* * *

“Whoa, so your hair really turned white. Shedding?”

“Ah, yeah, yeah!”

With Hayan’s white hair standing next to him, the two looked like a pair of snowballs lined up neatly.

Hayan stared intently at Jeongseo, who had the same hair color as him, and, seemingly satisfied, sat in the empty seat in front of Jeongseo.

Almost immediately, a crowd of students swarmed around Jeongseo.

Ha Sumin, sitting nearby, muttered under his breath, his face reddening.

“…Seriously, what’s his problem?”

Pyo Yoontae felt irritation rising to the top of his head.

He wanted to tell everyone to get lost, but seeing Jeongseo smiling like that made him hesitate.

Remembering how Jeongseo had always walked around alone, Pyo Yoontae couldn’t bring himself to ruin what seemed like the school life Jeongseo had probably always wanted.

Especially since, apart from Ha Sumin… there wasn’t anyone else who posed much of a concern.

Pyo Yoontae studied the faces of the students gathered around Jeongseo.

Hayan, while close to Jeongseo, was a bookworm whose main priority was studying, so he wasn’t likely to have any ulterior motives.

Heo Yeonwoo seemed fond of Jeongseo but didn’t show any romantic interest.

As for Ha Sumin, his only real rival… even he had been keeping a strange distance lately.

Deciding not to interfere, Pyo Yoontae suppressed the unruly feelings he wanted to shout away, resting his chin on his hand as he stared at the back of Jeongseo’s head.

“Hey, hey.”

Hyun Junhyun, sitting next to him, tapped Pyo Yoontae’s arm, but he didn’t respond.

“Hey, Pyo Yoontae.”

“…”

“Pyo Yoontae, are you deaf?”

“…”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.”

Hyun Junhyun kept tapping him, and when Pyo Yoontae finally glared at him, Junhyun looked even more aggrieved.

“You keep shaking your leg so much I can’t even write. Are you having withdrawal symptoms or something?”

Only then did Pyo Yoontae notice his left leg trembling uncontrollably.

He grabbed his thigh tightly and turned away.

Still, how could Jeongseo completely ignore him like this?

Pyo Yoontae’s frustration grew.

Just then, Jeongseo, who had been chatting with the others, suddenly turned around, sensing something off.

Catching Pyo Yoontae’s scrunched-up expression and glaring gaze, Jeongseo couldn’t help but chuckle internally.

Once, they had been friends.

Once, Pyo Yoontae had mistaken Jeongseo for his first love.

And now, all of this…

Because he liked Jeongseo.

Jeongseo felt a smile tug at his lips as he glanced at the clock.

There were still about five minutes left of break time.

Scanning the group of students around him, Jeongseo abruptly stood up, drawing everyone’s attention.

“I’ve got something to say to Yoontae!”

Hearing his name, Pyo Yoontae tilted his head in confusion.

Without giving him a chance to react, Jeongseo grabbed his wrist and tugged him along.

“Come on, break time’s almost over!”

“What do you want to talk about, Jeongseo?”

Pyo Yoontae was secretly pleased that Jeongseo had singled him out but tried not to show it.

Pretending to be gruff, he let himself be led away.

Jeongseo brought him to the small student lounge at the end of the west corridor.

As Pyo Yoontae gave him a puzzled look, Jeongseo grinned and pointed to his ears.

“Watch closely, Yoontae.”

Jeongseo’s face was slightly flushed for some reason, but Pyo Yoontae didn’t question it. Instead, he obediently looked at his ears as instructed.

The white ears twitched a few times before slowly disappearing, followed by the tip of his tail.

Both ears and tail vanished completely.

Startled, Pyo Yoontae instinctively glanced at Jeongseo’s back but saw no tail.

Confirming everything was gone, Pyo Yoontae looked at Jeongseo, who crossed his arms with a triumphant smile.

“I can hide them all now!”

“When did you figure this out?”

Pyo Yoontae had assumed Jeongseo had given up on hiding them, but it seemed he’d been practicing in secret.

Finding this adorable, Pyo Yoontae lightly ruffled Jeongseo’s hair.

Jeongseo giggled softly at the ticklish touch.

