At school, Giryang walked down the hallway.
But for some strange reason, every girl he passed would stop and stare at him without blinking.
The gazes had changed.
Choi Giryang now much taller, lean, and with a face that had finally bloomed to its full potential after his tight eyes were corrected with double-eyelid surgery now revealed the looks that had been hidden before.
Girls whispered as he passed by.
"Hey, isn't Choi Giryang getting more handsome by the day?"
"Yeah, he is…"
"He's better than a lot of those ulzzangs."
(Ulzzang very good-looking and often gained popularity online or locally for their look)
A few girls approached him and walked beside him.
"Giryangie~ where did you get your eyes done~?"
Another girl lightly smacked his stomach, blushing faintly.
"Seriously, tell us too!"
Giryang looked at them calmly. "It doesn't look weird?"
The girl waved her hand quickly. "Not at all!"
She then leaned closer. "What are you doing after today?"
Giryang replied with a small smile. "No plans yet."
Behind him, someone watched as he was surrounded by girls.
Park Gitae grimaced. "Ugh… Choi Giryang, that jerk. At this rate he's gonna end up going to the bathhouse with girls too."
Jihoon scoffed. "Is hanging out with girls really that fun? I seriously don't get it."
Seeing him treated so differently by girls now sent their jealousy into overdrive.
Days passed, and it continued.
Eventually, his friends couldn't take it anymore.
Outside the school, they confronted him.
Park Gitae frowned. "Choi Giryang, aren't you seriously annoying these days?"
He continued while looking at him, "Are you filming some kind of soulmate drama at school or what? What the hell are you doing? It's seriously embarrassing."
Seung-hyun added, "You don't even hang out with us anymore. Honestly, it sucks."
Giryang stood there calmly.
"…Really? Sorry. They asked me to drink after school, and I said I'd bring you guys. I'll just cancel and hang out with you instead."
Park Gitae, Seung-hyun, and Jihoon's eyes lit up for a moment as they looked at each other.
Park Gitae quickly cleared his throat, changing his tone.
"That's why you're the best, Giryang. Let's go."
Giryang hung out with his friends in a rundown building.
Alcohol and junk food were scattered in the middle as they sat in a circle.
A girl clung to Giryang's arm, hugging it tightly, while each of his friends had girls sitting beside them.
A part of me found it kind of funny…
just changing your looks a little flips everything.
On another day, Giryang was walking down the hallway when a voice called out to him.
"GIRYANG!"
He turned his head and saw who it was.
"Oh… Hyeonji."
Hyeonji walked toward him with a smile.
"You've been avoiding me, haven't you~?"
"…Wasn't really avoiding you," Giryang replied.
Hyeonji laughed lightly. "Then at least say hi~ Let's hang out again like old times!"
Giryang looked at the girl in front of him.
Before, this girl had always felt way out of his league.
But now, as he looked at her.
Did she always look like this?
A faint smirk appeared on his lips.
"Oh, sure."
She's… really average, huh.
Hyeonji chuckled, covering her mouth lightly with her hand.
"Oh right, I broke up. Hehe… this is so awkward."
"Heh, I know. I heard," Giryang replied.
They didn't notice someone passing by and watching them.
It was Hyeonji's ex-boyfriend the same guy Giryang had seen with her on the rooftop.
"That fucking bastard…" the guy muttered under his breath.
Some time later, the guy started loudly cursing Giryang.
Suddenly, Giryang's friend Park Gitae arrived, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him into the bathroom before throwing a punch.
The guy ended up sitting helplessly on the bathroom floor, near the urinals.
Park Gitae stood over him, looking down angrily.
"Are you crazy? Have you lost it? That damn girl broke up with you first. And now you're going around cursing Giryang?"
Giryang stepped forward, raising a hand to stop him.
"Hey, stop it, Gitae."
He walked closer and looked down at the guy.
"Hey… honestly, I wasn't even into Hyeonji. I didn't touch her at all."
