5
981 Words
Chapter Five
Dayo POV
Park Min-ji stood outside the glass room with two other students behind him, one hand tucked into his pocket while he looked between me and Seo-yun like he’d just caught us doing something amusing.
The problem was, nobody else seemed amused.
Seo-yun didn’t react. She stayed seated, one hand resting lightly against the file in front of her, calm enough that it almost made Min-ji look louder by comparison.
“You need something?” she asked.
Min-ji’s eyes flicked toward her briefly before settling back on me.
“I just wanted to see the scholarship student who somehow managed to become your partner after one day.”
I leaned back slightly in my chair. “You say that like I had a choice.”
Students walking past had started slowing down again, pretending not to stare while very obviously listening.
Min-ji finally stepped into the room.
“You know what people are saying already?” he asked me.
“No,” I said honestly. “And I don’t really care.”
One of the students near the door let out a short laugh before immediately going quiet again when Min-ji looked his way.
“You should care,” Min-ji said, his voice calmer now. “At L.I.A, rumors decide things before facts do.”
Seo-yun finally closed the file in front of her.
“That’s enough.”
Min-ji glanced at her.
For the first time since I’d met him, he actually hesitated before speaking again.
Interesting.
“You really don’t think this looks suspicious?” he asked.
“I think you’re wasting my time.”
Min-ji stared at her for a moment longer before letting out a quiet scoff.
Then his eyes shifted back to me.
“You should take her advice seriously,” he said. “People who get too close to Rank 1 usually regret it.”
I held his gaze this time.
“Good thing I’m only here for an assignment then.”
That made the atmosphere worse somehow.
One of the students behind him muttered a soft “damn” under his breath.
Min-ji’s expression flattened slightly, like he still hadn’t figured out whether I was brave or stupid.
Probably both.
Then Seo-yun stood up.
And immediately, everyone stopped talking completely.
“I said enough.”
Her tone never changed.
Min-ji looked at her for another second before finally stepping back toward the door.
“Fine,” he said lightly. “I’ll leave your new project alone.”
Project. Not partner.
Interesting choice of words.
Then he walked away, the others following immediately behind him.
The moment they disappeared around the corner, the tension in the room loosened slightly.
I looked back at Seo-yun.
“Does he always act like that?”
She picked up her bag calmly.
“Yes.”
“And people just accept it?”
“They accept rankings.”
That answer stayed in my head longer than it should have.
Because the more time I spent at L.I.A, the more I realized nobody here behaved normally around power.
They adapted to it.And Kang Seo-yun
whether she wanted it or notwas at the center of all of it.
Dayo POV
“They accept rankings.”
The answer stayed in my head even after she said it so casually, like it was something obvious I should have understood the moment I stepped into L.I.A.
Seo-yun picked up the papers from the table and slipped them neatly into her bag before walking toward the door.
“We’re done for today,” she said.
“That’s it?”
Her hand paused on the door handle.
“What were you expecting?”
I shrugged slightly. “I don’t know. Since everyone’s acting like this assignment is life-changing, I figured there’d be more.”
For the first time, she actually looked amused.
“It is life-changing,” she said.
Then she opened the door and walked out.
I stared after her for a second before grabbing my bag and following.
The hallways were quieter now. Afternoon classes had already started, leaving only a few students scattered around the building, but even then, people noticed Seo-yun immediately.
Heads turned, Conversations paused.
A girl walking past almost dropped her phone trying to greet her quickly.
Seo-yun acknowledged none of it.
“You know,” I said as we walked downstairs, “this whole mysterious, emotionally unavailable thing you do is kind of terrifying.”
That got me a look.
“A lot of people would be too scared to say that to me.”
“Good thing I’m not a lot of people.”
The corner of her mouth twitched slightly before disappearing again so fast I almost thought I imagined it.
Outside, the late afternoon sun reflected against the glass buildings, making the entire campus glow gold for a second.
Students crossed the courtyard below us in groups, laughter carrying through the air.
For the first time since arriving here, L.I.A almost looked normal.
Then Seo-yun spoke again.
“You really don’t understand how this school works yet.”
“I understand enough,” I replied. “People here worship rankings like a religion.”
“That’s the surface of it.”
I glanced at her. “And what’s underneath?”
She was quiet for a moment.
Then:
“Fear.”
The word landed heavy.
Before I could ask what she meant, movement across the courtyard caught my attention.
A crowd had gathered near one of the outdoor screens.
Students were talking loudly now, phones already out.
“What happened?” I asked.
Seo-yun’s expression shifted slightly as she looked toward the crowd.
“The monthly rankings,” she said.
“They’re updating them early.”
And somehow the way everyone immediately rushed toward those screens made me realize this school wasn’t competitive in a normal way.
At L.I.A, rankings weren’t just status.
They were survival.
- Writer
