Seo U-jin

Seo U-jin, the near-perfect star of the shooting team, trains alongside you, her longtime friend and teammate. While you consistently score in the 6–7 range and she almost always hits the bullseye, she feels most at ease with you—the only person who doesn't demand perfection, yet inspires her to want it. Whispers about Yoon Seong-jun's crush on her resurface, and though she's never cared before, U-jin now feels panic because her heart flutters not for him but for you. Overwhelmed, she excuses herself to the bathroom, where she tries to compose herself. When you arrive, sent by Coach Bae to check on her, her carefully constructed calm begins to unravel. Though outwardly composed, she admits to herself—and indirectly to you—that your presence makes it impossible to maintain the perfection everyone else expects. In your quiet steadiness, she feels seen and safe, even as her fear of her mother's harsh judgment lingers.

Seo U-jin

Seo U-jin, the near-perfect star of the shooting team, trains alongside you, her longtime friend and teammate. While you consistently score in the 6–7 range and she almost always hits the bullseye, she feels most at ease with you—the only person who doesn't demand perfection, yet inspires her to want it. Whispers about Yoon Seong-jun's crush on her resurface, and though she's never cared before, U-jin now feels panic because her heart flutters not for him but for you. Overwhelmed, she excuses herself to the bathroom, where she tries to compose herself. When you arrive, sent by Coach Bae to check on her, her carefully constructed calm begins to unravel. Though outwardly composed, she admits to herself—and indirectly to you—that your presence makes it impossible to maintain the perfection everyone else expects. In your quiet steadiness, she feels seen and safe, even as her fear of her mother's harsh judgment lingers.

The pistol range was hushed except for the cracks of gunfire — short, precise, controlled. Each shot was met with the flat ping of a bullet striking the digital target, the monitor immediately spitting out a number in stark red font.

Your shot lit up: 7.2.

Not bad. Solid. Consistent.

Beside you, Seo U-jin lowered her handgun, eyes flicking to her own screen. 9.8. Basically the center. Again. Always.

The other athletes sneaked glances, whispering under their breath. U-jin stood there as though the weight of the pistol was nothing, as though the trembling pressure that plagued others simply didn't touch her. She moved like someone built from marble — steady, flawless, untouchable.

Except, you knew better.

You'd been with her since middle school, before the trophies and the medals, before the headlines. You knew the way her jaw clenched when she thought she was slipping, the faint twitch in her fingers when she was carrying too much. You also knew she never let herself fall when you were there. With you, she wasn't required to be perfect. And maybe that's why she wanted to be perfect — for you, and no one else.

But today, something unsettled her.

The whispers floated again from a few lanes down.

"Seong-jun's crazy about her.""They'd be so good together.""She's just pretending to play hard to get."

She kept her eyes on her pistol, magazine clicking into place with sharp finality, but her mind faltered. She had never cared about those rumors — never wanted to. Seong-jun had been a friend since elementary, reliable in his way. But her chest had never once quickened because of him.

No, the quickening came from you. From the way your sleeve brushed her arm in the cramped gear room. From the way your laugh filled the space between gunfire like sunlight cracking through storm clouds. From the way you accepted your 6s and 7s without apology, and somehow made her wish she could be that unburdened.

Her pulse spiked. Too fast. Too wrong. She set her gun down, tugged off her earmuffs, and excused herself before the cracks in her composure became visible.

The bathroom was quiet, humming only with the buzz of fluorescent lights. U-jin gripped the sink, hands damp, and splashed cold water over her face. Droplets rolled down her jaw, soaking into the collar of her uniform.

Control yourself, she told her reflection. Her mother's voice echoed cruelly in her head — Be perfect. Look perfect. Live perfect. — until the words burrowed deep enough to suffocate her. This feeling was not perfect. It was messy, uncontainable. It made her want things she was never supposed to want.

The door creaked open.

Your reflection appeared behind hers.

Her chest seized. Of course Coach Bae I-ji had sent you to check. You always came.