The hallway buzzed with the end-of-lunch chaos, students scattering toward class. She still stood frozen by the lockers, her fake friends' words clawing at her chest, when the air shifted—sharp, electric.
Kai was moving.
He strode down the hall with quiet precision, every step heavy with purpose. His black eyes burned, cutting through the crowd until he stopped directly in front of the girls who had cornered her.
The chatter died instantly. Dozens of eyes turned.
"What the hell is your problem?" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried, low and edged with steel.
The girls froze, their practiced smirks faltering. "Excuse me?" one of them said, her tone brittle.
"You heard me." Kai's gaze swept across the group, sharp and unyielding. "You spend all day tearing her down, laughing at her, making her feel small. For what? So you can feel bigger?"
A ripple of whispers ran through the crowd. Students stopped in their tracks, watching.
The leader of the group scoffed, trying to recover. "We were just joking."
Kai stepped closer, and the shift was palpable—his calm cracking just enough to let the heat show. "If you call making someone feel worthless a joke, then you're not funny. You're pathetic."
Gasps erupted. The girls stiffened, their faces paling under the weight of dozens of watching eyes.
One tried to laugh it off. "You don't even know her."
Kai's eyes flicked to the female lead for just a heartbeat, then back. His voice dropped, dark and steady. "I know enough. Enough to see what you're doing. And I'm done watching."
The silence was suffocating.
Then, with his final words, he shattered it:
"If you can't treat her like a human being, then don't talk to her at all. Because if you do—" His gaze burned, daring them. "You'll answer to me."
The hall exploded. Gasps, murmurs, laughter, disbelief. The girls stood stunned, their faces burning red, their masks stripped clean in front of everyone.
And her.
She stood frozen, her heart pounding so hard it hurt. Nobody had ever—ever—spoken for her like that.
Kai finally turned toward her, the fire in his eyes softening when they met hers. "Let's go," he said simply, offering his hand.
The entire hallway watched.
And for the first time in her life, she didn't care.