7:00 AM .
The fog of the night seemed to vanish along with the darkness itself. Geone was still asleep.
In the kitchen, Charlie helped Mrs. Mital prepare breakfast. Today, Mr. Mital was returning home. Fried rice, egg curry, chicken, beef, cutlets, fish—everything was in progress.
Mr. Mital had been away nearly thirty days, part of a medical team working in remote areas.
The doorbell rang...
While frying cutlets, Mrs. Mital called,
"Charlie, Uncle is here!"
Charlie quickly washed his hands and ran to open the door.
The sound of the bell snapped Geone awake.
"Charlie! Char—" he muttered, still half-asleep.
Reaching out, he realized Charlie wasn't there.
"Charlie…?"
He sat up abruptly and called louder.
"Charlie! Charli…!"
As he got out of bed, he noticed there were no clothes under the blanket.
"Huh?"
Quickly pulling on his pants, he rushed downstairs, calling Charlie's name.
He found his mom and Charlie standing near the door. Without thinking, Geone ran forward and wrapped Charlie in a tight hug.
"Charlie, are you okay?"
Both parents stared, confused.
"What happened?" his father asked.
"I don't know," his mother said softly, puzzled.
Letting go of Charlie, Geone spoke in a panicked rush,
"He's not okay! His body was freezing. He was trembling!"
Charlie shook his head. "No, I'm okay."
"What?!" Mr Mital exclaimed.
Geone grabbed Charlie's hand urgently.
"We're going to the hospital."
"Geone, wait," his mother said firmly. "Calm down. Tell us properly what happened. Charlie looks fine."
"There's no time," Geone insisted. "We need to go now."
Charlie tightened his grip on Geone's hand. Geone looked into his eyes—no exhaustion, no sickness.
"I'm completely normal now," Charlie said.
"But your temperature—"
Geone touched his cheek and forehead. Warm. Normal.
He froze.
"My temperature is fine," Charlie said gently.
His mother turned to Geone.
"If he was that sick, why didn't you call me?"
"I did!" Geone snapped. "You didn't answer."
His father placed a box of chocolates on the table. "It's okay. These things happen. Calm down."
Without another word, Geone stormed upstairs.
Mrs. Mital sighed. "That boy's head will never cool down."
"I'm sorry, aunty," Charlie said quietly.
"Why apologize? It's not your fault," she smiled.
Mr. Mital added, "Go on, Charlie. You have school."
Geone left for school without breakfast. Charlie ate a little, then followed soon after.
Geone's mood was dark. Leaning forward at his desk, his thoughts spiraled.
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦? 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘮—𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥… 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯…
He shook his head sharply. 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵… 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵… 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘦.
𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦… 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘵…
𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦…
Minase and Suga hadn't arrived yet. Around him, girls whispered and laughed, glancing his way. Geone noticed but looked away, irritated.
One girl approached, holding a cup.
"Geone, coffee. For you."
Without looking, he said, "I'm not in the mood."
"Please, Geone," she urged softly.
Suddenly, Geone pushed the cup away. Coffee spilled onto the floor.
The class stared.
Hira entered just then. Furiously She went to the girl and moved her aside gently. then looked at Geone.
"Are you sick?"
Geone hesitated, then muttered an apology. The girl ran off, embarrassed, crying.
Hira frowned.
"If you didn't want it, why push it?"
Geone shut his eyes and slammed his fist on the desk.
"I didn't do it on purpose."
Hira chuckled lightly.
"Hm. Guess it was a mistake."
Geone clenched his teeth.
"Hira, just shut up. Just—"
Her smile faded.
"And what if I don't? You'll hit me too, like Latin before?"
"HIRAAAA!" Geone's shout echoed. The classroom froze.
Hira met his fury head-on, calm but furious.
At that moment, Mohan Sir entered.
"What's going on here?!"
The class returned to their seats.
"You two again? Will your fights never end? Go. Both of you. To the teachers' room. Now," Mohan Sir snapped.
In the teachers' room, Miss Rose looked at them, tired eyes heavy.
"You two aren't new here. If you don't show up here at least once a month, it feels strange, doesn't it?"
Both lowered their heads.
"Sorry, ma'am," they said together, but immediately shot furious looks at each other—like a third world war could erupt any second.
Miss Rose sighed.
"Saying sorry won't help. You're getting punished."
Geone spoke calmly, "That's fine. Contact my parents if you want."
Miss Rose shook her head.
"And your temper, Geone? You're one of our best players. There's a match next week."
Geone exhaled.
"Sorry. I just… can't control myself sometimes."
He glanced at Hira.
"Especially when she's around."
Hira opened her mouth, jaw tightening, but Miss Rose raised her hand.
"Okay. I know what to do."
"There are four storerooms and three sports rooms. You'll clean all of them. Together."
"Together?" they blurted.
"Yes."
