It was Monday, and the entire school looked like it had collectively agreed that sleep was a myth.
Even the corridors felt tired.
Results were coming out later in the day, and that alone was enough to turn the atmosphere into something close to a crime scene. Everyone was pretending to be calm, but nobody was fooling anybody.
Soo-ji had barely settled into her seat when Ha-eun appeared beside her like a shadow with a mission.
"Ms. Ga-young said I should call you," she said flatly.
Soo-ji let out a long, suffering sigh. "Why did I end up on the bad side of that woman's radar?" she muttered, dragging a hand through her hair like it could erase her entire existence.
"No, correction," Joon-seok said without looking up. "She doesn't have a good side. That would imply she has sides."
Bo-ram nodded seriously. "Don't listen to anything she says. Just survive."
Soo-ji stood up like her bones had personally betrayed her. "Yes," she said, stretching the word into pure exhaustion before following Ha-eun out.
The walk to the office felt longer than necessary, like the building itself was warning her to turn back.
At the door, Ha-eun suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Soo-ji… just nod to everything she says, okay?"
That did not help.
Soo-ji frowned. "Why does that sound like a survival instruction?"
Ha-eun didn't answer. She just turned and walked away.
Great.
That was comforting.
Soo-ji stared at the door.
Then at her hand.
Then back at the door.
She exhaled like she was about to enter battle.
And opened it.
Inside, Ms. Ga-young didn't even look up.
She sat perfectly composed, dressed too elegantly for someone whose personality felt like punishment. If cruelty had a dress code, this was it.
Soo-ji walked in carefully, stopping beside the desk.
"Yes, Ms. Ga-young," she said politely.
Without lifting her head, the teacher replied, "Did you forget your manners at home?"
Soo-ji blinked. "Good morning, Ms. Ga-young."
"Keep your greetings to yourself."
Warm. Just warm and nurturing, Soo-ji thought, her eye twitching slightly.
Ms. Ga-young slid a paper forward without ceremony. "Explain this."
Soo-ji glanced down.
Her answer booklet.
And right there, like a crime written in ink:
Find x? If you find X, please tell him to get a life and stop hiding from people.
Soo-ji's soul briefly left her body.
"shibal! (Fuck) I thought I erased that," she whispered under her breath.
"Shibal?" Ms. Ga-young snapped instantly.
Soo-ji froze. "No! Shimbal! (Shoes). I said shimbal. I really like your shoes."
The silence that followed felt dangerous.
Ms. Ga-young leaned back slightly. "So now we're complimenting footwear during academic failure? How creative, Lim Soo-ji."
Soo-ji kept her face neutral, but inside she was already planning her escape route through the ceiling.
"And while we're here," Ms. Ga-young continued, voice sharpening, "is this what you think tests are? A joke?"
Soo-ji said nothing.
Then came the final blow.
"If I were your parents," Ms. Ga-young added casually, "I'd have left you at a restaurant and never returned."
Soo-ji blinked slowly.
Not even a bad restaurant? That's harsh.
Before she could respond, the door behind them opened.
Mr. Hae-in stepped in.
Everything in Soo-ji's brain immediately malfunctioned.
Oh no.
Not now.
Not in front of him.
Ms. Ga-young's voice instantly changed pitch. "Ah, Mr. Hae-in. Perfect timing."
Soo-ji subtly tried to disappear behind her own shoulders.
"Tell me," Ms. Ga-young said dramatically, holding up the paper like a tragedy, "what did this student score?"
Mr. Hae-in glanced at it.
Then at Soo-ji.
"Lim Soo-ji?"
Her head snapped up immediately.
He knows my name.
Everything else stopped existing.
"Forty-six out of fifty," he said calmly.
There was a pause.
Then—
"FORTY-SIX?!" Ms. Ga-young practically shouted. "Check again."
Mr. Hae-in gave her a look that politely translated to: I have already checked reality.
Soo-ji, meanwhile, was trying not to smile too hard.
"Seriously?" Ms. Ga-young narrowed her eyes.
Soo-ji, under her breath, very softly said, "Hag…"
"Excuse me?" Ms. Ga-young snapped.
Soo-ji immediately straightened. "Nothing. I said… ah… hat."
Ms. Ga-young exhaled sharply. "Get out."
"Yes, ma'am," Soo-ji replied, far too cheerfully for someone being expelled from emotional survival.
As she turned to leave, Mr. Hae-in spoke again.
"Soo-ji."
She stopped.
Turned.
"Yes?"
He hesitated for a moment. Then—
"Can you call me Nari from Class A?"
For a second, her brain just… paused.
Then she smiled without even realizing it. "Yes, Mr. Hae-in."
And she walked out like the world hadn't just tilted slightly off balance.
She was so distracted she almost forgot where she was supposed to go next.
Almost.
The elite class.
Class A felt like stepping into a different universe.
Everything was too quiet. Too perfect. Too organized. Even the air felt expensive.
Soo-ji walked in slowly.
A few heads lifted.
Then returned to studying like she was background noise.
She approached the girl sitting near the window.
"Excuse me," she said softly. "Mr. Hae-in is asking for you."
The girl glanced up briefly.
Nari.
Beautiful.
Unreasonably calm.
Then she closed her book without a word and walked past Soo-ji like she wasn't even worth replying to.
Soo-ji blinked.
"…She's so cool," she muttered under her breath.
But before she could leave, voices cut through the room.
"Junior?"
She turned.
A group had appeared at the entrance like they owned gravity itself.
Soo-jin raised a brow. "You?"
"No!" Soo-ji said too quickly.
Seo-ra tilted her head. "We've never seen you before."
"I'm a new transfer student" she said voice low.
"She hangs around that flowery girl," Jun added casually.
"Bo-ram?" Seo-ra repeated, offended on Bo-ram's behalf. "No way."
Soo-jin looked her over once, then waved a hand lazily. "Leave."
Just like that.
Dismissed.
Soo-ji didn't argue.
She didn't even breathe too loudly.
She just nodded once and walked out before drama could decide to follow her home. She knew better than to lurk around with the predator.