Then, on a dull morning weighed down by exhaustion, IU headed to the university. Her body ached with fatigue, and her steps were heavy, as if she were carrying the burden of a sleepless night on her shoulders. She sat in her seat, listening to Professor Jungkook, but her mind wasn't there; she felt distant from herself, fighting sleep with whatever strength she had left, trying to keep her eyes open despite the heaviness of her eyelids.
When the lecture ended, she couldn't take it anymore. She gave in to sleep in her seat during the break, as if she had finally found a brief escape from her exhaustion. The university day passed painfully slowly, and with every step outside its gates, she felt her energy fading more and more.
She returned home drained, rushed into her room, quickly changed her clothes, then sat down to finish her research, silently resisting her fatigue with determination. As soon as she finished, Jungkook finally came back.
IU raised her gaze and said softly:
"Can you install a lock on my room door?"
He paused for a moment, then replied in a sharp tone she couldn't quite hide her tension from:
"Why?"
She hesitated for a second before saying:
"For... my privacy."
A brief silence followed before he answered coldly:
"No problem."
But despite his few words, IU felt something strange creeping inside her... a faint, unexplainable fear that made her heart tighten for no clear reason.