We followed Min-ah down the spiraling concrete stairs into the basement. The air grew cooler, smelling less like floor wax and more like ozone and dust.
She stopped in front of an unmarked metal door and swiped a keycard.
"Welcome," she said, her voice dropping to a theatrical whisper, "to the brain."
She pushed the door open.
I expected a gossip den. I expected beanbag chairs, maybe a whiteboard covered in photos of students connected by red string like a detective movie.
Instead, I walked into... The Matrix.
The room was bathed in the cool blue glow of server racks. Fans hummed a low, constant drone. There were three workstations set up with multiple monitors, scrolling lines of code that looked like gibberish to me.
"This is Kirin's Secret?" I asked, bewildered. "Where are the spies? Where is the tea?"
"The 'tea' is in the database," Min-ah grinned, hopping onto a swivel chair. "This club manages the school's anonymous forum, the backend of the website, and the server security. We're the 'Web Development and Cybersecurity Club' on paper."
Leo, who had been silent and bored all afternoon, suddenly woke up. He walked over to the nearest monitor, his eyes scanning the code.
"Python?" he asked. "And... is that a custom SQL injection filter?"
"Good eye, L.A. Boy," Min-ah said, impressed. "We built the forum from scratch. Want to see the architecture?"
Leo dropped his backpack. "Yeah. Actually, I do."
He looked at me. "Go ahead, San. I'm gonna stay for a bit. This is actually interesting."
I stared at them. The Gossip Queen and the L.A. Heartbreaker, bonding over coding languages. Kirin was a strange place.
"Alright," I said, suppressing a yawn. "Don't hack the Pentagon, Leo. I'm going home."
"Bye, Mountain!" Min-ah waved without looking away from her screen.
I trudged back up the stairs. As soon as I pushed the door open to the ground floor, my phone—which had been dead silent in the bunker—exploded.
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
It vibrated so hard in my pocket I thought I was being electrocuted. I pulled it out.
15 Missed Messages from: Ha-neul (The Boss)
[4:45 PM]Where are you?
[4:50 PM]Dad is coming early. Be at the gate.
[4:55 PM]San.
[4:58 PM]If you are making me wait, you are dead.
[5:02 PM]Pick up the phone!!!!
[5:05 PM]I'm at the main entrance. Hurry up.
It was 5:10 PM.
"Oh, shibal," I whispered, adopting Mr. Lee's vocabulary.
I sprinted through the now-emptying halls of the main building, bursting out of the glass doors and into the sunset.
I scanned the entrance area. There she was.
Ha-neul was standing near the statue of the school founder. But she wasn't alone.
A guy was standing in front of her. He was tall, wearing a generic, expensive-looking suit (maybe a university student?), and he was holding a massive bouquet of red roses.
He was leaning in, talking fast, looking desperate. Ha-neul's arms were crossed so tightly she looked like she was trying to hug herself into a different dimension. Her face was a mask of cold, polite fury.
I slowed down, unsure if I should interrupt. Was this a confession? A drama scene?
Ha-neul looked up. Her eyes locked onto mine.
The relief that washed over her face was instant. It was followed immediately by a terrifying, calculating glint.
She waved her hand frantically. "Over here!"
I jogged over. "Hey, sorry I'm late, the basement had no—"
I didn't finish the sentence.
Ha-neul lunged at me.
She grabbed my hand, interlacing her fingers with mine in a grip that was bone-crushing. She stepped into my personal space, looking up at me with eyes that were suddenly huge, sparkling, and sickeningly sweet.
"Oppa!" she chirped, her voice jumping an octave. "You're finally here! I was waiting so long!"
Oppa?
I froze. The guy with the roses looked at me, then at our joined hands. He looked like he'd been slapped.
"Ha-neul?" the guy asked, his voice trembling. "Who... who is this?"
"I told you, Jae-min," Ha-neul said, turning to him but keeping her body pressed against my arm. She smiled, but it was a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "My boyfriend is here. We have a date. Right, Jagiya?"
She looked at me. I was a deer in headlights.
She squeezed my hand. Hard. Her nails dug into my palm.
"Right... honey?" I stammered, my voice cracking.
"See?" Ha-neul beamed at the flower guy. "So you should really take those flowers home. Bye!"
She yanked me forward. "Let's go, Oppa! Dad is waiting!"
She dragged me toward the gate. I stumbled after her, glancing back at the guy, who was left standing there with his rejection roses, looking devastated.
"Ha-neul," I hissed out of the side of my mouth as we walked away. "What is happening? Who is that?"
"Shut up," she hissed back, a smile plastered on her face for the benefit of anyone watching. "Just walk. And smile. If you drop my hand, I will cut out your tongue."
"You are hurting my hand!"
"Smile, San! Look in love!"
I forced a grimace that was probably terrifying. "I love you so much, Jagiya!" I said loudly, in broken Korean.
Her face turned ice cold for a second.
"Don't overdo it," she muttered through her teeth. She looked like this emoji: -_-' , that also included the rolled eyes.
We reached the curb just as Mr. Lee's black sedan pulled around the corner. We were safely out of the flower guy's line of sight.
Ha-neul immediately dropped my hand.
She didn't just let go; she pushed me away with a shudder of pure physical disgust, wiping her hand on her skirt as if I had been covered in slime.
"Ugh," she groaned, her face returning to its normal, scowling resting state. "That was awful."
I rubbed my crushed hand. "Wow. I feel the love. You really know how to make a guy feel special."
"Don't be gross."
"I wish you were that sweet to your host brother all the time," I teased, leaning against the lamppost. "Calling me 'Oppa', holding my hand... Mr. Lee would cry tears of joy if he saw us getting along."
"In your dreams, 'Mountain'," she snapped.
"So," I asked, nodding back toward the school. "Who was the tragic Romeo? You can't just use me as a human shield and not explain. I'm involved now."
Ha-neul sighed, crossing her arms again. She looked tired.
"That," she said, "was Kim Jae-min."
She sighed once more.
'Gosh, I'm gonna prepare an oxygen mask next time.'
"My ex-boyfriend," she muttered, looking at the ground. "From middle school. He goes to university now. He thinks... he thinks if he shows up with flowers enough times, I'll forget why I dumped him."
"Why did you dump him?"
She ignored my question.
"Well. He's clearly an idiot." I snorted, saying sarcastically.
Before she could respond, Mr. Lee's car pulled up to the curb, the window rolling down.
"Kids!" Mr. Lee called out cheerfully. "Get in! I hope you didn't wait long!"
"Not at all, Abeoji," I said, opening the door for Ha-neul.
Ha-neul shot me a glare that promised murder, and slid into the backseat.