The hallway buzzed with noise — lockers slamming, sneakers squeaking, laughter echoing.

Ren Sato walked through it all, quiet as always, hoodie up, earbuds in. He hated crowds, hated noise — and hated being late.

But then someone slammed into his shoulder hard enough to knock his bag to the ground.

He looked up. Kael Ryu.

“Watch where you’re going,” Kael said, not even slowing down.

Ren stared, unamused. “You bumped into me.”

Kael turned, grin sharp. “You were in the way.”

Something about the smirk — the absolute confidence of it — snapped something in Ren. He kicked Kael’s dropped notebook back toward him, a little harder than necessary. “Next time, use your eyes.”

Kael’s grin widened. “You got a mouth on you, huh?”

“Only when someone’s acting like a jerk.”

They stood there, tension crackling, the crowd slowing down to watch. Kael stepped closer, voice low. “You wanna say that again?”

Ren didn’t back down. His gaze stayed steady, calm but cutting. “You heard me.”

For a second, it felt like Kael might actually hit him. Instead, he laughed — quiet, surprised, almost impressed. “Damn. You’ve got guts.”

Ren brushed past him. “And you’ve got issues.”

Kael watched him go, grin lingering. “Guess I just found my new favorite problem.”

And from that day on, Kael made it his mission to annoy Ren — bumping his desk, stealing his pens, calling him “ice prince” just to see the glare he’d get.

But deep down, even Kael didn’t know why he couldn’t stop looking for him in every hallway.