The slow creak of the Ferris Wheel echoed above Notte World, steel beams gleaming in the noon sun. The ride was old, massive, and deceptively calm—lifting cabin after cabin into the sky while the crowds below bustled like ants.
One of those cabin clattered shut with a heavy click. with two inside.
Inside sat Crystal Choi.
Her posture was perfect, back straight, arms folded, face framed in sunlight like she'd been sculpted from porcelain.
The chaos of Potato High and the noise of J High had vanished the moment the door locked. Now, only the slow hum of gears and the steady climb remained.
Across from her sat Seong Min Park.
He leaned back against the padded seat like the cabin was his throne, violet eyes watching her with quiet amusement. His calm carried weight, filling the tiny space until it was hard to breathe.
Crystal spoke first.
"You think you can play with me the way you play with Yui." Her voice was even, but sharp. "You can't."
Seong Min tilted his head. "Play?"
Crystal's jaw tightened. The image of Yui's flushed face, how his hand was up in her skirt, her parted lips around his fingers, burned behind her eyelids. The video hadn't left her mind since the bus.
"You use her as a slave. but I'm not her. Don't mistake me for one of your toys."
Her tone cut like glass. But her hands—clenched tightly against her arms—betrayed the tension she was trying to hide.
Seong Min didn't flinch. He leaned forward slowly, his gaze locking on her until she felt pinned against the seat.
"If you believe I'm dangerous…" he murmured, his voice low, deliberate, "…why are you here alone with me?"
Her chest tightened.
For one second—just one—her eyes flickered. He noticed.
She drew in a sharp breath, mask snapping back. "Because someone has to tell you the truth."
Seong Min smirked faintly. "The truth?"
"That whatever you think you're building—Dog Pound, loyalty, fear—it won't last." Her chin lifted, pride steady. "You might have Yui. You might even lure Zoe with your games. But me?" Her eyes narrowed, ice-cold. "You can't have me."
Silence.
The wheel groaned as their car rose higher, tilting gently. Sunlight poured through the glass.
Seong Min stood.
Crystal's body tensed instinctively, though she didn't move. He closed the distance slowly, each step deliberate, until he stood over her. She tilted her chin upward, refusing to shrink, but her breath betrayed her—faint, shallow, uneven.
He reached down. His fingers brushed her jaw.
Her pulse leapt.
"Your words…" he said softly, his thumb grazing just under her chin, "don't match your eyes."
Crystal's hands clenched against her skirt. She willed herself to shove him back, to slap his hand away, to sneer and prove him wrong.
But she didn't.
Her lips parted slightly, air catching in her throat.
Seong Min leaned closer. His other hand touched the curve of her waist, just resting—like it was always there. The warmth of his palm burned through the thin fabric of her uniform.
Her heart hammered.
She hated it.
She hated how her body leaned, how her breath quickened, how the closeness of him made the air feel thin.
"You talk of loyalty," she whispered, her voice trembling despite herself. "Of making people kneel. But me—"
Her voice faltered when his forehead nearly brushed hers. His breath fanned her lips, warm, steady, unyielding.
"…me," she tried again, "if you want me…"
Their noses brushed. Her pride shrieked inside her head. Her body screamed the opposite.
"…you'd have to defeat me."
The words slipped out like a confession, shaky but sharp, her last shield.
Seong Min chuckled low in his chest. His lips hovered a hair's breadth from hers, so close she could feel the curve of his grin.
"Defeat you?" His voice was velvet, dangerous. "Crystal, I don't conquer queens. I make them kneel on their own."
Her breath caught hard. For one dizzying second she thought she might actually close the gap herself—pride be damned.
But then—she snapped back.
Her hands shot up, pressing against his chest, shoving just enough to force distance. Her mask returned, though her cheeks burned pink.
"I won't," she hissed, standing quickly, turning her back to him. Her arms folded tight across her chest, as if that could cage her trembling. "Not me. Not ever."
The silence stretched.
He didn't approach again. Instead, he sat—watching, waiting, the king at rest. "The more you push," he said to no one in particular, "the harder you'll snap back."
Crystal's jaw clenched. She stared out the window, forcing her breathing steady, hiding the war raging in her chest.
Below, Notte World sprawled like a glittering map. Students laughed, pointing up at the Ferris Wheel, oblivious to the storm brewing in one of its cars.
Outside the Wheel in the next cabin,
Two girls stood half-hidden near the line, eyes sharp.
Zoe Park crossed her arms, smirking. "Well, well. The Queen finally stepped into the lion's den."
Beside her, Yui Kim held her phone low, camera angled up at the moving cabin. She didn't speak. She didn't need to.
Her loyalty wasn't in words. It was in the faint smile tugging at her lips.
Zoe glanced at her and scoffed. "You think he'll choose you forever? Please. it seem like, now he already got Crystal where he wanted to. You just can't see it."
Yui finally spoke, her voice soft but sharp. "Loyalty isn't about who he chooses. It's about who doesn't leave."
Their eyes locked, heat sparking.
And above them, the Ferris Wheel kept turning.
Inside Again
The car rocked gently at the peak, holding for a heartbeat before the descent.
Crystal risked a glance back at Seong Min.
He was still lounging, calm, smirk faint. Like he'd won something without even needing to touch it.
Her fists clenched tighter.
He thinks I'll kneel. He thinks I'll break like Yui.
But her body still remembered the weight of his hand on her waist, the warmth of his breath, the closeness of his lips.
Her pride screamed denial.
Her heart whispered something else.
The car began its slow descent.
And Crystal Choi silently admitted, for the first time, that she was afraid. Not of him.
But of herself.
✨ End of Chapter 77 ✨