The next morning arrived with a strange clarity.
Not peace. Not relief.
Clarity.
XH felt it the moment he stepped outside. The air was colder than he expected, sharp enough to sting his lungs. Students moved in tighter groups than usual, their voices low, their eyes scanning faces like they were searching for signals.
A rumor was no longer just a rumor when it changed how people walked.
XH walked toward class with his phone in his pocket, but he felt its weight like a second pulse. Kitty's message from last night. June's warning about the advisor meeting.
Two separate paths.
Both narrowing.
At the building entrance, a notice had been taped up beside the door. Students gathered around it, reading quickly, snapping pictures, forwarding it into group chats.
XH stepped closer.
It was not an announcement of closure or cancellation. It was worse.
It was a reminder.
A reminder about academic integrity policies and "external misinformation." A polite paragraph that sounded like it had been written to calm parents, not students.
No details.
No reassurance.
Just the kind of language institutions used when they wanted to look composed.
JP was already there, leaning in to read, then stepping back with a scoff.
"That's it," he said loudly. "So we're just supposed to smile while they type nonsense on paper."
TZ stood beside him, jaw tight. NS hovered a step behind, quiet, eyes narrowed as he read every word carefully.
June arrived moments later, moving through the crowd like she had a destination and did not intend to be delayed. She glanced at the notice once, expression unreadable, then walked past it.
Kitty arrived with NC and Anna, pausing to read. Kitty's brows knit slightly, then smoothed back into control. She looked calm, but XH knew better now.
Calm did not mean unbothered.
Kitty noticed XH watching.
Their eyes met briefly.
She did not smile.
Not cold. Not cruel.
Just distant enough to protect herself.
XH felt something in his chest tighten.
Class began, but focus was fragile.
People checked their phones under desks. Some students stared at the lecturer without absorbing anything. A few whispered quietly in the back until the lecturer snapped at them.
June took notes with fierce concentration.
Kitty wrote less than usual, gaze drifting.
XH tried to stay present, but every time his pen moved, his thoughts slid back to the same pressure.
June's mother is meeting an advisor today.
That was not a rumor.
That was movement.
When class ended, June stood up immediately and left, not even waiting for friends. Her stride was fast and purposeful, like she was walking away from hesitation itself.
XH wanted to follow.
He didn't.
Not yet.
Not in the hallway full of eyes.
Kitty packed slowly. NC whispered something to her that made her smile faintly. Anna adjusted her bag strap and glanced at XH briefly, then away.
JP leaned toward XH, voice low. "Bro. This is getting bad."
XH nodded. "I know."
TZ added quietly, "People are switching majors today. I heard it from engineering guys."
NS's eyes stayed on June's disappearing back. "She's moving too."
XH's chest tightened.
They gathered at lunch, but the table felt like it belonged to strangers wearing familiar faces. Conversations overlapped with anxiety.
JP was restless, tapping his fingers on the table.
TZ ate quickly, like his body wanted fuel for a fight that might come later.
NS barely touched his food.
Kitty sat with NC and Jihye, quieter than usual. June was absent.
XH checked his phone.
No message from June.
He tried not to interpret that. He failed.
JP broke the silence with forced humor. "Maybe the Headmaster is just on vacation and forgot to tell anyone."
TZ snorted. "If so, he chose the worst vacation timing in history."
NS spoke quietly. "My cousin's friend said there's an internal audit."
JP froze. "That's real?"
NS shrugged. "It's the most consistent rumor."
XH felt something cold slide down his spine.
Kitty spoke softly, almost like she was thinking out loud. "Consistent doesn't mean true."
NC reached for Kitty's hand under the table briefly, a supportive squeeze.
XH saw it.
He also saw, across the cafeteria, a guy from another major watching Kitty.
The same one from yesterday.
He stood up as if he had been waiting for the right moment, then walked toward Kitty's side of the table with a smile too confident for a day like this.
"Hey," he said, leaning slightly. "Kitty, right?"
Kitty looked up politely. "Yeah."
The guy grinned. "I wanted to ask if you're going to the study session later. I heard you're good at anatomy."
Kitty's smile was polite, controlled. "I might."
