The next week moved like a countdown no one had announced.
You could feel it in the way posters kept multiplying on walls. You could feel it in the way girls started checking mirrors more often, fixing hair, adjusting sleeves, touching their own faces like they were measuring themselves for a role. You could feel it in the way boys suddenly acted helpful, carrying chairs, offering drinks, pretending it was normal when it wasn't.
Queen Selection was coming.
And Campus 2 treated Queen Selection like prophecy.
XH felt the shift most during lunch.
Tables that used to be random became strategic. People chose seats where they could be seen. Friend groups became louder. Laughter became sharper. Compliments became weapons disguised as kindness.
"Your skin looks so clear.""I love that dress, it's brave.""Wow, you're really confident, huh."
Kitty sat with NC and Jihye, eating quietly. She listened more than she spoke. Her calm was a contrast to the rising chaos, and that contrast made people stare.
Across the cafeteria, June sat with Cherry and Anna, posture perfect. She smiled when needed. She nodded when spoken to. She looked like she had already accepted the crown in her head.
XH sat with the boys, but he wasn't fully there.
JP kept talking about the upcoming King Selection, insisting he would place top three again like it was a destiny he had personally written.
"Bro, I'm telling you," JP said, gesturing with his fork. "I have the energy. I have the vibe. The judges will sense it."
TZ rolled his eyes. "They'll sense your delusion."
JP pointed at him. "Delusion is just confidence without proof."
NS stared at his food, expression unreadable.
XH noticed the way NS didn't laugh like he used to.
XH noticed the way NS's gaze drifted toward Kitty and then away quickly.
A quiet ache lived there.
XH didn't know how to hold it without making it worse.
That afternoon, the Queen Selection rehearsals began.
Not rehearsals like stage play.
Rehearsals like preparation for judgment.
The venue was called Nevermore Hotel for a reason. Its grand entrance always made students feel small. Crystal lights hung from the ceiling. Marble floors reflected everything. Even whispers sounded expensive.
The first meeting was not in the ballroom yet, but in a large conference room attached to the hotel. Coordinators explained timelines, dress codes, judging categories, sponsor expectations.
Students sat in rows, notebook in hand.
June wrote notes fast, focused, as if she were preparing for an exam she couldn't afford to fail.
Kitty wrote almost nothing.
She watched.
She listened.
She noticed.
The coordinator smiled too brightly. "Confidence is key. You must own the room."
June's eyes sharpened like she already knew how to do that.
Kitty's eyes softened slightly, like she was tired of rooms that demanded ownership.
When the meeting ended, students filtered out into the lobby.
XH lingered by a pillar, watching June get surrounded by enthusiastic girls who wanted to attach themselves to her shine. Cherry stayed close, guarding June like a manager.
Kitty walked alone toward the entrance.
XH moved instinctively, following her.
Not chasing.
Just stepping into the same direction.
Kitty didn't turn until they reached the quieter hallway near the restrooms.
"You keep appearing," she said softly.
XH stopped. "You keep disappearing."
Kitty's smile was faint. "I'm not disappearing. I'm choosing peace."
XH swallowed. "Peace looks lonely."
Kitty looked at him for a long moment. "Lonely is better than being torn."
His chest tightened. "Are you talking about me?"
Kitty's voice stayed calm, but her eyes glimmered. "I'm talking about what you keep doing without deciding."
XH's throat burned. "I'm trying."
Kitty nodded once. "Then show it."
He hesitated. "How?"
Kitty stepped a little closer, still leaving a careful distance. "Stop waiting for a moment where you won't hurt anyone. That moment doesn't exist."
XH stared at her. "You talk like you've already accepted losing."
Kitty's mouth twitched. "I talk like I've accepted reality."
XH's chest tightened again.
Kitty noticed.
Her gaze dropped briefly to his chest as if she could see the tightness through his shirt.
"You're not breathing right," she said quietly.
XH forced a slow inhale. "I'm fine."
Kitty shook her head. "You always say that."
He tried to smile, but it didn't hold.
Kitty's voice softened. "If you collapse from stress, do you think your pride will comfort you?"
XH looked away.
Kitty didn't push further.
She stepped back, eyes steady. "I'll see you at campus."
Then she walked away.