"But—"
"No 'but,'" Miss Rose cut in.
"Ma'am—" Hira tried again.
"Now," Miss Rose said, standing.
As they walked the corridor, Hira said sharply,
"This is all your fault."
"My fault?" Geone snapped. "If you hadn't interfered, none of this would've happened."
"Oh really?" Hira shot back. "You lose control and expect people to tolerate you?"
"I didn't do it on purpose," Geone said, clenching his fists.
"Then who kicked the cup? Ghost!" Hira demanded.
"Hira—!" Geone growled.
"Geone—!" she shot back, mockingly.
"What? Want more punishment? Should I call the teacher? Ma'am! Ma'am!"
Before she could finish, Geone grabbed her wrist, pressing her back against the wall, hand covering her mouth.
"Shut up. Are you crazy?" he hissed.
For a moment, everything froze. Hira stared at him, shock flashing in her brown eyes. Geone saw his own reflection—angry, uncontrolled.
Then Hira shoved him hard.
Geone stumbled.
For a brief second, they avoided each other's gaze, breathing heavy, silent.
Miss Mital appeared.
"What's going on here? Hira? You?"
They signaled each other not to speak.
"No, miss," they said in unison.
"You haven't started cleaning?" Miss Mital said coldly. "At this rate, it'll take the whole day. Then you'll understand the fun of it."
"Yes, miss," they said quickly and started moving.
"I almost got beaten because of you," Geone muttered.
"Next time, I'll take revenge properly," Hira shot back.
"Do whatever you want. Think I'm scared?"
Hira smiled—slow, sharp, almost evil.
"You know exactly what you're scared of."
Geone stopped.
"What do you know? Tell me. What do you know?"
Hira stepped into the storeroom first. Dust hung thick in the air.
"Come here," she said quietly.
Geone followed, irritated. "What now?"
She moved slightly closer. Not touching—just close enough.
"Closer," Hira whispered. "If you talk loud, someone might hear."
Geone hesitated, then stepped in. Too close.
He noticed it instantly—the narrow space, her presence, the air between them.
"What is this secret?" he asked, annoyed.
Hira leaned slightly toward his ear. Just enough to be felt.
"It has its own heart," she whispered.
The words barely reached him—but her breath did.
His shoulders stiffened. His heartbeat skipped—once. Just once.
He frowned, confused. What is… that?
"What nonsense are you talking about?" he muttered, stepping back.
Hira noticed. Her lips curved—not teasing, not smiling. Just aware.
Before he could say anything else, she grabbed a dust-covered cloth from the bench and threw it over him.
Dust exploded into the air.
"Hira!" Geone coughed, eyes burning. "You're dead—"
He yanked the cloth off and rushed toward her, trying to throw it back.
Hira laughed and dodged. The storeroom filled with swirling dust as they chased each other between the shelves.
[Classroom section A]
Physics class droned on under Protik Sir's voice, but Charlie couldn't focus.
Geone wasn't there.
He hadn't been seen all morning.
Charlie told himself Geone was probably at basketball practice—that made sense. But during physics, Minase, Suga, Barun, and Harry were all there.
Only Geone was missing.
Charlie turned to Minase.
"Where's Geone?"
Before Minase could answer, Suga spoke, half-laughing.
"We were about to ask you. He didn't even show up for practice. Funny coincidence, huh?"
Minase nodded.
"Yeah. Haven't seen him anywhere."
Suddenly, Lily, his desk mate, spoke softly.
"I know."
Charlie turned to her.
"Where is he?"
Lily tilted her head.
"One condition. Come to the library with me after school."
Charlie didn't hesitate.
"Okay."
She leaned closer.
"Everyone missed morning classes. You weren't there either, right?"
"Just say it already," Suga muttered impatiently.
Lily sighed.
"Fine. Geone and Hira got into another fight. Miss Rose punished them."
Charlie asked immediately,
"What punishment?"
"They have to clean the storerooms together," Lily said.
Minase frowned.
"Why fight this time?"
Lily shrugged. "Because of Mika."
"Mika…" Charlie whispered. "Why?"
"She tried to give Geone coffee," Lily replied, sympathy in her voice.
Suga grinned. "Oof. Poor girl. Could've given it to me. But yeah—Hira and Geone clashed again."
Protik Sir cleared his throat sharply.
"Did everyone understand the statics formula?"
The class nodded automatically.
Before the bell rang, Charlie stood up and walked out.
"Library, Charlie!" Lily called.
Charlie nodded without turning , but his feet carried him in the opposite direction—toward the storerooms.
In the corridor, he heard movement. Fast footsteps.
Then he saw it. Inside the storeroom—Geone chasing Hira.
Dust hung thick in the air. Shelves loomed in shadows. Motion everywhere.
Charlie stopped. Silent. Frozen. Unreadable.
Continues....