He leaned in a little more. "We could go together. I'll buy you coffee."
NC's posture tightened immediately.
Jihye's brows lifted.
Kitty stayed calm. "I'll see."
The guy laughed softly. "Cool. I'll text you."
He walked away as if he had just secured something.
XH's chest tightened so hard it felt like his ribs were pressing inward.
JP noticed immediately. "Oh hell no."
TZ leaned forward. "That guy again?"
NS watched XH's face carefully, as if waiting to see what he would do.
XH did nothing.
Because what could he do?
He had no claim.
No confession.
No right.
Kitty looked down at her tray, expression neutral, but her fingers were tense.
NC leaned closer and whispered something. Kitty nodded.
The moment passed.
But it left a stain.
After lunch, XH finally moved.
Not toward Kitty.
Toward June.
He found her outside the administration building.
She stood near the entrance, phone in hand, gaze fixed on the ground like she was counting breaths. Her shoulders were stiff. Her posture was controlled.
But the control looked fragile, like it was holding back a wave.
XH approached slowly. "June."
She looked up.
Her eyes were sharper than usual, but something else lived underneath.
Exhaustion.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
XH swallowed. "Because you said you had a meeting."
June's expression softened for a split second, then tightened again. "So you came to watch?"
"No," he said quickly. "I came because I care."
June stared at him.
Then she let out a slow breath, like she had been holding it all day.
"My mom thinks this school is unstable," she said.
XH nodded. "A lot of parents do."
June's voice dropped lower. "She thinks waiting is stupidity."
XH's chest tightened.
June continued. "She found an advisor who can connect me to transfer pathways. International ones. Ones that don't rely on this campus keeping its promises."
XH felt his throat go dry. "And what do you think?"
June looked away. "I don't know."
He blinked. "You don't?"
June laughed softly, bitterly. "You think I'm confident. I act confident. But I'm not sure."
Her honesty startled him.
June looked back at him, voice trembling just slightly. "I don't want to leave. I just don't want to be trapped."
XH stepped closer, careful. "You're not trapped."
June's eyes flashed. "That's what you always say."
XH swallowed. "Then tell me what you want."
June stared at him for a long moment.
Then she whispered, "I want you to stop standing still."
The same theme again.
June shook her head as if trying to clear emotion from her voice. "The meeting is in ten minutes."
XH nodded. "Can I wait?"
June hesitated.
Then nodded once. "Fine."
They stood in silence outside the building.
Students walked past.
A faculty member glanced at them briefly.
The world moved.
Time moved.
June's phone buzzed.
She looked at the screen and her jaw tightened.
"It's time," she said.
XH watched as she entered the building.
And suddenly, the fear became real.
Because the door closing behind her did not feel like a simple meeting.
It felt like a turning point.
While she was inside, XH's phone buzzed.
Kitty.
Kitty: are you free later?
He stared at the message.
Then another buzz.
JP.
JP: bro where are you. some drama happening.
XH blinked and read JP's follow-up.
JP: that guy is telling people he's going on a date with kitty. he's running his mouth.
XH's chest tightened violently.
He looked up at the administration building doors.
June was inside, deciding her future.
Kitty was outside, being pulled by other people's narratives.
And XH was standing in the middle, again, as if being torn in two directions was his natural state.
His hands trembled slightly.
Not fear.
Urgency.
A kind of heat rose in his chest, something that felt like anger mixed with shame.
He realized something painful.
If he did not speak, other people would speak for him.
Other people would shape Kitty's story.
Other people would decide June's future.
Silence would keep choosing.
And he would keep losing.
The doors to the administration building opened.
June stepped out.
Her face was composed, but her eyes were different.
She looked at XH and said quietly, "We need to talk."
XH nodded, heart pounding.
But before he could respond, his phone buzzed again.
Kitty.
Kitty: people are talking. I don't like it.
XH stared at both problems at once.
June, standing in front of him, eyes serious.
Kitty, trapped in whispers.
The day everyone started moving had arrived.
And XH finally understood something with terrifying clarity.
If he did not move too, he would be left behind by everyone he cared about.
And for the first time, he was no longer willing to accept that.