Chapter 101: Rival

Jitae hurried to the teachers’ office and suddenly asked which middle school was famous for its volleyball team.

The teacher, surprised that a quiet boy who never even raised his hand in class was asking something himself, still looked pleased and helped him look into several options.

“I’m going to apply to Samjeong Middle School.”

Jitae showed the paper listing his preferred schools to his mother.

She glanced at it briefly and waved her hand.

“Sure. I’m sure you thought it through.”

When he said he needed her signature, she grabbed the paper and scribbled her name without hesitation.

“Oh, Jitae, have you been contacting your father lately?”

“Pardon? No.”

“I told you to, didn’t I? Call him, tell him you miss him, ask when he’s coming home. That way he’ll come back! Wouldn’t it be nice if the whole family gathered together?”

Not really.

They’d just fight again anyway.

His father, who didn’t even care which middle school he was going to, didn’t matter much to him.

Right now—

Jitae was filled with anticipation.

The possibility of seeing that boy again.

Since he loved volleyball that much, he would definitely join a volleyball team.

That assumption—

Turned out to be correct.

“Today’s opponent, Gimjeon Middle, is just as strong as us in volleyball. This will be a great learning experience!”

The coach’s words didn’t reach him.

His gaze was fixed on one boy warming up on the opposite side.

His hair was slightly longer than in elementary school.

His skin was still unusually fair.

And his sharp eyes—

Were exactly the same.

Something stirred inside Jitae again.

“Jitae!”

“Yes, Coach.”

“I have high expectations for you. You know that, right?”

The coach laughed heartily and patted his back.

Jitae had chosen a volleyball-focused school just for the chance—

To meet Kang Woojoo again in any form.

Fortunately, his height stood out among his peers, so the coach had taken interest in him and accepted him into the team.

His reason for starting volleyball might seem trivial—

Even ridiculous to others—

But he found it enjoyable.

Enough to understand why that boy had smiled so brightly in the gym.

Jitae improved rapidly.

Within a few months, people began saying, “He’s got talent.”

Despite being a first-year student who had only just started—

He earned a spot as a starting player.

“This is your first practice match. It’ll be completely different from training among yourselves.”

“Yes.”

“Haha, are you nervous? Let’s see… Right! To shake it off, you’ve got to show some guts! Now—who do you want to beat the most?”

Following the coach’s gaze, Jitae looked across the court.

Pick one?

To him, everyone except one person looked like walking potatoes.

Without thinking much, he pointed—

At that one person.

“Ugh….”

Woojoo must have heard it.

He frowned and made a strange sound.

That was their first exchange.

The match ended in Samjeong Middle’s defeat.

Just as the coach said—

It was on a completely different level from practice.

When he saw the scoreboard that hadn’t even reached 25—

Jitae felt something for the first time.

Frustration.

It was his first negative emotion—

But it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

Because it was also—

The first time he stood on the same court as Woojoo.

Even as opponents, seeing him up close—

Woojoo shone even brighter.

Watching the spikers on his team smile throughout the match—

Jitae felt his heart race.

I want to win.

I want to stay on the court with him.

That was when—

A competitive spirit first took root inside him.

Maybe because of that, in the final set, the ball began to feel natural in his hands.

Each time it landed exactly where he intended—

A surge of exhilaration washed over him.

And the look in Woojoo’s eyes—

A mix of awe and caution—

Stirred something even deeper.

“Hey, you’re a first-year, right?”

As Jitae sat in a corner staring at his hands, a voice suddenly spoke.

He looked up—

And there stood Kang Woojoo.

“Yeah.”

Jitae turned his head slightly, feeling oddly shy.

He had only ever watched him from afar.

Never like this.

“You’re good.”

Jitae’s hand froze on his bag zipper.

“…We lost.”

Woojoo tilted his head.

“So what? Losing is losing, and playing well is playing well. You scored the second most points here.”

You’re good.

Those words hit him deeply.

Not “you’re pretty” or “your family is rich”—

But a sincere acknowledgment of what he had done.

His heart trembled.

“Even if you lost.”

Woojoo chuckled.

For a moment—

Time seemed to stop.

“I’ll win next time.”

Woojoo frowned again.

“I won’t lose either.”

“Yeah, I’ll win too.”

“Wait….”

Such a trivial, childish exchange—

Yet it felt like walking on clouds.

“Hey, why did you pick me earlier when your coach asked who you wanted to beat?”

Because no one else caught my attention.

But he couldn’t say that.

“Because I want to beat you.”

Woojoo’s eyebrow twitched upward.

His emotions were written so clearly on his face—

It was almost amusing.

Up close, Jitae noticed things he never could from afar.

That Woojoo was even more handsome.

That his voice was pleasant.

That there was a small mole on his left ear.

“Wow, are you declaring war on me?”

Jitae nodded.

“Name?”

“Won Jitae.”

“Won Jitae….”

Woojoo repeated it slowly.

Hearing his name from his lips—

Felt strange.

And nice.

“Hey, Won Jitae. No matter how much you try, I’m not going down.”

“I won’t either.”

Volleyball was fun—

And now he knew it for sure.

The sensation of striking the ball.

The thrill of scoring past a block.

It excited him.

For the first time—

He wanted to be deeply immersed in something.

A boy who had never cared for games, romance, or anything else—

Had found his second source of joy.

“Wow, you really don’t want to lose.”

“Seems like you don’t either.”

At that moment, one of Woojoo’s seniors glanced at them and smirked.

“Are you two already playing rivals?”

Different positions, yet acting like that.

He told Woojoo to hurry up and left.

Rivals?

Woojoo muttered the word.

Then suddenly clapped his hands and pointed at Jitae.

“From now on, we’re rivals.”

He clenched his fist and walked away confidently.

Then suddenly stopped—

And came back.

“My name is Kang Woojoo. I forgot to tell you. See you again.”

Jitae watched his retreating figure.

“…I already knew your name.”

That day—

Jitae found his first joy.

And formed his very first connection.

In elementary school, he had been unnoticed.

But in middle school, things began to change.

He grew taller quickly.

Combined with his looks—

He became quite popular.

Girls confessed to him at least twice a week—

But he rejected all of them.

He felt nothing.

Even among male classmates, he was popular.

Good looks and a strong build naturally attracted people.

But Jitae never formed deep bonds with anyone.

Because he knew—

“Why doesn’t that guy even react when we invite him out?”

“His family’s rich, right? How do we get closer next time?”

What they wanted wasn’t friendship.

As he grew older, he realized it.

His father was a well-known self-made businessman.

And those kinds of relationships—

He didn’t need them.

Because he already had—

A rival who made everything fun.

Kang Woojoo.

They met again in several practice matches.

Each time competing, arguing over plays—

Going back and forth endlessly.

Eventually, even their teams began to notice—

That something unusual existed between them.

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