?!" Jay asked breathlessly.
Jungwon’s dimples appeared as a sly, brilliant smirk spread across his face.
"He doesn't give her childish chocolates or confess his feelings," Jungwon declared. "He supports her from the shadows. He gives her the strength to conquer her exams."
Sunghoon’s breath hitched. His posture slowly straightened back up, his eyes igniting with a fresh, fierce spark of hope. "Support her... from the shadows?"
"Yes," Jungwon purred, leaning back. "Phase Three: OPERATION CHEERLEADER IN THE SHADOWS."
Over the next two weeks, the neighborhood high school block experienced a series of subtle, mysterious occurrences.
Sunoo was having the most stressful month of her life. The pressure of college entrance exams was crushing. She spent twelve hours a day at her desk, her eyes red from reading, her shoulders tense with anxiety.
On Monday morning, as Sunoo walked out of her house toward the bus stop, feeling completely exhausted and miserable, she found a small, neatly wrapped thermos sitting on the low stone wall outside her gate.
Attached to the thermos was a small piece of blue construction paper with handwriting that was fiercely neat, blocky, and clearly written by someone trying very hard to sound like a grown-up:
"To Kim Sunoo-ssi,
Exam preparation requires optimal thermal regulation and sustained cognitive focus. Drink this warm honey-lemon tea. Do not yield to mental fatigue.
— A Respectful Supporter"
Sunoo blinked, looking around the empty street. "A... respectful supporter?"
She opened the thermos. Steam curled into the crisp morning air, carrying the sweet scent of fresh lemon and warm honey. She took a sip, and a genuine, warm smile broke across her tired face for the first time in days.
Hiding behind a large trash bin three houses down, Park Sunghoon held his breath, his back pressed against the plastic, his heart soaring into the stratosphere.
Beside him, Jay whispered, "Did she drink it?!"
"She drank it, Jay," Sunghoon breathed, clutching his chest like a romantic knight. "The honey-lemon blend has successfully restored her spirit."
"You woke up at 4:30 AM to squeeze those lemons, Sunghoon," Jake reminded him fondly. "You almost squeezed lemon juice in your eye!"
"It was a noble sacrifice!" Sunghoon hissed back, his cheeks burning red.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sunoo was sitting alone at a desk near the high school library window, staring miserably at a practice test for history that she had just failed. She rested her head on her arms, letting out a heavy, defeated sigh.
Suddenly, a tiny, crisp paper crane fluttered through the slightly open window, landing right beside her test paper.
Sunoo raised her head, surprised. She picked up the folded blue paper crane and carefully unrolled it.
Inside, written in dark black ink, was a single, bold sentence:
"A true leader is not measured by temporary set-backs, but by the elegance of their comeback. You will conquer this exam."
Underneath the text was a small, hand-drawn illustration of a figure skater performing a graceful spin, surrounded by tiny drawn stars.
Sunoo burst into a soft, genuine laugh, holding the paper crane against her cheek. "Who writes like this? It sounds like a character from a historical drama..."
She looked out the window. Down on the school courtyard, she caught a brief glimpse of a small boy in a dark blue coat sprinting away behind the bicycle rack, followed by three other kids holding juice boxes.
She couldn't see his face, but she recognized the sharp, determined posture immediately.
"Wait..." Sunoo murmured, her eyes widening slightly with fondness. "Is that... the umbrella kid?"
The final day of exams arrived on a chilly Friday.
When the 4:00 PM bell finally rang, signaling the official end of high school entrance examinations, a massive collective cheer echoed from the high school building. Students poured out into the courtyard, laughing, hugging, crying with relief, and tossing their study guides into the air.
Sunoo walked out through the heavy glass doors, wrapping her scarf around her neck. She felt completely drained, but a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She had done her best.
As she walked down the brick path toward the front gates, she noticed a small figure standing right beside the stone pillar.
It was Sunghoon.
He wasn't hiding behind a bulletin board. He wasn't holding a ruined pink umbrella. He wasn't running away.
