Chapter 21: No Accidents Left
476 Words
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The story broke before sunrise.
A leak.
Not from Eun-ha.
Not from Jae-won.
But someone — somewhere — had uploaded the Dalen files to a public forum, masked behind a VPN and encrypted ID.
Headlines followed within the hour:
> “St. Lysander’s Elite Manipulated by Secret Corporate Program”
“Project Phoenix Trial: University Students Used as Social Experiments”
“Han Eun-ha and Seo Jae-won at the Center of Chaebol Influence War”
Eun-ha stood in front of the TV in the dorm lounge, her coffee untouched.
Students gathered around the screen, wide-eyed.
“That’s her.”
“She’s in the report.”
“Did she know?”
“Or was she just… used?”
She turned before anyone could ask her directly.
But the questions followed.
So did the eyes.
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By mid-morning, the campus was swarming with reporters again.
Professors canceled classes. The board held an emergency meeting. The dean’s office sent out a mass email urging students to avoid “media entanglement.”
None of it worked.
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Eun-ha met Jae-won behind the greenhouse.
He looked wrecked. Sleepless. Fire in his jaw.
“I checked my systems,” he said. “I didn’t leak it. Neither did you.”
“Then who?”
He hesitated. “Maybe someone on the board. Or Ji-an. Or... Madam Seo.”
Eun-ha crossed her arms. “Why would your mother do that?”
“Because it protects me,” he said. “If the whole world sees how deep the manipulation goes, they can’t touch us anymore.”
She sighed. “And what if it turns us into puppets again — just in public this time?”
He reached for her hand. “Then we control the narrative. This time, no more silence.”
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That afternoon, the university announced a formal press briefing.
It would be held on campus. Both students and media would be invited. A chance to “clarify” the school’s position and “rebuild trust.”
Jae-won got the invite directly.
So did Eun-ha.
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That night, Madam Seo called her.
“You should speak,” she said.
Eun-ha hesitated. “Why?”
“Because they’ll listen to you now.”
“They’re not listening. They’re waiting for me to crack.”
Madam Seo paused. “Then show them what it looks like when a girl doesn’t.”
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Later, in her room, Eun-ha stared at herself in the mirror.
Not the scholarship student.
Not the chaos magnet.
Not the puppet.
Just a girl who had to decide what she stood for — when no one left her the option to stand at all.
Ji-hye came in quietly.
“You’re going to speak, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Yes,” Eun-ha whispered.
Ji-hye nodded. “Then make it count.”
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End of Chapter 21
[To Be Continued...]
- Writer
