How do people know for sure that a person is themselves, and not someone else?
Appearance? That changes far easier than expected, so it might not hold much weight.
“Damon! Are you okay?”
The soul, then? That sounds more convincing. Yet under normal circumstances, no one can see a soul. How could an abstract concept, impossible to view or touch, offer certainty?
If not the soul, then what? Memories?
“You took a hard hit to the head!”
…No. Even if someone suffered amnesia, people around them wouldn’t treat them as a stranger for that reason alone.
So… as long as I remember, that’s enough.
Regardless, getting hit still pissed him off.
Hajun bit his lip and pushed himself up from the floor, clutching the back of his sore head. This rotten scenario, which he had faced more times than he could count, played out before his eyes without missing a single beat.
From the end of the hallway, Johnny Brown from the football team ran over, shouting in panic.
“I’m sorry!”
“Brown! Why are you throwing a football in the hallway?!”
“No, I mean… I’m so sorry! Are you alright, transfer student?”
Angelina frowned and scolded Johnny Brown, who offered apology after apology.
Without a word, Hajun gestured with a crooked finger toward Johnny. Seeing the rude gesture, Johnny Brown looked taken aback and asked back.
“Me? …You telling me to come closer?”
“Yeah. What else? I know your head holds muscle instead of a brain, but if you can’t get a basic gesture like this, why not just remove it?”
“What? You little punk, did you just say that? Anyone watching would think I didn’t apologize! Who do you think you are?!”
At just fourteen years old, standing well over six feet tall, the massive football prospect grabbed the slender Asian transfer student by the collar. Students passing through the hallway turned their attention toward them in an instant.
Just as a startled Angelina opened her mouth to pull Johnny Brown back—
SMACK!
A fist flashed by, too fast to track.
The next second, the person sprawling on the floor was… not the model-like transfer student, contrary to everyone’s expectations!
“…??”
“D-Did you just see that…?”
Failing to believe what their own eyes witnessed, students stood slack-jawed, blinking in shock. Knocking down Johnny Brown in a single hit? The transfer student didn’t look small or weak, but still, knocking out the football team’s ‘Big Joe’?
A student rolled their eyes, looking back and forth between the fallen Johnny Brown and the transfer student standing before him with a calm face, fist still raised.
Leaving the stunned stares behind, Hajun dusted off his clothes and stood straight. Adjusting his shirt collar with a cold look, he nudged Johnny Brown’s side with the toe of his shoe.
“Where do you think you’re grabbing, muscle-head?”
A storm of a transfer student had arrived to stir up Beverly Hills High School, a place filled with kids from wealthy families raised like flowers in a greenhouse. Quite the striking entrance.
Hiding behind a locker, the Manga Club president pushed up his glasses, muttering under his breath.
“Lucifer arriving at a school of satans… This is getting interesting.”
After a trip to the principal’s office for knocking a classmate out cold on his first day, Hajun walked down the hallway to meet the school counselor. Turning the corner, he would have reached the counseling office in five minutes had Fred Turner—known to everyone as the ‘Weird Anime Kid’—not popped out of nowhere.
Wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses, Fred Turner spouted words the moment his eyes met Hajun’s. The slight slurring in his speech came from the metal braces across his teeth.
“Hi! I’m Fred Turner. You’re the rumored transfer student, right? Have you decided on a club to join? I-If it’s fine with you, any interest in the Manga Club? I’m the president there…”
“No.”
“I-I see.”
Hearing the sharp refusal, Fred Turner shrank back with lowered eyes, though his mouth refused to stay shut. Having followed this guy around in a previous life, Hajun knew seventy-five percent of what came out of his mouth was alien gibberish, meaning he had zero desire to talk.
“Well, a guy as handsome as you wouldn’t care about stuff like this… To tell the truth, this is a manga I’m into these days, and the main character looks a bit like you. So even though I expected a rejection, I wanted to try talking to you!”
“Right.”
Fred Turner kept talking on his own regardless of whether the other person gave short or long replies. Still, he wasn’t a total fool. Offering the manga book with excitement, he caught the cold look in Hajun’s eyes ordering him to scram, backing away in a hurry.
“Drop by when you have time! Our club room sits at the end of the third-floor hallway in the annex. Right next to the science lab, so easy to find! Okay! I’ll be off!”
Spitting out words like a machine gun, Fred Turner vanished into thin air. From his backpack—stuffed with plushies and badges—a small acrylic keychain dropped onto the floor, showing a nameless character. By the time Hajun picked it up, Fred Turner was nowhere in sight. Quick on his feet when it suited him.
While they weren’t close friends in the previous timeline, they maintained decent interactions, like Hajun posing as a drawing model in exchange for borrowing horror manga for research. Staying still for drawing models was boring as hell.
Still, this level of favor felt reasonable enough to return. Hajun turned his steps toward the third floor of the annex. He planned to drop this off at the Manga Club room and meet a familiar face while nearby.
A glimpse of familiar ash-blonde hair caught his eye through the window. Even among numerous heads of similar color, Hajun could spot his best friend in a single glance. Given the years they spent together, this was second nature.
Though an experiment was in progress inside the classroom, Hajun opened the door and walked right in. Walking between tables to monitor students, the teacher turned to the unexpected guest.
“You there! Class is in session right now. I haven’t seen your face around, what’s your business?”
“I transferred today, and I wanted to take a look around in advance.”
“Ah, the transfer student arriving today? Did you meet the counselor?”
“Yes.”
Not a lie. He had to see the counselor again for a different matter, but since he received a rundown of the school system and course guidance upon arrival this morning, he met the counselor in a sense. That teacher would assume he got lost or left before time.
Finishing his rationalization, Hajun offered a nod with a smirk. The students, oblivious to the hallway fight an hour ago due to their long experiment, stole glances at him, some blushing while others cast wary looks.
