Slowly, Nau Rin lifted her head.
Seohun was standing right in front of her. Behind him, Minho and Taehyun were there as well, watching the scene unfold.
Seohun tightened his grip around the other student's wrist. The boy winced, his face twisting with irritation.
"Who the hell are you?" he snapped.
"That's none of your business," Seohun replied coldly, his voice low and steady as his grip tightened further.
Unable to endure the pain any longer, the student released Nau Rin's hair. But Seohun had no intention of letting him go so easily. With a sharp shove to the shoulder, he forced the boy backward, slamming him against the board. The impact knocked the breath out of him, and he doubled over in pain.
In that instant, Seohun struck him in the gut.
The boy dropped to his knees on the floor.
Seohun looked down at him, then spoke loudly enough for everyone in the classroom to hear, his voice firm and unwavering.
"Try laying a hand on her again."
He glanced at the other students out of the corner of his eye as he passed them. No one made a move to help the boy clutching his stomach on the floor; their eyes were fixed only on him.
Still rubbing her head, Nau Rin quietly walked out of the classroom. Seohun followed after her, while Taehyun and Minho walked ahead down the corridor.
Minho glanced at her scalp and gasped.
"Hey, your hair's falling out in clumps!"
Nau Rin frowned and shot him an annoyed look.
"Stop talking nonsense."
Taehyun stepped closer.
"Let me see," he said, leaning in to examine it carefully.
After a moment he straightened up and looked at Minho.
"She's fine."
Minho nudged him with his elbow, muttering under his breath.
"I was just trying to scare her a little…"
Nau Rin shot him a sharp glare, and that was the end of their bickering.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the cafeteria together.
When they entered the cafeteria, the long line of students waiting for food stirred with quiet murmurs. Whispers rippled through the crowd as soon as they appeared.
After getting their meals, the four of them found an empty table and sat down. As they did, curious glances followed them from students passing by. Those looks—half inquisitive, half judgmental—made the atmosphere around them feel distinctly uncomfortable.
It wasn't only the students walking past them. Even those already seated farther away paused in the middle of their meals, turning their heads to look back and whisper among themselves.
As if none of it concerned her, Nau Rin calmly started eating.
The others, however, struggled to remain composed under the weight of the attention. The tension in the air was suffocating. Minho, especially, looked so uncomfortable that he couldn't even bring himself to pick up his food.
Breaking the heavy, uneasy silence, Nau Rin suddenly asked as though nothing were wrong,
"Why aren't you eating?"
Minho blinked at her in disbelief.
"Can you even swallow food right now?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" Nau Rin replied casually. "It actually tastes pretty good."
The others stared at her in surprise, but Nau Rin continued eating as if nothing unusual was happening.
Taehyun finally let out a small sigh.
"Yeah… instead of sitting here like this, let's just eat."
Except for Nau Rin, the rest of them remained tense the entire time, sitting stiffly as they forced themselves to finish their meals beneath the weight of countless staring eyes.
Outside, snow continued to drift down, though the air felt surprisingly warm. The four of them stood by the school entrance, quietly watching the snowflakes fall.
Breaking the silence, Minho spoke first.
"So… where do we go now?"
Seohun glanced at his watch.
"I have tutoring," he said.
Taehyun nodded.
"Me too."
With that, the two of them started walking off ahead.
Once again, the remaining pair stood there, watching their backs disappear into the distance. Minho let out a quiet sigh. He looked off to the side for a moment, then toward the direction they had gone.
"Maybe I should go to tutoring too…" he murmured.
Then he turned to Nau Rin.
"Let's just go home."
"Didn't you want to go somewhere?" Nau Rin replied.
Minho blinked in confusion.
"Where?"
"Anywhere," Nau Rin answered shortly, already stepping forward.
Without saying another word, Minho simply followed behind her.
Since it was the first day of school, classes had ended earlier than usual, and they found themselves strolling slowly along the path that ran beside the school's back wall. From the gray spring sky, wet snow drifted down in lazy clusters. The flakes settled softly on their black coats before melting into clear droplets that slid quietly away.
Minho glanced at the time on his phone, then slipped his damp hands deep into the pockets of his jacket, trying to warm them. As they walked, the stone walls of Suwon Fortress stretched beside them, their rough surfaces dusted white by the falling snow. At the corner of the street, the door of a small shop opened and closed from time to time, each time releasing a comforting wave of warm coffee aroma into the chilly air.
From across the road, the scent of street food drifted toward them on the breeze. They caught it at the same moment and exchanged a glance, smiling without a word. His brand-new shoes left dark, faint prints on the wet pavement as they walked farther down the street.