Sea sat at the back of the class, head low, but his heart was pounding. Every whisper, every cruel laugh, every message scribbled in his locker was burning into him.
"How long will you stay weak?"
"Are you going to let them win again?"
"Boss will always fight for you, but will you ever fight for yourself?"
The final blow came during lunch.
A girl spilled juice all over his sketchbook and laughed, "Oops. Didn't see you there, trash."
Another one added with a smirk, "Maybe go cry to your boyfriend. Oh wait—he probably likes you quiet and broken."
That's when something snapped.
Sea stood up.
His chair scraped back loudly. The cafeteria hushed for a moment. All eyes turned to him—including Boss, standing across the room, leaning against the wall like a shadow.
Sea picked up his ruined sketchbook, holding it tight.
"Is this how you feel powerful?" Sea said quietly—but his voice cut through the silence. "By picking on someone who's never fought back? Someone who's been alone?"
The girls looked stunned.
"You act like you know me," Sea continued, eyes fierce now. "But you don't know what I've survived. You don't know the things I've seen… or the people I've lost. And if you think I'm weak just because I'm quiet?" He stepped forward, "Then maybe I need to show you loud."
He walked right up to the one who spilled the juice.
"You want to break me?" Sea said coldly. "You'll have to try harder."
Then he ripped her necklace right off and dropped it into her juice.
The whole cafeteria gasped.
Sea turned to walk out.
But before he reached the door… he stopped and looked at Boss.
Boss's expression was unreadable—his cold mask slipping for a second. Eyes wide. Like he didn't know whether to be proud, turned on, or terrified of the fire he just witnessed.
Sea stared back at him with something new in his eyes.
Not fear.
Power.
And then he walked away.
---
To be continued