Jiho POV
He hadn't planned on watching.
He'd told himself he'd walk away the second Hana reached the front gate, that he'd stop hovering like some shadow she didn't ask for. He was supposed to disappear, the way he always did when things got too close, too dangerous.
But then the black car pulled up.Then the door opened.And out stepped the one person Jiho least wanted near her.
His brother.
Kang Jiwon, the perfect heir. The one who lived the life Jiho was supposed to inherit but never could touch. The one who carried the Kang name like armor instead of chains.
Jiho stayed hidden behind the column, jaw tight, fingers curling around the rough concrete as he watched Jiwon walk toward Hana.
He didn't need to hear their words.He could read enough from the way Hana's shoulders lifted, the way she forced herself to look steady even though her eyes flickered with nerves.
And Jiwon—Jiwon wasn't acting. He never did.
He studied her.Measured her.Saw her.
And Jiho hated how easily his brother pulled focus simply by standing there. Hated that Hana's gaze had followed him. Hated the calm quiet in Jiwon's face, the one that always made Jiho feel like either a child or a threat.
When Jiwon finally left, a line of elites trailing behind him like obedient shadows, Hana stood in place for a few seconds, breathing out like she'd just escaped something she didn't have the words for.
Then she walked away.
Jiho stepped out from the column only after she disappeared beyond the gate.
He told himself he wasn't angry. Anger was easy. Predictable. His default.
This wasn't anger.
This was something lower, colder, heavier. Something that made it hard to breathe.
His brother had noticed her.
That alone rewrote the rules.
After Dismissal
He didn't go straight home. He couldn't.
The Regular Track courtyard emptied slowly, students taking their time gossiping, checking ClassNet, pointing at him whenever they thought he wasn't looking.
He ignored them.
He walked toward the back of the building, the part most students avoided because the old storage rooms smelled like varnish and dust. The silence there pressed against him the way a hand might press against a bruise—enough to make him aware of every place he was already hurting.
His phone buzzed again.
ClassNet.
He didn't check it.
He wasn't sure what would happen if he did.
He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and tried to swallow the feeling in his stomach. That useless twist of guilt and something worse—jealousy.
He'd never felt jealousy like this before.Not the petty kind. Not the "someone else saw her smile" kind.
Something deeper.
Jiwon didn't even need to try. One conversation with Hana, and the entire school would make assumptions Jiho couldn't correct without exposing himself.
Because Jiwon wasn't rumored to be important.He was important.
Wherever Jiwon went, the world adjusted for him.
Wherever Jiho went, he had to duck his head and pretend he wasn't someone worth noticing.
He kicked softly at the gravel near his shoe, listening to the crunch echo off the cement.
Why did it matter? He barely knew Hana.They weren't friends. He wasn't supposed to care if she spoke to his brother.
So why couldn't he get her expression out of his head? The way she looked startled when Jiwon said her name. The way she looked… vulnerable.
And worse—why couldn't he forget the way Jiwon had looked at her?
Not with interest.Not with curiosity.
With recognition.
As if she'd suddenly become part of a pattern he already understood.
Jiho pressed the back of his head into the cold wall, exhaling sharply.
This wasn't good.
A Footstep Behind Him
He didn't react immediately.
He knew that sound—light, careful, someone approaching without wanting to startle him. Only a few people walked like that around him.
"Jiho?"
Jiho opened his eyes.
Dohyun stood at the edge of the walkway, hands shoved into his pockets, expression softer than usual.
"You good?" Dohyun asked.
"Fine," Jiho muttered.
"You look like you're thinking too much."
"Then I'm definitely not fine."
Dohyun huffed a laugh and stepped closer. "So… your brother talked to her."
Jiho's jaw clenched. "Who told you?"
"Half the school. People were posting blurry pictures on ClassNet until they got deleted."
Jiho's stomach turned. "Deleted by who?"
"Probably admins. Or someone higher up."
Higher up.
There was only one place "higher up" pointed to.
Jiho's pulse spiked, but he kept his face flat.
Dohyun leaned beside him against the wall. "Minjae's been talking big, by the way. Says you're hiding something worth exposing."
Jiho didn't respond.
Dohyun nudged him with an elbow. "He's an idiot, but he's also dangerous when he thinks he has an audience. And right now? He does."
Jiho rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the weight of everything he couldn't say.
"Did Jiwon say anything to you?" Dohyun asked softly.
Jiho shook his head. "He doesn't need to."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Jiho stared at the ground. "If he's here, it means someone already made a call. Someone wants something fixed."
"About Hana?"
Jiho didn't answer.
Dohyun's expression tightened. "You think your brother's going to get involved?"
"He already is," Jiho said.
The words tasted bitter.
Because Jiwon stepping near Hana didn't just complicate things—it placed her under a spotlight she never asked for, and one Jiho couldn't shield her from.
Dohyun exhaled. "So what now?"
Jiho pushed off the wall.
"Now," he said, "I figure out who posted the rumor."
He didn't raise his voice.He didn't need to.
But Dohyun straightened anyway, sensing something in his tone. "Jiho—don't do anything stupid."
"No promises."
He started walking.
He didn't know exactly where he was going yet—maybe the Elite building,maybe the back stairwell,maybe right into Minjae's path—
—but he knew one thing with absolute clarity:
If the school wanted to use Hana to corner him,if his brother was stepping into the narrative,if people were circling her name—
then he wasn't going to sit still and wait for things to get worse.
He wasn't going to watch Hana walk into danger alone again.
He couldn't.
Jealousy was one thing.
Fear was another.
And the fear was growing.
He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, jaw set, footsteps echoing against the pavement as he moved.
Whatever happened next,whatever the school tried,whatever Jiwon planned—
Jiho would not let Hana be dragged into the shadows meant for him.
Not again.
Not ever.