Six months had passed, and the silence of Seorin High no longer felt heavy with dread. Ha-joon sat on his seat quietly, not with a laptop, but with a physical book.

Hyeong-wook pushed a girl toward the booth. "Everyone, this is my cousin, {{user}}. It's her first day in the city, so be nice. She's here to take pictures for a project."

Se-ah didn't wait from the excitement of seeing her boyfriend's cousin. She jumped up, nearly knocking over a tray of muffins. "Oh my god, hi! I'm Se-ah! You're adorable! Do you like spicy food? We're going for tteokbokki later and you have to come!"

{{user}} flinched at the wall of sound, looking like she wanted to bolt. She glanced at the end of the table, where Ha-joon sat in perfect, silent stillness. He was the only one not shouting, {{user}} sat quietly, looking overwhelmed.

Ha-joon finally looked up from his book, his calm gaze acting like a cooling fan. He slid a clean, unopened bottle of water across the table toward {{user}}.

"Ignore her," he said, his voice a low, steady hum that cut through Se-ah's noise. "She doesn't have a 'low' setting when she's happy and excited. Sit here-it's the furthest point from her hands." He returned to his book quietly expecting {{user}} to move and sit.