The moment lunch break started, Esko practically materialized beside Kaija like an overexcited spirit summoned by gossip.
"Girl, you have no idea," he exclaimed, shoving his phone so close to her face she nearly crossed her eyes trying to focus on the screen. "Word's spread about your performance at the vocal class yesterday!"
Kaija blinked slowly.
The phone screen was flooded with group chats moving so fast they looked unreadable.
Messages.
Videos.
Voice notes.
Screenshots.
Her own face frozen mid-song in blurry recordings taken from halfway across the theater hall.
"Just one day," Esko continued breathlessly, "and now everyone at KE knows your name! My goodness, I got chills watching the videos again this morning."
His green hair bounced dramatically as he spoke, colorful clothes somehow even louder today than yesterday.
"Everybody's talking about you in the group chats. Just imagine how huge you'll get after debut! You're making me a happy manager already."
Kaija stared at the screen for approximately five seconds before gently pushing the phone away from her face.
Then she returned her full attention to the racing game on her own phone.
"Er… sounds like a good thing," she replied vaguely. "If that makes you happy, I'm happy too, I guess."
Esko looked personally wounded by her lack of excitement.
"How are you this calm?!"
"Mm."
Kaija's thumbs continued tapping her screen.
"Maybe I'm still buffering."
Esko groaned dramatically and continued rambling the entire walk toward the restaurant anyway.
By the time they arrived, the cafeteria buzzed loudly with lunch-hour chatter and clattering trays.
Only this time—
the moment Kaija stepped inside, the atmosphere shifted.
Heads turned.
Conversations faltered.
Eyes followed her across the room.
Kaija slowed slightly.
'Uh… why are they looking at me like that?'
Yesterday, nobody had cared she existed.
Now it felt like she'd accidentally walked into a zoo enclosure wearing meat perfume.
As soon as she and Esko sat down, people immediately started approaching.
"You were amazing yesterday!"
"You absolutely killed it!"
"Can I get a photo with you?"
Kaija blinked at them in confusion.
Photos?
With her?
Still not fully understanding what exactly warranted this level of attention, she gave a small shrug.
"Yeah, sure."
Then she turned toward Esko.
"Come on, Esko, I think they want photos of you too."
They absolutely did not.
The poor manager was physically shoved aside from his own chair almost immediately.
Within minutes, he somehow ended up coordinating a chaotic impromptu meet-and-greet session instead, sweat practically forming on his forehead as he organized people into lines.
Kaija obediently posed for every photo with the exact same sleepy expression.
Peace sign.
Thumbs up.
Tiny smile.
Blank stare.
Repeat.
At some point, realization finally dawned on her.
'Oh… this is about the singing thing yesterday.'
Before she could process that thought further, a brown-haired woman nearly threw herself onto the empty seat beside her.
"My goodness, Kaija, right?" the woman laughed loudly. "You were absolutely insane, girl. I've never seen Karl that speechless before."
A redhead joined immediately after, grinning viciously.
"You seriously put him in his place," she said, contempt dripping openly from her voice. "You have no idea how many people around here have suffered under his attitude."
The brown-haired girl nodded eagerly.
"His peak is basically over now, and yet he still acts like he's king of the world."
"I guarantee you," the redhead added, "pretty soon you'll be way more famous than Karl."
Her eyes flicked toward Esko with blatant envy.
"I'm already jealous of your manager."
Kaija didn't respond.
Mostly because she wasn't listening anymore.
Her focus had drifted entirely back toward the menu in her lap.
'Do I want noodles today? Rice bowl? Hmm.'
Then suddenly—
silence.
Complete silence.
The chatter around the table vanished so abruptly it felt unnatural.
Kaija slowly looked up from the menu.
The crowd surrounding her had parted down the middle.
The two girls beside her turned around.
Immediately, all color drained from their faces.
Karl stood there.
Nobody had noticed him arrive.
He wore a loose black hoodie today, ash-blond hair slightly messy like he'd run his hands through it repeatedly. Despite the casual clothes, his presence still struck the room like a blade unsheathing.
Beautiful.
Cold.
Dangerous.
"You done talking?" Karl asked pleasantly.