He was standing in absolute, flawless posture, wearing his dark blue winter coat, his red scarf tied neatly, his boots planted firmly on the ground. He looked sharp, composed, and undeniably handsome—like a miniature prince standing guard.
Beside him, hiding behind a nearby bush, Jay, Jake, and Jungwon watched with bated breath.
"Go on, Sunghoon..." Jay whispered from the leaves. "Deliver the final strike."
Sunoo slowed her pace as she approached him. She looked down at the nine-year-old boy, a warm, gentle smile spreading across her face.
"Hi there," Sunoo said softly, stopping in front of him.
Sunghoon’s heart was pounding like a drum against his ribs—THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP—but he didn't panic. He didn't stutter. He didn't yell about refracted breezes.
He looked her straight in the eye, took a deep breath, and bowed at a crisp, perfectly executed forty-five-degree angle—a posture he had practiced with Heeseung on the ice for weeks.
When he stood back up, he held out a small, single white lily flower, wrapped in simple brown paper and tied with a neat gold string.
"Congratulations on completing your examinations, Sunoo-ssi," Sunghoon said, his voice steady, clear, and remarkably mature. "You worked very hard."
Sunoo’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. She looked at the small white lily, then at the serious, pale boy standing before her with such intense, earnest respect.
She took the flower carefully, holding it against her coat. The subtle, sweet fragrance filled the chilly air between them.
"Thank you," Sunoo said, her voice soft and full of genuine warmth. She crouched down slightly, reaching out to lightly pat his head—just like she had done on the day they first met. "Did you write those messages for me? The tea, and the paper crane?"
Sunghoon’s ears turned bright red at the gentle touch of her hand, but he held his head high.
"A gentleman supports those he admires from the shadows," Sunghoon stated plainly, taking a phrase straight from Jungwon's playbook.
Sunoo let out a bright, melodious laugh, her eyes sparkling like stars. "You really are something else, little guy. What's your name?"
Sunghoon straightened his posture, pulling his shoulders back, his eyes burning with absolute, unwavering resolve.
"I am Park Sunghoon," he declared clearly.
Sunoo smiled, repeating it softly. "Park Sunghoon. Well, thank you, Sunghoon-ah. You really helped me get through this week."
She stood up, holding the lily close, and gave him a cheerful wave. "I'm going to university in Seoul next spring, but I'll visit the neighborhood often. Keep growing up well, okay, Ice Prince?"
She turned and walked toward her waiting friends down the street, her laughter blending with the autumn breeze.
Sunghoon stood on the pavement, watching her figure slowly disappear into the golden afternoon sunlight.
She knew his name.
She called him Ice Prince.
And she wasn't disappearing forever—she was coming back.
From behind the bushes, Jay and Jake burst out, cheering and tackling Sunghoon into a chaotic group hug, nearly knocking him into the leaf pile.
"YOU DID IT!" Jay shrieked, ruffling Sunghoon's hair. "YOU SPOKE TO HER LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING!"
"SHE KNOWS YOUR NAME!" Jake yelled happily, waving his origami crane in the air. "OPERATION ICE PRINCE IS A SUCCESS!"
Jungwon walked out from behind the tree, taking a calm sip of his milk. He looked at Sunghoon, who was standing in the middle of his chaotic friends, holding his head high, a soft, confident, unstoppable smile spreading across his face.
Jungwon smirked, his dimples popping out in the autumn sunlight.
"Not bad, Hyung," Jungwon murmured softly to himself, looking down at his notebook where OPERATION ICE PRINCE was written in big, bold letters. "Not bad at all."
Sunghoon looked up at the sky, his fists clenched tight at his sides, his heart full of absolute certainty.
The gap between nine and seventeen was wide. The years ahead would be long. He had eight years of figure skating, studying, growing, and training ahead of him.
But as Sunghoon looked toward the future, he knew one thing for sure:
He was going to grow six feet tall. He was going to become the greatest figure skater the world had ever seen.
And when Sunoo came back... his Ten-Year Master Plan would finally be complete.