“Last night. It just happened all of a sudden.”

“Last night? That’s pretty recent. But why show me and not everyone else?”

If he’d shown the class, everyone would’ve showered him with compliments.

Smiling shyly, Jeongseo rubbed his head against Pyo Yoontae’s hand.

“Because I wanted you to be the first to see.”

The playful ruffling left his white hair in disarray, and the chill of the lounge painted his cheeks a soft pink.

Unsure how to express the warmth swelling in his chest, Pyo Yoontae simply pulled Jeongseo into a tight embrace.

Surprised at first, Jeongseo quickly relaxed, thinking that Pyo Yoontae’s usual cold scent felt oddly comforting today.

Wrapping his arms around Pyo Yoontae’s back, Jeongseo smiled.

---

In the classroom, after Pyo Yoontae and Jeongseo had left, the remaining students huddled together, whispering.

“See? I knew it.”

Kim Minseong, who had come looking for Yeonwoo, tapped the window frame and smirked.

“This is 100 percent legit. White, small—this is totally Jeongseo.”

“No wonder. Pyo Yoontae’s always been glued to him. So did Pyo Yoontae know all along?”

Hyun Junhyun nodded in agreement, adding, “Probably, right? The rumors about them dating have been going around forever.”

“But Jeongseo is just too cute. How is it even possible to look like that?”

Yeonwoo, still stunned by his first close-up look at Jeongseo earlier, muttered, “I mean, sure, there are other white-haired hybrids, but because Jeongseo was originally dark brown, he looks so different. Like a fluffy cotton ball with little black beans for eyes.”

“Heo Yeonwoo, you fall for people so fast. First, it was Pyo Yoontae, and now it’s Jeongseo?”

“T-that’s not true…!”

While the two were bickering by the corridor window, Hayan, who had already figured out their situation long ago, crossed his arms and silently observed Ha Sumin, who had been unusually quiet for some time.

He looked so downcast—he must have already been rejected.

And now, realizing that Seo Jeongseo was Pyo Yoontae’s first love, he had likely come to terms with the fact that he didn’t stand a chance.

That pitiful sight made it impossible for Hayan to look away.

As he quietly felt sympathy for Ha Sumin, Kim Minseong continued teasing Yeonwoo, asking what had happened to the interest he supposedly had in Pyo Yoontae.

Eventually, Yeonwoo’s face turned red as he pouted, smacked Kim Minseong on the arm, and stormed off.

Just then, the bell signaling the start of class rang, and Hayan turned to head back to his own classroom.

Before he left, he placed a hand on Ha Sumin’s shoulder.

“Hey, better people will come along.”

Startled by the unexpected remark, Ha Sumin looked up at Hayan in confusion.

They hadn’t spoken much before, so it took him a moment to process the words.

When he did, his face flushed red.

“…Uh, thanks.”

Too embarrassed to ask if his feelings had been that obvious, Ha Sumin simply nodded, covering his face with his hand.

After Hayan left, it wasn’t long before Seo Jeongseo and Pyo Yoontae returned to their classroom as well.

A quick glance at the two, smiling at each other, made Ha Sumin’s chest ache.

Black hair and white hair—they matched so well it almost hurt to look at them.

Turning his gaze to the chalkboard instead, Ha Sumin let out a deep sigh.

“Better people will come along.”

“I hope so…”

His low muttering sank bitterly into the classroom floor.

---

The second semester’s final exams had begun.

With it being the last test of their second year, the number of anxious students had noticeably increased.

Hyun Junhyun, who had arrived unusually early, stood up abruptly upon spotting Pyo Yoontae and approached him.

His expression was unstable, causing Pyo Yoontae to eye him suspiciously.

Even Seo Jeongseo, sitting nearby, looked up at him curiously.

“Hey, Pyo Yoontae.”

As soon as he reached Pyo Yoontae, Hyun Junhyun grabbed his hand, his eyes filled with desperation.

“What are you doing?”

Pyo Yoontae tried to shake his hand off roughly, but Hyun Junhyun only tightened his grip.

When Pyo Yoontae frowned deeply, Hyun Junhyun stammered in a trembling voice.

“Could you pluck out just one whisker for me…?”

* * *