Come To Light
1400 Words
Cursing under their breath, the students got up and started running under the blazing sun.
Ten laps meant four kilometers—brutal for people who couldn’t even finish their push-ups.
Only then did Seraphina realize Alex and Leo had both completed their hundred and waved goodbye to her.
Derek, meanwhile, leaned against a tree, surrounded by girls asking for his IG.
Whether he gave it or not, she didn’t care.
The girls were noisy enough to give him a headache. Just as he was about to dismiss them, one girl handed him a candy.
“Senior, this one’s really good. I recommend it.”
Derek looked at it. “What flavor?”
The girl blushed. “Green apple.”
“Green apple…” Derek repeated softly, taking it and unwrapping it.
Sweet-and-sour spread across his tongue. He closed his eyes, and a soft girl’s voice surfaced in his mind.
“Green apple tastes better than grape!”
Under the shade of a hospital building years ago, a little girl with scraped knees argued with a boy whose leg was in a cast.
“Grape is better!” the boy protested stubbornly.
“Hmph! I’m ignoring you!” The girl stormed off, twin ponytails bouncing.
“Hey—don’t be mad! Fine, green apple is better!” the boy chased after her on crutches, awkward and desperate…
Back in the present, Derek opened his eyes and murmured, “When will I see you again, Seraphina…”
“Senior, can we add IG?”
Thinking she had a chance, the girl pressed on under the others’ envious gazes.
Derek returned to his cold expression. “I don’t use IG.”
After two laps, Seraphina felt her strength fading, falling far behind the others.
Normally her stamina wasn’t bad—she could finish four kilometers in just over twenty minutes.
When her family had been wealthy, her parents had signed her up for swimming, dance—every physically demanding class imaginable.
But she suffered from severe cramps. Now everything spun, and she felt like she could collapse at any second.
Up ahead, a few students slowed down on purpose to let her catch up.
Then, as she passed, someone suddenly stuck out a leg.
Seraphina cried out and slammed hard onto the rubber track.
That was the last straw. Darkness swallowed her whole.
“Someone fainted!”
Derek turned and saw it was Lucas again. His brows knitted.
Does this kid actually have some kind of condition?
He shook his head. “Who’s taking him to the infirmary?”
“I will.” The class monitor, Henry, raised his hand.
Derek’s expression darkened.
Him?
Henry walked up and met Derek’s gaze. “I’ll take him, Instructor.”
Derek sized him up, irritation creeping into his voice. “Fine. Thanks.”
Stepping out from the shade, he blew his whistle.
“Anyone who hasn’t finished—keep running. Everyone else, assemble!”
With permission granted, Henry left the formation and hurried to Seraphina’s side, lifting her up.
The moment he touched her, he froze.
Why was her body so soft?
With that doubt lingering, he carried Seraphina all the way to the infirmary.
After laying her on the bed, his eyes landed on her pale, smooth neck—and on the unnatural hairline.
Curiosity stirred. He almost reached out—
“What happened?” the school nurse asked behind him.
Henry withdrew his hand and bowed slightly. “Hello. He’s my classmate. He fainted during training.”
“Sigh. Kids these days really lack physical fitness,” the nurse muttered, moving to Seraphina.
Henry sat down nearby. Barely two minutes later, he heard the nurse exclaim,
“She’s a girl?”
Henry froze. “What?”
Cooling Seraphina down, the nurse laughed. “She dressed like a boy—short hair, no chest. Turns out she’s a girl.”
For once in his life, Henry’s brilliant mind stalled.
Lucas’s enrollment records clearly listed male…
What was going on?
“Kids nowadays,” the nurse chuckled. “Boys want to look like girls, girls want to look like boys.”
“In this heat, wrapping your chest and wearing a wig—no wonder she passed out.”
Henry listened in silence as the nurse removed Seraphina’s wig and hair net.
Sweat-soaked black hair spilled out.
That face—too delicate for a boy—suddenly looked much more natural.
And especially… beautiful.
Henry said nothing, only smiled politely, thinking how frighteningly bold this “girl” really was.
Seraphina didn’t know how long she slept.
When she woke, all she saw was a white ceiling.
She sat up—and realized her disguise had been completely removed. The weight on her chest returned.
It felt like being drenched in ice water.
“Oh, you’re awake?” The nurse pulled the curtain aside.
Seraphina blurted out, “Ma’am—who brought me here?”
“Oh, your class monitor. H… what was his name…”
“Henry…” Seraphina whispered, her face draining of color.
“Right, right.”
Clinging to hope, Seraphina asked, “Then… did he see anything?”
“Don’t worry. I removed your binder—he didn’t see that. But he did see me take off your wig. He stared for a
good while.”
The nurse laughed, thinking Seraphina was worried about that.
“Such a pretty girl. Why pretend to be a boy? If you’re going to do it, shave your head next time. Wearing a wig in this heat—it’s unbearable.”
It was over.
The rest of the nurse’s words blurred into static. Seraphina slumped there like a puppet with its strings cut.
Henry was their class monitor. By now, he must have told the counselor already.
“If your period’s here, tell your instructor,” the nurse continued earnestly. “Forcing training at this intensity could seriously hurt you.”
Seeing Seraphina’s hollow expression, she helped wrap the binder back on and put the wig on again.
“Thank you,” Seraphina said softly, then staggered out.
By the time she regrouped in the restroom, it was already five in the evening. Training on the field had mostly ended, and crowds flowed toward the cafeteria.
Calmer now, Seraphina felt increasingly confused.
Her phone still had no messages. No one had come looking for her.
It was eerily quiet.
Surely the administration should have contacted her by now?
Was QUEEN BALY really this lenient about impersonating another student?
It was one of the country’s top universities, after all.
“Lucas.”
Seraphina stopped.
Turning around, she saw Henry’s serious face.
Handsome, tall, popular with girls—first-year class monitor, and an important figure in student council.
Someone like him wouldn’t cover this up.
What was coming, would come.
She stood stiffly, like a child waiting to be scolded.
“Come on,” Henry said gently. “Let’s eat. We’ll talk.”
Surprised by his tone, Seraphina followed him to the cafeteria.
She ordered a simple rice bowl and sat across from him.
Henry watched her lowered head. “You know how serious what you did is, right?”
Seraphina sniffed. Tears fell like pearls onto her camouflage pants.
Henry panicked. “Hey—don’t. Don’t worry. I haven’t told anyone. Not even the nurse.”
Seraphina froze, then looked up at him, her tear-bright eyes devastatingly vulnerable.
Henry steadied himself.
“Tell me why,” he said. “If it makes sense, I think I can help.”
Grasping the chance, Seraphina told him everything from beginning to end.
When she finished, she studied his expression anxiously.
“My brother worked really hard… I—I was a math major, even if this school is different… but I will—”
“I’ll work hard…”
Her voice faded. Even she knew how unconvincing it sounded.
Henry frowned, thinking for a long time.
Finally, he asked, “How serious is your brother’s injury?”
Seraphina’s gaze dimmed. “My mom said last night that he’s stable for now.”
“Then he should be able to return next year,” Henry murmured.
“Alright,” he said at last. “You take his place for this semester. Next semester, he comes back and uses the accident as an excuse for any changes in appearance.”
He paused.
“Your heights… are about the same, right?”
- Writer
