Second to None

chapter 6:when mother screams

The hallway was crowded after lunch, buzzing with gossip.

Whispers followed Eun Rin like smoke.

“Is it true…?”

“They said she pushed Yena…”

“Look at her face. So calm. Creepy.”

Eun Rin ignored them all, walking with her quiet, chilling elegance.

Then—

A sharp crack exploded through the hallway.

A hand.

A slap.

Hard enough to turn her face sideways.

Mrs. Ha Seorin stood there, shaking with grief and rage.

“You monster!” she screamed.

She raised her hand again—another slap—

her palm trembling.

“You killed my daughter! You pushed her! She’s in a coma because of you!”

Students gasped.

Phones came out.

Teachers ran toward them.

Eun Rin didn’t lift a hand to defend herself.

Didn’t flinch.

Didn’t cry.

She just stared at the floor…

Then slowly, she looked up.

And for one small—tiny—millisecond,

she smirked.

That cold, dangerous, inhuman smirk.

Mrs. Ha Seorin stumbled back, horrified.

“You… you enjoyed it,” she whispered.

“You’re not human.”

She lunged again, but—

A hand blocked her.

Seo Jihan.

“Mrs. Ha, stop,” he said softly but firmly.

His voice shook.

He turned to Eun Rin, touching her cheek gently.

“Are you hurt? Rin, talk to me…”

Another hand grabbed Mrs. Ha’s wrist—roughly this time.

Kang Rael.

“Touch her again,” he said with quiet, deadly eyes,

“and you won’t leave this school standing.”

Gasps filled the hallway.

Eun Rin stood motionless between the two boys—

one light, one darkness—

both shielding her.

Students whispered:

“She’s… like a queen.”

“Both the top boys are protecting her?”

“It’s because she’s the Rin Tech heiress…”

Teacher Im Sooyeon rushed in, pulling Mrs. Ha away as she screamed:

“She smirked! I saw her! She SMILED!”

But everyone dismissed her as hysterical.

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Jihan held her arm gently, voice soft as feathers.

“Let’s get you checked. Please.”

Rael stood on her other side, defensive, eyes scanning for threats.

“No cameras captured anything. Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone touch you.”

They walked her to the nurse’s office together.

The moment her head touched the pillow—

Eun Rin closed her eyes.

Asleep.

Or pretending.

The room went silent.

Jihan stared at her face, heartbreak deep in his eyes.

“She’s still in there,” he whispered.

“The good girl I grew up with… I’ll save her. Even if she hates me.”

Rael scoffed under his breath but didn’t deny it.

He leaned close to her, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.

“You don’t need saving,” he murmured.

“You need someone who understands the monster you’re becoming.”

Both boys froze—realizing the same truth:

They both loved her.

But for opposite reasons.

One loved her purity.

One loved her darkness.

And she slept between them,

breathing calmly,

as if she couldn’t feel the storm she had created.

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