By the time the weekend arrived, Campus 2 was no longer a school.
It was a runway.
Students walked like they were being judged even in sweatpants. Girls practiced smiling in reflections of classroom windows. Boys started wearing cologne to morning lectures as if the air itself needed to approve them. Even professors looked amused, like they had seen this cycle too many times to take it seriously, but still enjoyed watching it happen.
Queen Selection was not just a contest.
It was a mirror.
And everyone was afraid of what it might reflect back.
The rehearsal day at Nevermore Hotel began early.
The bus arrived in front of Utopia Tower while the sun still looked half awake. Students climbed in with garment bags, makeup kits, hair tools, and nervous energy. The hotel staff greeted them with polite smiles that felt practiced. The lobby smelled like expensive soap and cold air conditioning.
XH stepped off the bus and immediately felt out of place.
He wasn't wearing anything special today. Just jeans, a hoodie, sneakers. Most of the boys were the same. But the girls looked different. Not fully dressed for the contest yet, but already in that halfway mode, like they were testing themselves.
Kitty stepped off the girls' bus last.
She wore a simple outfit, clean lines, neutral colors, hair tied back. Still, people looked at her like she was a headline walking through the lobby.
June stepped off right after her.
June wore a fitted jacket, hair done, face fresh. Cherry walked beside her like a shadow that talked too much.
When June and Kitty passed each other, they exchanged a brief glance.
No hostility.
Just measurement.
XH saw it and felt his stomach tighten.
He wanted to stop time and talk to both of them separately, to explain what he couldn't explain, to fix what he kept breaking by not choosing.
Instead, he followed the boys toward the rehearsal rooms.
The ballroom was enormous.
Crystal lights above, gold trim on the walls, a stage that looked too grand for students who still ate cafeteria noodles and complained about quizzes. Rows of chairs had been set for judges and staff. A long runway platform stretched down the middle, polished so clean it reflected shoes like water.
The coordinator clapped her hands. "Okay everyone. We are practicing entrances, turns, walking pace, stage timing."
JP leaned toward TZ and whispered, loud enough to be heard, "Bro, if I fall on this stage, I'm never recovering."
TZ whispered back, "You won't fall. Your ego will float you."
JP placed a hand on his chest dramatically. "Respect."
The coordinator pointed to the King candidates. "Kings first."
JP straightened immediately like a soldier. "This is my time."
NS stood behind him, expression unreadable. TZ looked amused. XH looked distracted.
They practiced walking, stopping, smiling, waving, turning.
JP overdid everything.
His smile was too wide, his wave too intense, his turn almost theatrical.
The coordinator sighed. "John Posar, please. You are not a pop star."
JP blinked innocently. "But what if I am?"
The room laughed.
Even Kitty's lips twitched slightly from the side of the room.
June didn't laugh.
She watched like she was cataloging threats.
Cherry whispered in her ear, "JP is ridiculous."
June murmured, "Ridiculous men still win sometimes."
When the girls' rehearsal began, the atmosphere changed.
The room quieted. Even the boys stopped whispering.
Girls lined up behind the stage curtain. The coordinator adjusted lighting. The staff moved with more seriousness. Phones came out discreetly, people wanting video proof of who looked best.
June stood near the front of the line.
Kitty stood slightly behind her.
Other candidates included girls from engineering, business, and computing majors. HTN stood confidently, tall, sharp gaze. SRM adjusted her hair like she was already on camera. Thoon looked calm, elegant in a way that made people stare longer than they meant to.
The tension between majors was immediate.
Not screaming. Not obvious.
But real.
June glanced at HTN. HTN glanced back.
Both smiled politely.
Polite did not mean friendly.
Kitty watched them with quiet eyes.
When it was June's turn to walk, she stepped onto the stage like she belonged there. Her posture was perfect. Her pace confident. Her smile controlled.
When she reached the end of the runway, she turned smoothly, chin lifted, eyes scanning the room like she was claiming it.
A few whispers rose.
"She's going to win.""She looks like she already did."
June heard nothing. Or she pretended she didn't.
When it was Kitty's turn, the room shifted again.
Kitty stepped out slowly, not rushed, not forcing confidence, just naturally carrying herself like she didn't need the stage to exist.
She walked like someone who had learned how to be looked at without flinching.
Her smile was softer than June's. Less strategic. More human.
When Kitty reached the end of the runway and turned, her eyes met XH's by accident.
Or maybe not accident.
XH's breath caught.
Kitty didn't smile wider.
She didn't signal.
She just held his gaze for half a second longer than normal, then looked away.
It felt like a quiet reminder.
I exist. I am here. I am not fading.
Cherry's voice whispered sharply, "She's doing it on purpose."
June's jaw tightened. "Doing what?"
Cherry leaned closer. "Making it look effortless. People love that."
June watched Kitty walk back and felt an uncomfortable heat in her chest.
Not hate.
