Hana POV
Hana left the main building with her shoulders tense and her thoughts running ahead of her. The day had been wrong in ways she couldn't name. Too many glances. Too many pauses in conversation when she walked by. Too many moments where it felt like something was happening just out of sight.
And Jiho—He hadn't shown up once after lunch.
She tried not to look for him, but her eyes kept searching the courtyard anyway. He was nowhere. And somehow, that unsettled her more than seeing him upset.
She stepped toward the gate, adjusting her bag strap, when a stillness behind the left building caught her attention. Not movement—stillness. A person standing just out of view.
Her breath tightened.
Then the shadow stepped forward.
Jiwon.
He didn't look surprised to see her. If anything, he looked like he'd been waiting.
"Hana-ssi," he greeted, voice even.
"Good afternoon," she managed, though her pulse had quickened.
"You stayed later than usual."He didn't say it accusingly. Just as fact.
Hana nodded, not trusting herself to explain her day—administration questions, whispered rumors, the sense that something was tightening around her without warning.
Jiwon studied her, gaze steady. "I heard you went to speak with the administration."
She flinched before she could stop herself.
"They're… confused," she said. "About a report with my name on it."
"Confused," Jiwon repeated quietly. "That's one word for it."
He looked to the side, as if weighing what he was allowed to share. When he looked back at her, the faint crease between his brows had deepened.
"Hana-ssi," he said, "someone is involving you in things you don't understand yet."
Her throat felt dry. "I haven't done anything."
"I know," he said simply. "That's precisely why it concerns me."
The air felt heavier.
"Jiwon-ssi… is Jiho okay?" she asked. It slipped out before she could stop it.
Jiwon didn't answer right away. And that silence, more than anything, told her the truth.
"He won't tell you," Jiwon said. "But yes—he's in trouble."
Hana's stomach tightened.
He continued, gentler now. "Jiho tries to handle everything alone. It's a habit that protects him… and isolates him."
The words felt too close to what she already knew.
"This isn't his fault," Hana said softly.
"I never suggested it was."
A breeze shifted between them, lifting dust off the pavement. Students gave them a wide berth without even realizing it—because no one walked too close to a Kang.
Jiwon's voice lowered. "Listen carefully. If anyone you don't know contacts you—ClassNet, messages, anything out of place—you do not answer."
Her pulse skipped. "Why?"
"Because people are testing boundaries," he said. "And you are the easiest one to push."
Fear pressed against her ribs, but underneath it was something steadier—anger.
"Is that a threat?" she whispered.
"No," Jiwon said. "It's a warning. The only one I may be able to give."
Before she could ask what he meant, someone called her name.
"Hana!"
Seohui jogged toward them, slowing when she saw Jiwon standing beside her. Her expression shifted instantly—respect, unease, curiosity—all in one glance.
Jiwon stepped back, hands in his pockets. His tone softened, just barely.
"You should go. This isn't the place to linger."
Hana nodded, and followed Seohui away.
But she felt his gaze at her back long after she turned the corner—silent, knowing, as if he already saw the next move before any of them took it.
On the Bus
Hana took her usual seat by the window, watching buildings slide past in streaks of late afternoon light. Her chest felt tight, like she had swallowed questions she couldn't bring herself to ask.
She checked her phone.
Still nothing from Jiho.
Her fingers hovered before she opened ClassNet.
A new post sat at the top:
"Someone saw him enter the Elite building.""Why would a regular track delinquent go up there?""Something's happening."
Her breath hitched.
Jiho had been there today?Doing what?Meeting who?
Her mind pulled back to the shadow that had crossed his face the day he told her to stay away. The tremor in his voice. The way he watched her as if something were closing in around both of them.
She closed the app with shaking fingers.
She couldn't reach him right now.She didn't know what he was facing.But she knew what the silence meant.
This wasn't stopping.
Someone was pushing.Someone was watching.Someone wanted a reaction.
Hana tightened her grip on her phone.
If Jiho thought she would wait quietly for an explanation, he didn't know her as well as he believed.
Whatever happened next—
She wasn't going to let him face it alone.