“I was checking the classrooms on my schedule to get used to the layout, but the class looked interesting… May I observe?”
“Hmm… Very well. Make sure to wear a lab coat and safety goggles. Anyone have a spare set? Ah, Alex. Why don’t you lend him yours?”
Standing up from his seat, Alex gestured for him to follow. Hajun walked down the hallway, staring at the side profile of his friend who still carried a fresh, young look.
“…Is something on my face?”
“No. How tall are you right now?”
Faced with an abrupt question, Alex looked thrown off before giving a straight answer.
“Height…? About five-foot-nine, I think? Why ask?”
His friend had shrunk, yet talking eye-to-eye felt far easier than before. An ironic thought. Who could have guessed that Hajun, already five-foot-ten at fourteen years old, would keep growing like a bean sprout to gain another four inches by nineteen?
Gauging the closer eye level, Hajun changed the topic with a shrug.
“Just asking? You should throw that tacky plaid shirt in the trash.”
“What?”
“The color combination looks awful no matter how many times I look at it. Plenty of decent plaid shirts exist, you know? If you lack confidence, wear solid colors. Ah, and stop buttoning it all the way to the top. Looks stuffy.”
Alex Keeper struggled to hide his disbelief at a total stranger criticizing his clothes out of nowhere, opening his mouth to fire back. Had the girl who always shut him down not appeared right then, he would have said, ‘Who do you think you are to boss me around?’
“Oh, Damon? Weren’t you supposed to go to counseling?”
“Ditched it. Wasn’t in the mood.”
Dark chocolate hair cascading to her waist, Angelina walked toward them from the opposite direction, her sea-blue eyes blinking in calm curiosity. Hearing her smooth voice, Alex’s mind relaxed for a second before his eyes went wide at the name she used for this rude transfer student.
Wait, what? Damon? Da-mo-n?
His glaring eyes demanded an explanation for why she called him with such affection by his first name, but Hajun just let his lips curve into a long smirk, mocking his friend on the inside. Seeing that handsome face, Alex’s mood sank straight down to the earth’s core.
Surprised by his blunt answer about ditching his appointment, Angelina spoke as if scolding him.
“What? You can’t do that. The teacher must be looking for you.”
“If I don’t show up, they’ll think I went home.”
“A troublemaker, huh?”
“You just realized?”
Exchanging words with the obnoxious transfer student, Angelina let out a soft laugh, leaving Alex looking like he had lost his entire world. Hajun had to try with all his might to hold back a chuckle.
With a slight, playful smile, Angelina spoke.
“Still, good thing you have a Keeper beside you.”
“Oh, right. He’s a real keeper, for sure.”
Hearing his surname turned into a pun, the stunned Alex grabbed the transfer student’s arm to pull him away. Damn it, the guy didn’t budge an inch. Refusing to look foolish in front of Angelina, he pulled with more strength, and the transfer student moved along as if the previous stillness was a fluke.
“W-We should get going! We need to head back to the science lab right away, we stepped out mid-experiment, so, um…”
“Aha. Showing the transfer student around, I see. Did I hold you up too long?”
“No!!”
Angelina’s eyes went wide. Hajun cast a pitiful look at his friend who had gone off the rails, poking Alex in the side. The broken machine flinched before spouting words in a rush.
“…Ah. S-Sorry for yelling all of a sudden…! Y-You didn’t hold us up, so don’t worry about it! We’ll take our leave. Enjoy your lunch, Bryce.”
Lunch sat hours away. Hajun almost let out a sigh. Kind Angelina didn’t point it out, letting it pass with a soft smile.
“Sure, thanks.”
Offering a warm smile, Angelina walked down the hallway with light steps and vanished. Hajun waved a hand in front of Alex, who stood frozen like a statue. A blank face that showed his spirit had left his body.
“Look at this guy.”
Lowering his hand, Hajun let out a sigh.
…Bryce? Keeper? Still a long way to go. Having to watch this whole routine again…
“Hey, Lexi. Snap out of it.”
“…Lexi? Are you calling me that?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll take full responsibility to polish you up and present you neat and sharp before Angelina.”
“W-What?? What are you talking about…”
“Don’t tell me you’re about to drop a line like ‘I don’t have a shred of interest in Angelina Bryce’ when you don’t mean it and nobody would buy it anyway? Relax, trust me.”
Playing Cupid wasn’t something he was doing for the first time. Hajun felt pity for Alex, who stared at him with suspicious eyes, patting his shoulder with a light touch.
Alex slapped Hajun’s hand away and spoke.
“…Why would you do that?”
“Because we’re friends, plain and simple.”
“Friends? Hey, we met ten minutes ago, you know? We haven’t introduced ourselves properly.”
Hajun turned his body and pressed both hands firm over Alex’s shoulders. Trapped in a grip he couldn’t shake, Alex panicked, yelling for him to let go at once. Yet unlike the main building, the annex hallway stayed quiet with no one paying attention.
Hajun spoke without a care.
“Damon Jun Won. That’s my full name. I’m not used to being called by my surname, so call me Damon. What about you?”
“…Alex. Alex Benjamin Keeper. …Call me Keeper.”
“Introductions done. From now on, we’re friends.”
Nice to meet you, Alex. Hajun grabbed Alex’s right hand, gave it two quick shakes up and down, and let go.
Forced into a handshake, Alex stood dumbfounded, lips moving without sound until his senses returned and he yelled out.
“Hey! I told you to call me Keeper!!”
Striding through the hallway, Hajun stopped before Alex’s locker. Handing over his spare lab coat, Alex felt a bit puzzled about how this rude transfer student knew the exact location of his locker, though the thought slipped his mind a moment later.
