4
971 Words
Chapter Four
Dayo POV
The whispers didn’t stop after class ended.
If anything, they got worse.
People stared openly now as they packed their things, some pretending not to look while still watching me through reflections on their phones or the classroom windows.
There had to be a reason Professor Han paired me with Seo-yun, but judging from everyone’s reactions, it definitely wasn’t normal.
Park Min-ji shut his notebook harder than necessary before standing.
“You’ve been here one day,” he said, looking directly at me, “and you’re already causing problems.”
I leaned back slightly in my chair. “Pretty sure I didn’t make the seating chart.”
A few students nearby reacted, trying to hide their expressions.
Min-ji noticed.
Of course he did.
For a second, I thought he was going to say something else, but then his gaze shifted past me toward the front of the room.
Seo-yun was standing now.
It was strange watching it happen every time she moved, like people adjusted themselves without realizing they were doing it.
She picked up her bag calmly and walked toward the door without acknowledging anyone trying to talk to her.
Then she stopped beside my desk.
The room went quiet so fast it almost felt rehearsed.
“You coming?” she said.
Not a question.
I blinked once. “Coming where?”
“Our assignment.”
Right.
I stood slowly, grabbing my bag while every person in the room watched like this was some kind of public execution.
Seo-yun didn’t seem bothered by the attention at all, She just turned and walked out, already expecting me to follow.
And I did.
The hallways were quieter now compared to earlier, I walked half a step behind before finally speaking.
“Does everyone here always act like you’re royalty or something?”
That got the smallest reaction out of her. “They act like they understand how this school works,” she replied.
“And do I?”
She glanced at me briefly while continuing down the hallway.
“No.”
At least she was honest.
We stopped in front of a large glass door near the end of the corridor. Unlike the other classrooms, this one was completely empty inside except for tables, computers, and a massive screen covering one wall.
I looked at her.
“What is this?”
“The debate prep room,” she answered simply before opening the door.
Of course a school like L.I.A had an entire room just for debate preparation.
I walked in after her, setting my bag down carefully while she moved toward one of the tables near the windows.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she finally looked at me properly again.
“You’re not what I expected.”
I raised an eyebrow slightly. “You expected something?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Her gaze stayed steady on mine.
“I expected you to be easier to intimidate.”
I almost smiled.
“Disappointing, huh?” I said.
Seo-yun studied me for a second before pulling out a chair and sitting down like the conversation hadn’t mattered enough to continue.
“It depends,” she replied.
I dropped my bag beside the table and sat across from her.
Up close, she somehow looked even more composed than she did from a distance, Just controlled in a way that made everyone around her feel louder than they actually were.
She opened a file resting on the table between us.
“Our debate topic gets announced tomorrow,” she said. “Professor Han expects preparation before then.”
“Preparation for a topic we don’t even know yet?”
“Yes.”
I stared at her for a second.
“You really are Rank 1.”
That finally earned the faintest reaction from her, though it disappeared almost immediately.
“You say that like it’s a personality trait.”
“Isn’t it?”
Her eyes lifted from the file.
“No.”
Silence settled between us again, but it didn’t feel as tense this time.
Outside the glass walls of the room, students occasionally passed by, and almost every single one slowed down when they noticed who I was sitting with.
Some openly stared, Others whispered before walking faster again.
Seo-yun ignored all of it.
“You’re used to people watching you.”
She leaned back slightly in her chair.
“You aren’t?”
I let out a quiet laugh.
“Not like this.”
“That’ll change.”
Something about the way she said it made my stomach tighten slightly. Like she was warning me about gravity.
She pushed another paper toward me.
“Your grades from your entrance exams were high.”
I looked down at the page.
Apparently L.I.A kept records on everything.
“You checked?”
“I check everyone who becomes relevant.”
I looked back up at her slowly.
“And I’m relevant?”
Another pause.
Then:
“You were paired with me.”
Fair enough.
I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms loosely.
“So let me guess. Everyone thinks I bribed someone, hacked the system, or secretly begged Professor Han for this assignment.”
“Something like that.”
“And what do you think?”
That made her quiet for the first time since we entered the room.
Finally, she closed the file gently.
“I think Professor Han doesn’t do things randomly.”
Before I could respond, voices suddenly echoed from outside the room.
A group of students walked past the glass doors, slowing down the moment they spotted us together.
One of them muttered something quietly.
Another laughed.
Then I heard a familiar voice.
Park Min-ji.
“So the rumors are true.”
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Seo-yun’s expression didn’t change.
Mine did.
- Writer
