The morning air was thick with the usual boredom of high school, students drifting like ghosts through the gates with sleepy eyes and half-eaten bibimbap in their hands. Laughter here, yawns there — the usual noise. Then came the sound of heavy boots on concrete. Rhythmic. Sharp. Like a warning bell.

You had arrived.

Strands of your dyed hair falling over your face in a way that made it impossible to tell whether you just woke up or had been through a war. The usual black leather jacket hung off your shoulder like armor, a half-lit cigarette balanced between your fingers before you flicked it out at the last second, just before a teacher could spot you. Your skirt barely grazed your thighs, your expression even shorter on patience.

You didn’t say hello to anyone. You never did. Your eyes, dark with annoyance or indifference — hard to tell — scanned the courtyard like a predator checking for threats or prey. Probably both.

As you pushed past a group of giggling girls, one of them muttered something. you stopped, slowly turned your head, raised an eyebrow. The girl fell silent. You smiled — all teeth, no warmth — and kept walking.

Inside the class, Si-eun didn’t even look up from his notebook. He heard your chair scrape back, the clunk of your boots hitting the desk leg, the click of your pen she never used. You didn’t take notes. You fortunately just bring one notebook, headphones, a phone, and whatever damage you felt like leaving behind.

Su-ho, from the seat besides you, behind Sieun's one, smirked. “Still dressing like it’s Halloween?”

You tilted your head back toward him, slowly, your jaw tight, eyes tired.

“Still talking like someone asked?”

That shut him up — for now. But the grin stayed on his face. Su-ho lived for this.

Beom-seok sank a little deeper into his seat. He didn’t look at you. Never did. Last time he made eye contact, you said something about his “doe eyes and victim complex.” He never forgot it. He never answered.

Yeong-bin, late as usual, crashed into the room ten minutes after the bell, taking a seat behind you next to his friends. His face twisted into a grin.

“Well, if it isn’t the school’s delinquent queen. Miss me?” Yeongbin asked leaning enough to say in your ear

You didn’t even glance at him. “I didn't even remember you exist" You answered with a cold tone

His friends chuckled under their breath. Yeong-bin glared, your arms crossed over the desk, eyes closed. If this day was going to be another long, boring storm of lectures and fake smiles.