JIAH POV
Jeonhwa enters the cafeteria with a group of guys I don't recognize. New friends. Already laughing. Already fitting in like he didn't just transfer and rearrange half the school's blood pressure in one morning.
He looks annoyingly relaxed, shoulders loose, hands in his pockets, like this place already knows him.
He scans the room casually, eyes moving with that lazy confidence that should honestly be illegal in school cafeterias.
Then his gaze flicks—
To Jiho.
My stomach drops so fast it feels like my organs lag behind.
Fuck.
No.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
Not today. Not here. Not after the corridor. Not after the wall. Not after the whisper that almost fried my brain cells permanently.
This cannot connect.
This cannot become a thing.
Because Jeonhwa already knows Jiho's face.
Jiho, though—
Jiho does not know.
He doesn't know the girl in the corridor was me. He doesn't know someone got dragged into the shadows. He doesn't know anything beyond I thought I saw someone I know.
And if Jiho recognizes Jeonhwa now—
If Jiho looks up and thinks why does that guy feel familiar—
It's over.
My brain goes into emergency mode, firing off ideas that are all stupid and none of them helpful.
Grab Jiho and fake a medical emergency.
Trip Jeonhwa "accidentally."
Throw my tray.
Die quietly.
I stand there frozen, tray balanced in my hands, pulse pounding so loud I'm convinced Bora can hear it. Jeonhwa keeps walking, steps unhurried, eyes still angled in Jiho's direction like his brain is casually filing away information.
My shoulders tense.
My chin lowers instinctively, like I can somehow shrink the situation by hunching.
Please don't look back.
Please don't notice him.
Please stay stupid and distracted, Jiho.
Jeonhwa's gaze sharpens for just a second.
I see it.
That almost-recognition look. Not confusion. Not curiosity. Just awareness.
His steps slow a fraction.
My lungs stop working.
This is it. This is the exact moment where Jiho looks up, recognizes him, and starts connecting dots like he's in a crime drama I did not consent to starring in.
My obituary is going to read: Died in a cafeteria due to eye contact.
Then—
"Jeonhwa!"
Someone calls his name, loud and careless. One of the guys at his table waves him over, already dragging out a chair like this was planned.
Jeonhwa's attention snaps away immediately.
Just like that.
His focus breaks. Smile back in place. Conversation resumed.
Missed.
I almost collapse.
Jiho, meanwhile, is completely useless in the best way possible. He's walking in the opposite direction, phone in hand, friends talking over each other around him. He doesn't look up. He doesn't glance sideways. He doesn't sense the near disaster that almost rearranged his life.
They pass each other.
Close enough that my heart tries to escape my ribcage.
Nothing happens.
No eye contact.
No pause.
No recognition.
The universe blinks and decides to spare me.
I let out the breath I've been holding like it personally betrayed me. It comes out shaky, half-laughing, the kind that makes your chest ache afterward.
Holy shit.
That was too close.
Way too close.
Never again.
A quiet giggle slips out before I can stop it. Relief is doing weird things to my body, like my nervous system doesn't know whether to cry or punch something.
Bora immediately notices.
She elbows me hard. "Are you stupid?" she whispers. "Why are you smiling at the floor like that?"
I wipe my face back to neutral so fast my jaw hurts. "I wasn't smiling."
"You absolutely were," she says, narrowing her eyes. "You look possessed."
Haerin tilts her head. "Jiah… are you okay?"
I nod too quickly. "Yeah. Totally. Thriving. Mentally stable."
None of that is true.
We move toward an empty table, Bora still watching me like she's collecting evidence. I finally set my tray down, hands a little shaky now that the adrenaline is draining.
Across the cafeteria, Jeonhwa laughs with his new friends, completely normal. Completely unaware that he almost triggered the worst chain reaction of my life.
Jiho is already gone, swallowed by noise and movement like he was never even there.
Good.
I poke at my food, replaying the almost-moment in my head. The almost-look. The almost-connection. The absolute disaster that didn't happen.
I survived.
Barely.
Bora leans in again. "You're acting weird," she says. "Like… haunted weird."
I glance at her. "If I tell you," I say slowly, "you'll make it worse."
Her grin spreads immediately. "I already make everything worse."
I sigh, stabbing my rice. "Let's just sit. Eat. Pretend nothing almost ruined my life."
