Morning arrived without drama.
No alarms blared. No urgent notices appeared. The sky was pale and overcast, the kind of winter morning that softened edges and made even anxiety feel muted.
Campus 2 moved like it always did when people were tired of reacting.
Students queued for coffee. Someone complained about the heater. Someone laughed too loudly over nothing important. The ordinary rhythm returned, tentative but real.
XH walked across the courtyard with his hands in his pockets, breath visible in the cold air. He noticed small things now. The crunch of frost under shoes. The way steam rose from paper cups. The sound of laughter echoing between buildings.
Ordinary days didn't fix anything.
But they let you stand up again.
At the local gym earlier, the bros had promised to meet later for food. Nothing heavy. Just eating. Just existing together.
That mattered.
A Soft Reset
By lunchtime, the common area filled naturally.
Not everyone came at once. They trickled in. Familiar faces. Familiar energy.
JP dropped into a chair dramatically. "I survived leg day. Barely."
TZ laughed. "You complain like a retired athlete."
NS sat down quietly, already scrolling through something on his phone. He looked… lighter. The local gym had done its job.
XH arrived last, setting his bag down and exhaling like he'd been holding something in all morning.
"Food?" TZ asked.
"Food," XH agreed.
They ordered simple things. Fried rice. Soup. Whatever was hot and cheap. No alcohol. No bravado. Just hunger and bad jokes.
For half an hour, no one talked about rumors.
They talked about workouts. About music. About dumb videos JP insisted everyone watch.
The campus felt livable again.
Kitty's Pace Changes
Kitty watched from a distance before joining them.
Not hiding.
Just observing.
She had spent the morning with Jihye, sitting on the dorm floor, talking about nothing important and everything that mattered. Idol auditions. Childhood dreams. How people decided who you were before you did.
It helped.
Now, as she crossed the common area, Kitty felt steadier than she had in days.
She didn't rush toward XH.
She didn't avoid him either.
She walked in like she belonged.
"Hey," Kitty said, voice casual.
Everyone looked up.
JP grinned. "Oh look. A functioning human."
Kitty smirked. "Barely."
She sat down across from XH, not beside him, not far away. Neutral ground.
XH met her eyes briefly.
No tension.
No accusation.
Just recognition.
"How're you holding up?" NS asked quietly.
Kitty shrugged. "I'm… recalibrating."
JP nodded solemnly. "Respectable."
She smiled at that, genuine this time.
For a while, she listened more than she spoke. She laughed at TZ's stories. She rolled her eyes at JP's exaggerations. She felt present without performing.
That was new.
At one point, XH caught her gaze again.
This time, she didn't look away.
She didn't lean into it either.
Just held it for a second.
Then nodded.
A small thing.
But it mattered.
Pressure Slips In Anyway
The calm didn't last forever.
It never did.
Phones buzzed again, almost in sync.
NS frowned. "You too?"
JP checked his screen. "Department email."
XH opened his message.
Not urgent.Not dramatic.
But sharp.
SUBJECT: Individual Advisement Required
Due to your current academic pathway and intended outcomes, please schedule a one-on-one advisement session within 48 hours.
XH felt his stomach tighten.
Across the table, Kitty's phone vibrated too.
She glanced at the screen.
Her expression changed.
Just slightly.
June walked into the common area then, mid-stride, phone still in hand. She paused when she saw them all together, then approached.
"Did you get it?" she asked.
XH nodded. "Yeah."
Kitty swallowed. "Me too."
June studied their faces. "That's the shift."
JP groaned. "They're doing it individually now."
"Personal pressure works better," June replied calmly.
The words settled uncomfortably.
This wasn't campus-wide chaos anymore.
This was targeted.
Personal Consequences Begin
They broke apart slowly after lunch.
Not because of conflict.
Because everyone had somewhere to think.
XH walked with June toward the library.
Kitty lagged behind on purpose, talking quietly with Jihye.
At the library steps, June stopped.
"This is where it stops being abstract," she said.
XH nodded. "I know."
She looked at him carefully. "Your advisement session will ask what you're willing to risk."
He exhaled. "What if I don't know yet?"
June's voice softened. "Then you tell the truth. Uncertainty isn't failure."
He looked at her. "And you?"
"I'll answer the same way," she said. "But I won't let fear answer for me."
XH nodded.
They stood there for a moment, neither rushing away.
"This doesn't mean I'm pulling back," June added quietly. "It means I'm being deliberate."
He smiled faintly. "I like deliberate."
She smiled back, just a little.
Then she went inside.
Kitty Chooses Honesty, Carefully
Kitty didn't go to the library.
She walked instead.
Past the dorms. Past the back gate. Toward the quieter paths where the campus thinned out.
She replayed the message in her head.
Individual advisement.
Her future suddenly felt smaller.
Not hopeless.
Specific.
She stopped near the fence again, hands tucked into her sleeves.
This time, she didn't spiral.
She took out her phone and typed.
Not to the guy she'd been seeing.
To XH.
She stared at the draft for a long moment.
Then sent it.
Kitty: hey. just wanted to say… yesterday was loud. today feels better. thanks for not making it worse.
The message sent.
She didn't expect a reply immediately.
She just needed to say it.
A minute later, her phone buzzed.
XH: thanks for saying that. I'm glad today feels lighter.
She smiled softly.
That was it.
No reopening wounds.
No pretending nothing happened.
Just honesty, measured and real.
Kitty put her phone away and looked up at the sky.
"I can do this," she murmured.
Evening, Reassembled
By evening, the group reconvened in smaller clusters.
NS and TZ hit the local gym again.
JP studied, grumbling loudly about it.
Jihye dragged Kitty to watch something dumb on her laptop.
XH sat at his desk, notebook open, writing questions for his advisement session instead of answers.
June did the same in her room.
The campus hummed quietly, tension still present but contained.
Outside, snow began to fall again, light and patient.
No one knew what the advisement sessions would bring.
No one knew who would stay, who would pivot, who would leave.
But today, no one was pretending.
And that honesty, fragile as it was, felt like the beginning of something steadier.
Not resolution.
But direction.