I walked into the locker room, unlocking the small cabinet with my things inside. My feet automatically carried me toward the changing room, but my mind was somewhere else entirely.
Ice was just… Ice today. Not angry, not sarcastic, not throwing sharp words like usual. Just cold. That plain, detached way he answers everyone else. A neutral mask, with nothing to read behind it. Somehow, it hurt more than when he glared or scolded me.
As I pulled at strands of hair stuck under my camisole, I let out a long sigh.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but… angry Ice is better than this version of Ice.
Am I the only one who thinks we're friends? Maybe I was too forward? Too clingy? And now he… actually hates me?
I grabbed my bag and headed to the office to pick up the maid costume I'd left earlier. But the second I opened the door, I froze.
He was there.
Sitting casually on one of the office chairs, pen in hand, flipping through papers. For a brief moment, his expression looked almost relaxed—but when he noticed me, it vanished. His face returned to that blank, indifferent mask, as if nothing had ever shifted.
My chest tightened. What did I do?
He didn't say a word, just turned back to the papers like I hadn't entered at all. Acting busy. Acting like I wasn't there.
I wanted to storm over, shake him, and demand to know what was wrong. But the air around him didn't feel like the usual Icy coldness—it felt like a wall. A stranger's wall, shutting me out completely.
So I stayed quiet.
I walked carefully to the corner, picked up the folded costume, and held it close to my chest like it could shield me. My soul felt suffocated, fighting the urge to speak. I kept sneaking glances at him from the edge of my vision.
Nothing. Not even a flicker of acknowledgment.
The silence was unbearable, heavy like an abyss swallowing the whole room. My heartbeat echoed inside it until—
Ring! Ring!
I nearly jumped. My phone blared from my pocket, shattering the tension. With clumsy hands I snatched it out and answered quickly, afraid of disturbing him further.
"Hello, Ace!" I greeted, too loud, too bright, already rushing to the door before I could get myself fired for being a distraction.
INT – ORIEL'S DORM
Night had fallen, but Oriel's thoughts refused to settle. She lay on her side, restless, the mattress soft under her yet offering no comfort. Moonlight slipped faintly across the ceiling, but she didn't bother turning on the lamp. Too distracted. Her mind was a whirlpool, circling endlessly back to Fire.
Jealous? Dhylan had teased her at dinner, it couldn't be that.
"You're really possessive with your friends, you know." He'd said it casually, like it was nothing.
Then he'd slammed his hand on the table, eyes sharp—"On another thought, why aren't you possessive about me?!"
The memory made her chest ache. She hugged the worn panda plush Dhylan had given her years ago, clutching it against her like a shield. In moments like this, she talked to it the way she never could with him.
"You're so stupid, you know…" she whispered, pressing her forehead to the panda's round head. If it had been Dhylan, the words would have been sharp, maybe even shouted. But with this panda, they came out soft. Gentle. Affectionate.
Her thoughts drifted back to Fire—probably already back in Asia for semester break. The thought left her oddly hollow. She reached for her phone on the side table and scrolled through their messages.
"I passed!" Fire's text burst with emojis, practically glowing with joy.
"I can help you! Not that President," she murmured at the glowing screen, as if Fire could hear her through it. But when it came to actually typing back, her fingers froze. She didn't have the guts.
Oriel sighed. That strange gnawing in her chest tightened, something unexplainable.
Ding.
Her heart skipped. A new message flashed across the top of her screen. For a split second, hope bloomed—Fire? Dhylan?
But no.
The sender's name froze her blood. Her fingers stopped mid- air.
Azure.
Orieeeeee, I miss you so much! Can we meet asap?
Her panda plush slipped into the background she stared at the phone. Shock jolted through her veins like ice water.
Azure. After all this time.
Two years. Maybe more. No words, no explanation, no goodbye. Just gone. Left her standing in the dark with nothing but silence.
Her best friend. No—more than that. The sister she had chosen for herself. And she had abandoned her.
Oriel's grip on the phone tightened until her knuckles turned white.
All because of a breakup with Dhylan.
The old wound, the unanswered questions, the confusion she thought she'd buried—it all ripped open again, raw as if it had happened yesterday.
The phone's screen glared back at her, bright against the shadows of her dorm, searing her eyes until they watered. The words looked real, too real.
She shot upright, clutching the phone to her chest, staring blankly at the corners of the room. But her mind was nowhere near here.
Anger burned first—how dare she reappear like nothing happened?
Jealousy stabbed next—she had been Dhylan's girlfriend, even if only briefly.
Then came happiness, shameful and undeniable—because despite it all, Azure had once been one of the most important people in her life.
And fear. Deep, twisting fear. Fear of what this meant, of what Azure wanted, of what it would stir back to life.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly, torn between reaching out and throwing the phone across the room.
The past had come back. And Oriel wasn't ready.
Next Chapter:
Is it over? …Maybe.
Ice never wanted me in his perfect life anyway.
Now he finally has the perfect excuse to push me out—
and the worst part? I think it's working.