Lunch hour at Jae Won High was chaos.
Students flooded the halls, and the cafeteria buzzed with shouting, laughter, and the occasional fistfight.
In the middle of it all, tucked safely away in the nurse's office, June twirled spaghetti on a fork and sighed in peace.
The aroma of tomato and herbs filled the air. The sauce had just the right acidity; the noodles were cooked al dente. It wasn't cafeteria food—it was homemade, the one Italian comfort dish he still remembered from his childhood.
Half Korean, half Italian—Giovanni Conti by birth, Kang Eunwoo by necessity.
Most people at Jae Won High didn't know that. To them, he was simply the school's reclusive, intimidatingly beautiful nurse.
June didn't think his family was anything special. Middle class, maybe a little weird, definitely old-fashioned. He had no idea that the Conti Familia—the family whose crest was discreetly carved on his mother's silver ring—was one of Italy's most powerful mafia families.
His godfather was the current Don. His father, the Don's successor.
But June had never known. When his mother was alive, she'd hidden the truth to protect him. After she passed, his father remarried a kind woman who adored June, and his older stepbrother treated him like a fragile treasure. They all worked quietly to keep him blissfully unaware of their underground empire.
Still, blood runs deep.
June's sharp stare, quiet authority, and disarming calm—traits that terrified even the roughest students—were habits he'd unknowingly inherited from a family of men who could silence a room with a glance.
[POV: June]
To him, his father was a distant but kind man who traveled for "business." His stepmother, Isabella Morelli, was warm and doting, and his older stepbrother, Matteo, was… intimidating.
Ten years older, always dressed sharp, always surrounded by quiet men who treated him with reverence—Matteo rarely smiled and spoke in that deep, controlled tone that made everyone freeze.
June, only nine when his mother passed and Matteo and Isabella entered his life, had assumed the man simply didn't like him. (His stepmother, on the other hand, was so affectionate it felt awkward being showered with that much love and support.)
He never knew that Matteo—cold and composed—was secretly terrified of scaring his baby brother. That he adored June more than anything. That he had changed diapers, cooked breakfast, and stood outside classroom doors just to make sure June got home safely.
But to June, Matteo's quiet protectiveness had always felt like… stalking.
And his intimidating nature only deepened the misunderstanding. June assumed Matteo was just acting like that to impress their father.
As for the "family business"? He thought they just traveled a lot for work.
In fact, he thought he was the burden—the dependent youngest who needed to grow up and be more independent.
[POV: Narrator/General]
When the family heard that their adorable youngest planned to move out and live on his own, chaos ensued. Their mansion (which June always thought was "weirdly big for a middle-class house") nearly imploded. Half the employees threatened to quit, unable to imagine life without Giovanni's presence.
The maids whispered of the "dark times" before they'd discovered the sacred stash of videos showing little June talking to plants in the family garden or that precious photo of him biting his pencil while doing homework. Those small treasures kept the Familia from descending into total madness whenever their youngest was away.
[POV: Vasco & Jace]
The door to the nurse's office creaked open.
"Afternoon, Nurse June!"
A too-loud voice rang out.
June looked up mid-bite. Standing in the doorway was Vasco—towering, tanned, and beaming with the kind of enthusiasm only an idiot or a saint could possess. Behind him, as always, stood Jace—calm, composed, and clearly exhausted.
Vasco stepped forward, holding out a chilled carton of coffee milk like it was a sacred offering.
"I brought your favorite! I remembered from last time!"
June blinked. "...Thanks, Vasco."
"You're welcome!" Vasco puffed out his chest proudly, eyes shining as he watched June take the drink. "I hope this makes up for the fight that broke your garden last week."
June froze. "...That was you?"
Vasco's face paled. "I—uh—maybe? No! Wait—yes! But also no! It wasn't my fault!"
Jace sighed, stepping in smoothly. "He means he tried to stop the fight, but the others trampled everything before he could."
"Yeah!" Vasco nodded frantically. "I was protecting nature!"
June stared at him, expression flat. "…You punched a tree."
Vasco's lip trembled. "It was blocking my view…"
Jace groaned. "He really did."
June rubbed his temple. "Just… don't touch the garden again. Please."
"Yes, Nurse June!" Vasco straightened like a soldier before glancing at the pasta on June's desk. "Whoa, what's that?!"
"Spaghetti."
"...From Italy?" Vasco gasped dramatically, eyes watering. "You're Italian?!"
June raised an eyebrow. "Half."
Vasco slapped both hands over his heart. "That explains your mystical aura! I knew it—your beauty has international origins!" Tears streamed down his face. "Truly, a man of culture and pain!"
Jace pinched the bridge of his nose. "He means your eyes, sir. They're green. Not many Koreans have that."
June blinked, confused. "Ah. Genetics, I guess."
Jace nodded politely. "It suits you. You have very European features. You could pass for someone out of a magazine."
June's ears turned faintly pink. "Don't say weird things."
Vasco sniffled beside him, dabbing his eyes with a tissue. "You're so humble...!"
As June ate, Vasco sat nearby—still sniffling but smiling, utterly content just to exist in the same space.
Jace scrolled through his phone, keeping an eye on any incoming news about his captain to make sure he didn't, once again, challenge the cafeteria gang to a group arm-wrestling match.
To Vasco, this was peace—lunch with the man who once patched his wounds in middle school, fed him when others stole his lunch money, and told him he'd "heal fine."
To June, this was just another quiet lunch with a polite student who, although he was slightly weird, was not as intimidating as the men he knew.
Outside the office, the halls of Jae Won High buzzed with gossip.
The legend of the Tsundere Nurse grew louder—an angel with a terrifying glare who shared meals with gang leaders and healed them with mysterious remedies (disinfection spray and a bandaid).
And June, completely unaware of the chaos orbiting his quiet life, twirled another forkful of pasta and took a sip of his coffee milk.