Park Gitae smirked. "What a damn idiot, lol."
Giryang added calmly, "Apologize for going around badmouthing me."
The guy, his face bruised, avoided eye contact and looked to the side.
"…Sorry. Guess I misunderstood."
The two of them turned to leave.
Park Gitae chuckled as they walked out.
"You really didn't touch her? Lol."
Giryang slipped both hands into his pockets.
"Told you… heh."
Even my position had changed.
Giryang stared at the screen where a comment had been left on his Cyworld.
No.x Kim Danbi:
Heeeey~ looks like we're the same age, huh? Hehe.
A friend mentioned you, so I got curious and stopped by.
I wanna be friends lol <-So~ hiiii~
Behind him, his friends leaned over his shoulder to read it too.
"…No way," Seunghyun muttered.
"She's like a Bundang celebrity," he continued. "Do you even know what your Today count is right now?"
Jihoon stared at the screen in disbelief.
"A girl like that is leaving a comment on your Cyworld…"
Giryang tilted his head slightly.
"Should I reply?"
"Of course, you idiot!!"
"Ask her to meet. Now!!!"
Later, in a hidden alley, Giryang was kissing someone.
When they separated, Giryang lightly touched his lips with his fingers.
"So now… are we dating?"
The older girl looked surprised.
"Huh!? What? You and me?"
She chuckled softly.
"Look at you… you're seriously cute. More of a baby than I thought, huh?"
She brushed her hair back casually.
"Honestly, someone like you is too good-looking to waste. You're just as good-looking as the hot oppas I know."
Then she shrugged.
"Still, I don't want to raise a boyfriend. It's too suffocating."
She started walking away.
"Do you have to date to kiss someone?"
After a few steps, she turned her head back toward him.
"Isn't it dating itself that brings all the annoying drama?"
Giryang watched her leave.
"…That's true."
A shift in values.
Giryang continued living like that changing girls again and again.
And he liked that shift, so he went along with it.
He didn't care what others said.
They wouldn't understand anyway.
Later, Giryang sat with Kwangwoon and the friends he had brought along when they confronted Park Dong before.
Kwangwoon inhaled his cigarette.
"You closed your Cyworld? You used to be really active on it."
Giryang flicked his cigarette lightly.
"Yeah… just got lazy. Random girls kept leaving comments on my page."
One of Kwangwoon's friends sighed.
"I'm jealous, Giryang…"
Kwangwoon scoffed.
"Those are probably girls you got karma from. Just get a girlfriend and chill out."
"A girlfriend?" Giryang shrugged. "Too much hassle. If you don't date, you avoid all the drama."
He then glanced at Kwangwoon.
"By the way, why have you never shown us your girlfriend?"
Kwangwoon smirked disdainfully.
"If you were me, would you show her?"
His two friends looked at them with envy.
Lucky bastards…
Another one of Kwangwoon's friends spoke up.
"Didn't Giryang used to date your girlfriend's friend? Seol Hyorim… You don't talk to her anymore?"
Giryang rested his hand on his chin.
"It'd be awkward to reach out. Things ended the way they did."
He glanced at Kwangwoon.
"How's Hyorim doing?"
Kwangwoon replied flatly.
"…She's doing fine. So don't give me that conflicted look."
Giryang chuckled lightly.
"Dude… I was just curious. I won't do anything."
He shrugged.
"It's not like we even live near each other anymore."
Kwangwoon exhaled smoke.
"I don't care. Just don't cause even one percent of trouble for my girlfriend."
Giryang laughed.
"Alright, alright."
He then pointed at Kwangwoon's two friends.
"Oh, and that doesn't mean you guys can hit on her either, okay?"
Kwangwoon looked at him.
"…You claiming her or what?"
There was some regret about not being able to have her but that was it.
People came to him even when he did nothing.
People who cried or laughed over just a few words.
Life had become so predictable.
He didn't think Hyorim would be any different.
Probably just as predictable.