"You're not allowed to say that word anymore."
That's what they told Han Ji-Woo, over and over again, for twelve long months.
He stood at the school gates again. Same iron bars, same gray walls, same uniforms. But everything had changed — especially him.
He stepped inside.
The hallway fell silent.
Some students turned away. Others stared, almost afraid. Whispers followed him like shadows:
> "That's the one who got sent away."
"Did they fix him?"
Ji-Woo didn't respond. He walked with steady steps, head held just high enough to look indifferent — just low enough not to challenge anyone.
He entered the classroom.
Min-Ho was already there.
Same uniform. Same face. Same dark eyes.
But the boy who used to smile at him was gone.
Min-Ho didn't flinch when Ji-Woo walked in. He didn't blink. He just looked through him like a stranger.
But Ji-Woo saw it.
The tremble in his hand.
The way his pen stopped moving for a split second.
The way he held his breath.
> He remembers, Ji-Woo thought.
The teacher entered. No one spoke. The lesson began.
Outside, rain tapped gently on the windows — like the past knocking.
And Ji-Woo remembered the last time it rained like this.
That day, one year ago. The staircase.
Min-Ho had grabbed his wrist and asked:
> "What are you trying to say?"
And Ji-Woo had whispered:
> "I think I feel… that word. You know? The forbidden one."
No one said it anymore.
They couldn't. It was banned.
Too many stories had ended in pain — unrequited confessions, forbidden feelings, emotional outbursts, scars that never healed.
So the schools banned it. Completely. The "L-word."
> Love.
Now, feelings were regulated. Emotions were monitored.
Anyone who broke the rules was "restructured."
Like Ji-Woo.
---
The bell rang. Students filed out.
Ji-Woo remained seated.
So did Min-Ho.
Neither of them moved.
The air between them wasn't silence.
It was memory.
And fear.
Ji-Woo stood slowly. He walked past Min-Ho's desk.
And just for a second — barely more than a heartbeat — their eyes met.
Min-Ho didn't say anything.
But Ji-Woo heard it anyway.
> "Don't say it again."