"Curiosity killed the cat."
It's a phrase I've heard more times than I can count. People love using it as a warning, a reminder that we, the commonfolk, should stay in our lane. Don't ask questions. Don't poke around. Don't try to uncover anything the world doesn't want you to see.
Otherwise, curiosity itself will put its claws into you too.
But… has anyone ever wondered if the cat was satisfied?
If, in the final moment before everything went black, it felt a strange triumph, for defying the world, for uncovering a forbidden truth, for choosing knowledge over safety?
I think about that a lot.
Because ever since I was young, I've always had an eye for gazes, for the way people look at you when they think they're seeing something beneath your skin. Those instincts didn't come from nowhere. They were carved into me, shaped by the lovely environment of my home.
Right now, standing in this room, I feel those gazes again.
Sharp.
Probing.
Assessing whether I'm harmless… or something else.
Maybe this is what the cat felt, the world resisting, pushing back, warning it not to dig deeper.
And just like that cat…My curiosity started to rise at the sight of a mystery.
"Arin! I'm heading over to the group handling my side of the board decorations," Kazuma announced proudly, tossing his hair like he was the protagonist of his own show. "I feel like the girls in my group are really digging my presence… so make sure you swing by and help this brother out, alright?"
He even winked.
I pretended not to die inside.
"Sure thing," I said, waving him off. "I'll check out the pictures a bit more. Honestly, I'm impressed by how good this arrangement looks."
A perfect excuse to get him off my back, and more importantly, to look deeper into whatever was hiding in the shadows of this room.
"Oh, and Kazuma-" I added casually, "do you know which group handled these pictures? I'd love to see the geniuses behind this work."
I felt nothing when I said it.
No excitement.
No real curiosity.
Just the instinctive pull toward the truth.
Kazuma tapped his chin, thinking.
"Yeah, I think it's class 10-B that's in charge." Then his eyes lit up.
"Oh! That reminds me that the blonde girl is in that group, Arin."
He gasped dramatically.
"Don't tell me you have a thing for unreachable women!"
I forced a laugh. "Haha, relax. She's pretty, sure… but don't worry about that, Kazuma."
"I'm good."
But I wasn't.
Because something inside me stirred, something heavy, something cosmic.
Like a black hole awakening, pulling me toward it, dragging me toward a truth I wasn't sure I wanted.
For the first time in a long while, I felt it:
Danger.
Not danger of embarrassment or rejection, but danger that the real me, the one I've buried under layers of smiles and perfect reactions, might get exposed if fate kept pushing me into the orbit of that girl.
And fate, for some reason, seemed determined to do exactly that.
Once Kazuma left, I immediately turned back to the board, determined to figure out what those photos were trying so hard to hide.
Up close, the patterns became clear.
The same students.
The same poses.
The same smiles.
And yet, In every picture where that ominous outline appeared, the same girl stood beside it.
Her.
A cold shiver ran the entire length of my spine.
I leaned in even closer, my pulse picking up,
"Hey."
The voice snapped me out of my trance. I spun around, instantly wishing I hadn't.
There she was.
The blonde girl from the hallway was standing right behind me. Her long golden hair fell softly around her shoulders; her eyes, a muted green, seemed to look directly through me. She smelled faintly of lavender… and something darker. Smoke, maybe. Something that felt like a warning.
She was only a little shorter than me, nearing my shoulders, but standing this close, she felt taller.
"I'm Lilith," she said calmly. "I noticed how closely you were examining the photos. Is there… a problem with them?"
Her tone was gentle, but there were blades hidden beneath the softness.
I forced a smile, a perfect, polished, performative thing.
"No, not at all. I was just admiring the work your group put into these. Must've taken a lot of effort. But judging by how talented you all are, I'd say everything's in good hands.
"I added quickly, "Oh, I'm Arin, by the way."
If buttering her up could save me from whatever this situation was becoming, then fine. I'd butter until the cows came home.
But her expression shifted. That same disgusted look from the hallway crept back into her eyes as she asked:
"Why do you talk like that, Arin?"
Something inside me cracked.
In my mind, I saw it, the glass castle I'd spent years building: high walls, polished gates, pristine floors.
The gates shook.
"Uh... what might you-"
"HEYYYY ARIN!"
Zayden's voice came barreling in before the collapse could finish.
He jogged over, grinning like the human equivalent of a golden retriever.
"Crazy seeing you here! I'm guessing workmaster Sarah shipped you off to the board crew too-"
He stopped when he noticed Lilith beside me.
"Ohoho… I see how it is." He wiggled his eyebrows like an idiot.
"Some premium bonding time between our male lead and female lead, huh?"
A bomb dropping would've felt quieter.
Lilith froze.
I froze.
Then we both stared at each other with an identical mix of shock and dread.
Zayden clapped his hands.
"Honestly, you two shouldn't be wasting your time here. Head over to Sarah and tell her I'll handle the rest."
He waved us off with dramatic enthusiasm.
"Go, go! Rehearsals won't rehearse themselves!"
"I'll see you two lovers, I mean, leads, later!"