The car came just after breakfast, gliding to a stop in front of the house like something out of a different world. Hae-won stood by the gate in the soft morning haze, her bag clutched in both hands. The neighborhood ajummas had gathered, some pretending to sweep the same spot for the third time, others holding out little containers of banchan, wrapped candies, or hastily packed fruit.
"Be well, Hae-won-ah!"
"Show them what you're made of!"
"Eat this when you're stressed. Jujube is good for the heart!"
She smiled, bowed deeply, and thanked them, her cheeks aching with the effort. Her mother stood just behind her, holding Ji-woo's hand. And then the car pulled away, and the neighborhood grew small in the rearview mirror.
Back to Baekhyun Academy.
By the evening of the gala, the campus had turned into something out of a palace commercial. Golden lights strung across the courtyard glowed against the twilight, and luxury cars lined the front loop like a high-end showroom.
Skylar—glamorous, effortless, unapologetically loaded—had arranged everything. From transportation to fittings to makeup. Hae-won and Ji-ae rode with her in the back of a white Bentley, squeezed between satin bags and designer perfume. Ji-ae had her hair swept into a vintage curl, and Skylar had done Hae-won's eyeliner with the precision of a sniper.
"You guys look expensive," Skylar declared, snapping a selfie. "And expensive-looking people don't check their phones. It's a vibe."
"Why do I feel like I'm being babysat?" Hae-won asked.
"Because you are," Ji-ae said sweetly. "You worry too much. Just smile and survive."
---
They entered the Atrium and—for a moment—everything felt surreal. The grand chandelier overhead. The sea of glossy heads. The music laced with confidence. And yet... there it was. The tension. The stares.
Hae-won felt it in her skin before she even looked around properly.
Whispers. Quick glances. Stifled laughs.
She stopped. "Okay. What is it? What's going on?"
Skylar blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb. People are staring at me like I walked in barefoot with toilet paper on my heel."
Ji-ae sighed, exchanging a glance with Skylar. "Okay. Don't freak out. There was a post."
"What post?"
"Someone uploaded a picture... of you. And Kyung-min. From the hallway."
"What?"
"It looked... intimate. They captioned it like you were trying to sleep your way up."
The blood drained from Hae-won's face. Her legs stopped working for a moment.
"And you didn't tell me?"
"We didn't want to ruin your night," Skylar said quickly.
"Well, mission failed."
"We didn't ask you because we don't want you to know but now that you know... is the picture real? I mean.. were you with him" Ji-ae asked carefully
And then it happened—like something out of a nightmare. A glass of champagne "accidentally" tipped on her shoulder. The cold hit her like a slap.
"Oops," the girl said, not even pretending.
She was still recovering from that when someone else walked past and stepped deliberately on the hem of her dress. There was a rip. Audible. Gasps.
"What the hell are you guys doing?!" Skylar shouted and glared at them.
And then silence.
A moment later, a voice cut through the tension.
"That's enough."
Kyung-min.
People parted like the Red Sea. He didn't raise his voice, didn't even look angry. But the air around him seemed to shift. He strode toward her, took her gently—but firmly—by the wrist.
"Come with me."
"Where?"
"Away from this circus."
He led her through a side hall, up a private elevator she hadn't noticed before, and into one of the elite wings reserved for the board member heirs and legacy students. His private lounge smelled like cedarwood and clean leather.
"Sit."
He disappeared into a walk-in closet and returned with a gown. Pale blue, silk, with embroidered shoulders and a delicate cinch at the waist.
"Try this."
"This is..."
"It's my sister's. She won't miss it. You're about the same size. Just taller."
She blinked. "Why are you doing this?"
He shrugged. "Pity. And to shut them up. Rumors spread. If they see you wearing this, on my arm... it kills the story. You're not some desperate scholarship kid. You're someone they don't know how to classify."
Her heart beat loud in her ears. "You're not doing this because—"
"Don't flatter yourself."
---
They descended the stairs together twenty minutes later. Hae-won in the borrowed gown, her hair touched up by someone in Kyung-min's staff. The moment she stepped back into the ballroom, people gasped. Real gasps. Whispers flew.
"Is that her?"
"That dress—"
"Wait. She came back?"
He left her at the foot of the dancefloor.
"Just smile. And stay out of my way."
Then he disappeared into the sea of his kind—rich, dangerous, bored—with his usual crew. One of them, the blue-haired girl, soo-min, with blood-red lipstick, stared at Hae-won with open confusion, like she doesn't know what to make of her yet.
The other three boys clocked her too. One of them—tall, sharp-featured, with lazy malice in his gaze—stared.
Jin-woon.
He'd seen her before. In the hallway. And now again, emerging in Kyung-min's clothes, in his lair.
Skylar and Ji-ae rushed toward her like loyal bodyguards.
"Girl. GIRL," Skylar whisper-shouted. "You just walked back in like a real life Cinderella."
"What is happening?!" Ji-ae gasped. "You were gone for like fifteen minutes! Fifteen!"
Hae-won blinked. "I... don't know."
"Well, everyone's obsessed. That's what's happening."
Across the room, So-hee and her crew stood deflated. Their plan—a public humiliation—had flipped.
"She's playing victim," Eun-jeong muttered.
"She won't win. Not in the long run," So-hee said.
---
The party dragged on. At some point, the music died down and people filtered out. Hae-won found herself alone by the koi pond (her almost favourite spot in the school), the stars barely visible above the glowing school tower.
Then she heard footsteps. Measured. Unhurried.
He leaned against a marble pillar like he owned the moon.
Jin-woon
"What's the deal?," he said.
She stiffened. "Excuse me?"
"What is between you and kyung-min? I do not like to repeat myself."
"There's nothing—"
He chuckled. "Don't lie to me, Hae-won. This place eats liars for breakfast. And you? You're not ready for the games being played here."
She squared her shoulders. "I'm not playing anything."
He stepped closer. Too close. It's like he seized the air wherever he was.
"Then that makes you a pawn. And pawns get sacrificed first."
She didn't move. Didn't speak.
And then she did.
She held her ground. "Why do you care?"
His gaze swept her up and down, and then met her gaze like he didn't see anything he liked.
"Because pieces burn fast here. And I don't like watching things burn unless I set the fire."
He smiled. Slow. Cold- the kind that the devil must have before he set sinners on fire --And vanished into the dark.
---
Somewhere upstairs, Kyung-min was watching through the glass balcony. His phone buzzed. Another notification. Another comment. But he wasn't looking at the screen.
He was watching the girl in the blue dress.
And wondering when exactly she became a threat.
Or a distraction.
And what the fuck was jin-woon doing with her?