XH watched her go, feeling like someone had just placed a mirror in front of him and refused to let him look away.
That night, Kitty sat at her desk in her dorm room, lights low, phone face down.
Her makeup bag sat open on the table. She had taken it out because NC told her to practice. Kitty had laughed and said she didn't need to.
But now she stared at it quietly.
She thought about Queen Selection.
About the way people assumed she would win or lose based on things that weren't even hers.
Her face. Her posture. Her silence.
She thought about being called the uncrowned queen.
She thought about how flattering it sounded until you realized it meant people enjoyed watching you without ever giving you anything official.
She thought about XH.
About how he could be so gentle in small moments.
And so absent when it mattered.
Her phone buzzed.
A message from NC.
NC: you okay?
Kitty typed slowly.
Kitty: i'm calm.
NC replied immediately.
NC: calm is your warning sign.
Kitty stared at that.
Her throat tightened.
Kitty: i'm just tired.
NC: of him?
Kitty paused.
Then typed.
Kitty: of waiting.
She set the phone down and stared at her reflection in the dark window.
Her eyes looked back at her, normal now, but still full of memory.
She whispered softly, as if speaking to the old version of herself.
"I don't want to be chosen only when it's convenient."
Her voice barely carried in the room.
But she felt it settle into her bones.
Across campus, June sat in her room, laptop open, Notion notes organized, color coded. On the screen was a list titled:
Queen Selection Strategy
Cherry sat on her bed, brushing her hair with exaggerated strokes.
"You're obsessed," Cherry said.
June didn't look up. "I'm prepared."
Cherry smirked. "Prepared to win."
June's jaw tightened. "Prepared to not be humiliated."
Cherry laughed softly. "See? That's the real reason. Pride."
June finally looked up, eyes sharp. "Don't psychoanalyze me."
Cherry leaned forward. "Fine. Answer me then. If you lose, what breaks first? Your heart or your ego?"
June's throat tightened.
She looked away quickly.
Cherry's voice softened slightly, almost sincere. "You don't even have to win for yourself. People already see you as the one who should."
June whispered, "That's the problem."
Cherry blinked. "What?"
June swallowed. "Everyone expects me to win. Even before the announcement. Even before the dress. Even before anything."
Cherry smiled faintly. "That's power."
June's eyes glimmered. "That's pressure."
Cherry watched her carefully.
June continued, voice lower. "When people expect you to be perfect, you start fearing the moment they see you bleed."
Cherry's expression shifted for a split second, then returned to smugness. "You're being dramatic."
June gave a tight laugh. "Maybe."
Her phone buzzed.
A message from her mom.
June stared at the screen.
Mom: Are you practicing? Don't embarrass yourself. Remember what is at stake.
June's chest tightened.
Cherry noticed. "Your mom again?"
June nodded slowly.
Cherry smirked. "You're still letting her control you."
June's eyes flashed. "She's my mother."
Cherry shrugged. "And you're still her investment."
June flinched.
Cherry leaned back, satisfied. "Anyway, you'll win. You always do."
June stared at the message again.
Her fingers hovered.
She typed back.
June: yes.
Then she deleted the word.
Typed again.
June: i'm trying.
She sent it.
Her throat burned.
For a moment, she wanted to call XH. Not for romance. Not for validation.
For breathing.
For softness.
For someone who didn't treat her like a trophy.
But she didn't call.
Because she remembered the rooftop.
She remembered telling him not to chase.
And she hated that she still wanted him to anyway.
The next day, the King Selection candidates began rehearsing too.
JP strutted around campus like he had already been crowned. TZ mocked him constantly. NS stayed quiet. XH stayed distracted.
Rumors grew.
People whispered that June and XH were officially paired now.
People whispered that Kitty had given up.
People whispered that Kitty would still win because she had always been the campus favorite.
The whispers didn't know truth.
They only knew entertainment.
That evening, as XH walked alone under a cloudy sky, he felt that subtle tightness again, sharper this time.
He stopped near a tree and forced a slow inhale.
His breath caught slightly.
He pressed his hand lightly to his chest.
It passed after a few seconds.
But it left something behind.
A quiet fear.
A realization.
Pressure was changing him.
And he could feel the story narrowing toward a moment where delay would not be forgiven.
Not by Kitty.
Not by June.
Not even by himself.