LOVE:ZERO

Jiyu, who attends the prestigious private girls’ school Aster School in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, lives in the same apartment as Hunter, who attends the boys’ school Alton across the street. However, between Hunter, who lives in the penthouse of a luxury Fifth Avenue apartment overlooking Central Park, and Jiyu, who lives in a rented unit on the first floor, there exists a gap as vast as the top and bottom of a pyramid. Jiyu likes sitting quietly reading books, while Hunter cannot stay still for a moment—their personalities are complete opposites. Hunter, who showed promise in tennis, begins competing seriously in tournaments, and he wins every match that Jiyu attends. This leads Hunter to believe Jiyu is his winning jinx. Annoyed by Hunter constantly begging her to come to his matches, Jiyu tells a small lie. [I read in a book by a famous psychologist that to feel someone’s presence, they don’t necessarily have to be physically there.] [What kind of nonsense is that?] [Hold out your hand. Bear with the tickling.] In truth, it was a method she saw in a children’s picture book for kids with separation anxiety. She wrote her name on Hunter’s palm and lightly brushed her lips against it for about 0.1 seconds, pretending to kiss it—and the next day, Hunter returned holding the tournament championship trophy. Even for these two, the stormy period of adolescence arrived. [Hey, just asking in case…] [What? Spit it out.] [Do you… like me?] [Me? Like you? Are you crazy?] Then tragedy strikes Jiyu. With nowhere to go, she is taken in by the Hamilton family, but Jiyu ends up demoted from Hunter’s friend to a servant. Jiyu exploits Hunter to survive, while Hunter exploits Jiyu because of his jinx. In tennis, “love” means zero. A love game is one where one player’s score is zero. Entwined in a love-hate relationship, the two face each other across the net in a love game of exchanged points. Who will be the winner of that game?