Fear.
The fear of being second.
Later, the candidates were instructed to practice group posing for photos.
They lined up on the stage for staged shots, shoulders aligned, smiles practiced.
The photographer directed them like chess pieces.
"June, center.""Kitty, slightly to the left.""HTN, right side.""Thoon, behind."
June stood center, as expected.
Kitty stood to her left.
The two of them close enough to feel each other's presence.
June could smell Kitty's perfume. Light. Clean.
Kitty could feel June's posture, sharp and proud.
The photographer shouted, "Smile like you like each other!"
A ripple of laughter moved through the crowd.
June smiled.
Kitty smiled too.
Both smiles looked real enough for a camera.
But they were not the same kind of real.
When the photos ended, candidates were given a break in a lounge room.
It was decorated like a luxury waiting area. Soft couches, gold accents, fruit platters nobody touched because nerves killed appetite.
June sat with Cherry and Anna.
Kitty sat with NC and Jihye.
The girls from other majors hovered in clusters, whispering.
The moment June stood to refill water, SRM approached her.
Her smile was sweet. Her eyes were not.
"June," SRM said politely, "your walk is strong."
June nodded. "Thank you."
SRM tilted her head. "You seem very sure."
June's eyes sharpened. "Sure of what?"
SRM smiled wider. "Of being chosen."
June held the smile but felt the sting. "I'm sure of my effort."
SRM laughed softly. "Effort doesn't always win here."
June's fingers tightened around her cup.
From the corner, Kitty watched.
She didn't intervene.
But her eyes softened slightly, like she recognized something familiar.
Pride being poked.
Ego being tested.
Kitty stood and walked toward the fruit platter, pretending she needed something, but really moving closer to June's range.
SRM glanced at Kitty. "Kitty, you're quiet today."
Kitty smiled faintly. "I'm always quiet."
SRM smirked. "Quiet people are dangerous."
Kitty's smile didn't change. "Only to those who are insecure."
A few girls nearby gasped softly.
SRM's smile stiffened.
June glanced at Kitty, surprised.
Kitty wasn't protecting June.
But she had cut SRM down without raising her voice.
That was power.
June didn't know whether to feel grateful or insulted.
Cherry, of course, whispered immediately. "She just saved you."
June whispered back, "I didn't ask."
Cherry smiled. "That's why it worked."
The boys were in a different room nearby, killing time while the girls rehearsed.
JP paced like a lion, still high on attention. "Bro, I swear the stage was made for me."
TZ laughed. "It was made for slipping."
JP ignored him. "Do you think the judges like confident men or mysterious men?"
NS muttered, "They like men who shut up."
JP stared at him. "Are you okay?"
NS didn't answer.
XH sat on a couch, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor.
TZ leaned closer. "You're thinking too much."
XH whispered, "I'm failing both."
JP frowned. "Bro, you're not failing. You're just being you. Confused, quiet, romantic, dumb sometimes."
TZ snorted. "That's not comfort."
JP shrugged. "It's truth."
XH exhaled slowly.
His chest tightened again.
This time he had to pause, hand briefly pressing to his sternum.
TZ noticed immediately. "You good?"
XH nodded too fast. "Yeah."
NS looked up sharply.
His eyes stayed on XH longer than usual.
"Stop lying," NS said quietly.
XH swallowed. "It passes."
NS's jaw tightened. "That doesn't mean it's nothing."
XH looked away.
He didn't want them to worry.
He didn't want to become another problem.
Later, when the rehearsal ended, everyone gathered in the lobby to head back to campus.
Girls adjusted coats. Boys checked phones. The hotel staff watched with quiet amusement.
As they waited, a sudden drizzle began outside the glass doors.
Light at first.
Then heavier.
Students groaned, pulling jackets over their heads.
The drizzle turned into rain so fast it felt like the sky had been holding it back until the perfect moment.
June stood near the door, watching the rain hit the pavement.
Kitty stood a few steps away, watching June watching the rain.
XH stood behind them both, feeling that strange sense of déjà vu.
Like rain always arrived when something was about to shift.
June whispered, barely audible, "Why is it always raining lately?"
Kitty replied softly without looking at her. "Maybe it's telling us to stop pretending."
June turned slightly. "Stop pretending what?"
Kitty glanced at her. "That we don't want what we want."
June's throat tightened.
XH stared at both of them.
He felt the pressure again.
Not just in his chest.
In his life.
In the narrowing path between two girls whose hearts were no longer willing to wait politely.
The coordinator shouted for everyone to move.
They rushed into the rain toward the buses.
Jackets lifted.
Hair covered.
Laughter mixed with frustration.
Teenagers running through rain in expensive hotel parking lots like the world belonged to them.
And somewhere inside XH's body, his breath caught again.
Just for a moment.
Just enough to remind him that time was not neutral.
Time was counting.
And the crown was getting heavier, even before it existed.