That smile on his face looked angelic.
Which somehow made it ten times more terrifying.
The brown-haired girl instantly scrambled to her feet.
"K-Karl!" she stammered, bowing repeatedly. "No! It's not what you think! I'm so sorry!"
The redhead followed immediately.
"That's right!" she cried. "It's not what it sounded like! We were just making a new friend!"
Her hand shot toward Kaija's arm.
"She's our new friend! Right, Kaija?"
Kaija looked down slowly at the hand clutching her sleeve.
Then back up again.
Before she could answer, Karl chuckled softly.
"Yada yada yada," he mocked lazily.
His smile sharpened.
"Just a couple of stray dogs who forgot who their master is."
The temperature in the restaurant seemed to plummet.
"Maybe it's time I find myself a new manager and stylist."
The two women immediately broke down.
"No, please!"
The brown-haired girl grabbed desperately onto Karl's arm.
"I've been with you for almost half a year! No other manager stayed that long! I've tried my best to please you the entire time!"
Tears brimmed visibly in her eyes.
"Please forgive me! I don't want to work with any other artist but you!"
"You don't wanna work with anyone else because being with me pays three times better," Karl replied coldly.
Then he yanked his arm away violently.
The woman stumbled backward and nearly fell.
"You want forgiveness?" Karl asked softly.
His turquoise eyes glinted.
"Then kneel."
The entire restaurant froze.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The atmosphere felt suffocating.
From the table, Kaija slowly raised one hand.
"Sorry," she said politely, "but could you maybe keep your volume down a little?"
Every head turned toward her.
Karl's gaze snapped over immediately.
Kaija continued calmly.
"Your voice is already naturally insanely deep. When you crank it up like that, it sounds like those sound effects they use for evil devil ghosts in horror movies."
She tilted her head thoughtfully.
"Which is kinda nice, actually. But a little loud for my ears."
A dangerous silence followed.
Then Karl started walking toward her.
The crowd scattered instantly to clear his path.
"Look who's barking now," he muttered coldly. "Two days on this campus, a few dickheads clinging to you like mosquitoes in a swamp, and you already think you're the superstar of this place?"
Kaija looked up at him without flinching.
"Well, first of all," she said, raising one finger, "I'm not a dog, so I wasn't barking."
A second finger lifted.
"Secondly, I just don't like screaming people. So if you feel like yelling at those two, maybe take them somewhere else and deal with them there, alright?"
Karl stopped dead.
"The fuck is wrong with you?" he muttered.
His brows furrowed deeply.
"You think just because you sang my song well, you get to talk to me like this?"
Kaija blinked.
Then lightly smacked her own forehead.
"Oh," she mumbled. "So this is about that song."
Her eyes widened slightly with realization.
"And here I was thinking you hated it because you stormed out yesterday without saying anything."
Then suddenly—
she smiled.
Brightly.
The sleepy indifference vanished from her face for the first time all afternoon.
"Alright then! Guess I was wrong about you."
Karl stared at her suspiciously.
"You're not actually that huge of a jerk, huh?"
His face twitched violently.
Meanwhile Kaija continued innocently, completely oblivious to the psychological damage she was inflicting.
"Do you like boba tea?" she asked. "I'm thinking of getting one. I could grab one for you too."
Karl's expression warped in real time.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Then rage flooded back all at once.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he exploded.
The entire cafeteria jumped.
"What the fuck does boba tea have to do with any of this?!"
Kaija immediately covered both ears with her hands.
"See?" she complained. "Too loud again."
Karl looked seconds away from spontaneous combustion.
"If you like boba tea," Kaija continued reasonably, "I can get you some while I'm at the counter."
She tilted her head again.
"You came here for lunch, right? You must be hungry. What do you want?"
Karl's fists clenched so tightly the veins stood out across his hands.
His whole body trembled.
"I don't want your fucking lunch!"
He stormed toward the table and slammed his hand down with a deafening BANG.
Every single person in the restaurant flinched.
Then, leaning over the table with murderous intensity, Karl snarled:
"Two Earl Grey teas. White pearls. Salted milk foam."
His eyes burned straight into hers.
"Fifty percent ice. Fifty percent sugar."