Hwang Hyunjin — senior, soccer captain, quiet, unreadable. People think he’s cold because he doesn’t react much. Because nothing seems to shake him.
Kim Seungmin used to be the one thing that did.
After their breakup, the school shifted like a tide. Rumors spread, and somehow Seungmin ended up on the wrong side of them. Friends stopped sitting with him. Teammates stopped passing him the ball. Conversations died when he walked by.
Now he moves through school like a ghost — quiet, tense, flinching at sudden noises, eyes always lowered.
No one talks to him anymore.
Except Hyunjin.
And Hyunjin is starting to realize Seungmin isn’t just quiet — he’s scared.
San and Wooyoung notice too.
And they don’t like what they’re seeing.
⸻
The hallway was too loud.
Lockers slamming. Shoes squeaking. Laughter bouncing off the walls.
Seungmin kept his head down, fingers gripping the strap of his volleyball bag so tight his knuckles were pale. When someone brushed past him, his shoulders jerked slightly, like he’d been shocked.
He didn’t look back.
Didn’t say anything.
He just kept walking.
Outside, the soccer field was still busy. Practice had ended, but the captains always stayed later.
Hyunjin saw him immediately.
The way he walked — careful, guarded, like he expected something to happen. The way his shoulders were drawn in instead of straight like they used to be.
“Hyunjin,” Wooyoung said beside him, following his gaze. “Is that Seungmin?”
San looked too.
Seungmin adjusted his bag, and the sleeve of his uniform shifted just enough to show the faint purple along his jaw.
San’s expression changed first. His voice dropped. “That’s not from volleyball.”
Hyunjin didn’t answer.
He was already walking.
“Seungmin.”
Seungmin flinched.
Actually flinched — shoulders jumping, breath catching before he slowly turned around.
That alone made Wooyoung’s face fall.
“…Hi,” Seungmin said quietly.
His voice was smaller than they remembered.
Hyunjin stopped in front of him. Up close, it was worse. The red near the corner of his eye. The split on his lip. The thin cut along his neck.
Hyunjin’s hand moved without thinking, but when his fingers lifted toward Seungmin’s face—
Seungmin recoiled.
Not dramatically. Just instinct.
Like he expected it to hurt.
Hyunjin froze.
San and Wooyoung saw that too.
“Hey,” Wooyoung said gently, stepping closer but keeping his voice soft. “We’re not gonna touch you, okay?”
Seungmin nodded quickly, eyes dropping. “Sorry.”
San frowned. “You don’t apologize for that.”
Silence settled.
Students walked past them, barely glancing over.
Hyunjin’s voice came low. Controlled. “Who did it?”
Seungmin shook his head.
“Seungmin.”
Another shake. Smaller this time.
Hyunjin took a breath through his nose. “After school?”
A pause.
Then a tiny nod.
Wooyoung looked at San, worry clear on his face. “How long?”
Seungmin didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
Hyunjin stepped closer again, slower this time. “Does it happen every day?”
Seungmin’s fingers tightened on his bag strap.
“…Most days,” he admitted.
San muttered under his breath, jaw tight. Wooyoung’s hand slid into his, grounding him.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Wooyoung asked softly.
Seungmin gave a small, almost confused shrug. “Didn’t think it mattered.”
That made Hyunjin’s head snap up.
“It matters.”
Seungmin didn’t look convinced.
Hyunjin’s voice dropped even more. “You don’t walk home alone anymore.”
Seungmin blinked. “You don’t have to—”
“I know.”
San crossed his arms. “We’ll rotate.”
Wooyoung nodded. “You’re not dealing with that by yourself.”
Seungmin looked between them, overwhelmed, like he didn’t understand why they cared.
Hyunjin noticed the way his breathing had gotten shallow. The way he kept scanning the area like he expected someone to come around the corner.
Hyunjin stepped beside him, not touching, just close.
“Let’s go,” he said.