The school announced a science fair, inviting students to present experiments and projects. Huweol High's gymnasium transformed into a sea of tables, posters, and bubbling test tubes. Hwang Siyeok walked calmly through the chaos, green eyes scanning setups and student behavior.
Shy Suya, notebook in hand, followed him closely. "Do you think you'll join?" she asked quietly.
Hwang Siyeok shook his head, calm as always. "Not formally. But observing and assisting is valuable."
As he moved through the fair, Hwang Siyeok noticed a team struggling with a chemistry experiment. Their reaction mixture had overheated, spilling slightly onto the table. Panic set in among the students.
Without drawing attention, Hwang Siyeok approached, quietly analyzing the situation. With a few subtle adjustments — tilting the flask, adjusting temperature, and guiding airflow — the reaction stabilized. The students gasped, unsure how the accident was avoided, yet no one realized Hwang Siyeok had intervened.
Shy Suya whispered, impressed. "He doesn't just fix problems… he predicts them before they happen."
Meanwhile, Kang Jae-Hoon watched from across the room, plotting another attempt to challenge him. But Hwang Siyeok's awareness was complete. Subtle movements, glances, and adjustments ensured that no sabotage or mistake would succeed unnoticed.
Hwang Siyeok's path then led him to a robotics table, where a student team struggled to complete a malfunctioning robot. He knelt beside them, suggesting minor changes — tightening screws, realigning sensors, and optimizing programming logic. The robot sprang to life, moving flawlessly across the mat.
The crowd whispered excitedly, wondering who had helped the teams. Hwang Siyeok simply returned to his calm observation, sitting at a distant table while Shy Suya jotted down notes furiously.
"You make it look so effortless," she murmured.
He glanced at her, green eyes calm. "Effort is invisible when preparation, observation, and understanding are applied correctly. Mastery doesn't need applause to exist."
Even Kang Jae-Hoon realized that direct confrontation was futile. Hwang Siyeok didn't need to assert dominance; he influenced, guided, and controlled situations subtly, always staying hidden in plain sight.
The science fair concluded successfully, with students praised for their results. No one suspected how much Hwang Siyeok had contributed behind the scenes.
For him, it was just another day — observing, correcting, and influencing without revealing his full abilities. Shy Suya followed quietly, slowly understanding that Hwang Siyeok's power lay not only in skill but in precision, control, and discretion.
By the end of the day, the gym emptied, leaving traces of success, chaos averted, and problems solved. And through it all, Hwang Siyeok remained hidden, a master of subtlety and hidden influence, fully human yet extraordinary.
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