She laughs. "You're so dramatic."
You have no idea, bro.
I take a deeper breath, grounding myself in the noise, the mess, the normalcy. Trays clattering. Someone yelling. A spoon hitting the floor.
The world keeps spinning.
And for now—
I'm safe.
____________________
ENHYEOK POV
The gate is loud in that end-of-day way, everyone spilling out at once like the building finally got tired of holding us in. Bags thump against backs, voices overlap, someone's already yelling about food like they're starving to death. I walk out with Taehyung and Minseok on either side, the air cooler than it was an hour ago.
"Fuck," Minseok says suddenly, stopping short. He pats his pockets, then his bag, panic blooming fast. "I forgot my phone in the classroom."
Taehyung groans like this is a personal attack. "How do you even survive?"
"I'll get it," Minseok says, already turning around.
"I'll come," Taehyung adds, because of course he does.
They jog back toward the building, shouting at each other, shoes slapping against the concrete like they're late for something important instead of running back for a phone.
I stop near the gate and watch them go. They disappear through the doors, still arguing. I sigh, low and quiet, then step away from the crowd toward the side of the road where it's calmer. Less noise. Less movement. Easier to breathe.
That's when I see her.
Seo Jiah is coming toward the gate with Bora, talking animatedly, hands moving too much, face lit up like she's on her way to something she's been waiting for all day. There's a brightness to her expression that's almost blinding against the dull gray of the afternoon.
She looks… happy. Or excited. Or stupidly hopeful. Hard to tell with her. It's usually some mix of all three.
I look away after a second, jaw tightening without me thinking about it. She always looks like that when she's about to meet Baek Jiho. Like the world just gave her a bonus stage she didn't expect.
Really stupid. Consistently.
They pass closer, Bora laughing at something Jiah says, and for half a second I catch Jiah's profile. Her hair shifts with the movement, catching the light. It's longer now, but my brain, annoyingly, does what it always does.
Rewinds.
Last year. First week.
She had short hair then. Not styled, not dramatic. Just short. Messy at the ends. It suited her in a way that didn't feel like effort. She was leaning back in her chair, feet hooked around the legs, doodling on a worksheet like the class didn't exist.
Everyone looked at me back then. New year. New seatmate. Same whispers. Same staring. I felt it the way you feel pressure change before rain.
She didn't.
She never once turned to look. Never tried to talk. Never pretended to care. She treated me like I was part of the furniture. Useful only if I was in the way.
It was… noticeable.
Third day of school, it rained. Not light rain. The kind that soaks through shoes in seconds. I remember walking toward the gate, umbrella already open, scanning the crowd out of habit more than interest.[1]
I saw her first. Standing there, uniform darkened with water, hair plastered to her face, blinking against the rain like she was trying not to be annoyed by it. No umbrella. Of course not.
I started walking toward her without thinking much about it. It was obvious. Easy. The logical thing to do.
Then Jiho appeared.that was the first time i see him.
Running. Actually running. From across the street, uniform already half soaked, holding his umbrella out like he was delivering something fragile. He shoved it into her hands, said something I couldn't hear, then turned and sprinted straight into the rain.
I stopped.
Just stood there, umbrella still in my hand, watching.
She looked stunned. Then confused. Then her face did something strange, like a switch flipped behind her eyes. She watched him disappear through the school doors, rain dripping off her sleeves, fingers clenched around the handle.
That was it.
That was all it took.
She fell for him right there, standing in the rain like an idiot holding someone else's umbrella. I could see it. Clear as day. Some people just make their lives harder on purpose.
Nothing's changed.
She's still like that. Walking toward the gate with that same look, like hope is something she's willing to trip over again and again.
"Dude."
The voice pulls me out of it.
I turn my head slightly. One of Jiho's friends is standing nearby, leaning against the fence with two other guys. I don't remember his name.
"I'm telling you," he continues, animated, hands moving too much. "I'm saying the truth."
Another guy snorts. "You're full of shit."
The first one shakes his head. "No, listen. You really think Jiho doesn't like Jiah?" He laughs, sharp and disbelieving. "That's the funniest part of this whole thing."
The third guy straightens. "Wait. You're telling me Jiho actually likes Jiah?"
"Yeah," he says, without hesitation. "Jiho likes her."
[1] From chapter 1