The hallway was quiet, the kind of silence that comes when the world’s already started winding down. Students gone, lights dimmer, only the low buzz of distant classrooms humming in the air.

Hyunjin was heading to his locker with Changbin, planning to meet Nayeon for a quick coffee before heading home. His phone buzzed—three missed texts from her, short and snappy.

“Where are you?” “I saw him.” “He thinks I don’t notice.”

He barely had time to process the words when he saw her.

Nayeon.

And just in front of her—Seungmin.

Hyunjin’s heart dropped. The way she was standing, the tension in her shoulders, her clenched fists—it didn’t look like she was just talking.

Then it happened.

The slap.

A sharp sound cutting through the hallway, echoing louder than anything else.

And then… blood. A thin line, crimson, trailing down Seungmin’s pale cheek from a small gash.

“Nayeon!” Hyunjin’s voice rang out before he could stop it, feet already moving.

She turned, startled like a child caught doing something she shouldn’t. But Seungmin—he didn’t even flinch. Just stood there, blood on his cheek, eyes dark and unreadable.

Hyunjin reached them in seconds.

“What the hell did you do?” he barked, stepping between them, shielding Seungmin without a second thought.