The top corner of the stack of books kept sliding against Seorin’s arm whenever another student squeezed past in the narrow hallway.

The uppermost book shifted every time her steps changed direction, and more than once she had to catch the stack with her elbow before it toppled over.

The corridor was still crowded with students pouring out of their classrooms.

Someone’s shoulder slammed into her from the side.

The books in her arms lurched and spilled across the floor.

“Sorry.”

A male voice.

Seorin was already crouching down before she even looked at who it was. Her fingers moved quickly, gathering the scattered books. One of the covers had bent at the corner. She pressed the crease flat with her thumb until it smoothed out again.

Someone crouched in front of her.

A book was picked up and held out first.

Seorin accepted it without a word.

Only after her hand touched the last book did she finally look up.

Lee Hyun Woo.

Her hand paused briefly in midair before reaching for another book.

“I didn’t mean to,” Hyun Woo said. “Sorry.”

His voice remained calm despite the rush of students hurrying past around them.

Seorin held out her hand.

“Hand it over.”

Instead, Hyun Woo shifted several books into his own arms.

“Let me help.”

Seorin tried to take one back, but Hyun Woo lifted it slightly higher, just out of reach.

“I can carry them myself.”

“Then let me make up for it.”

Seorin stared at him for a few seconds.

Hyun Woo still hadn’t moved. Their shoulders were nearly touching in the middle of the cramped hallway.

He rose to his feet first.

“Whatever.”

Seorin started walking without waiting for him. A moment later, his footsteps fell into place beside hers.

“I’m Hyun Woo. Lee Hyun Woo.”

Seorin kept her eyes forward.

“Everyone knows that.”

“Including you, Han Seorin?”

Her step faltered.

She turned her head.

“You know me?”

Hyun Woo didn’t answer immediately. His gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds before the corner of his mouth lifted.

“I see you around a lot.”

He raised the books in his arms slightly.

“But never this close.”

Seorin said nothing.

The footsteps of other students echoed through the corridor behind them.

“Not yet. I haven’t exactly earned the right.”

A faint crease appeared between Seorin’s brows.

“I don’t understand.”

Hyun Woo glanced at her.

“You’re different.”

Her pace slowed ever so slightly.

“How?”

He gave a small shrug.

“Most people spend their time trying to get noticed.”

His gaze returned to her.

“You don’t.”

Seorin adjusted the books in her arms, tightening her grip on the covers.

“A lot of people try to get close to you too,” Hyun Woo said softly. “I guess I'm no different.”

The corner of Seorin’s mouth twitched.

When she looked over again, Hyun Woo was still walking beside her at the same pace.

***

The cafeteria buzzed with the clatter of chopsticks and lunch trays.

Dongchul had just opened his mouth to complain about their history assignment when his attention shifted toward a table across the room.

“What’s Hyun Woo doing?”

Seorin looked up.

“What do you mean?” Ara asked.

“He’s been staring over here the whole time.”

Seorin followed Dongchul’s gaze.

At a table across the cafeteria, Hyun Woo sat leaning back in his chair, one arm draped behind it. His eyes were fixed directly on their table.

The stare didn’t waver even when Dongchul looked back at him.

Seorin immediately lowered her gaze again. Her chopsticks picked up a piece of rolled omelet before stopping halfway.

“Hey.”

The voice came from nearby.

Minji’s chopsticks clattered onto the table.

Seorin turned.

Hyun Woo was already standing beside their table.

“Hyun Woo...” Minji sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop bothering me?”

Ara’s chair scraped slightly.

“I’m not here for Minji.”

Hyun Woo’s gaze never left Seorin.

The chopsticks in Seorin’s hand froze.

“I heard you like strawberries.”

Hyun Woo lifted a small milk carton and placed it in front of her.

The pink carton came to a stop beside her lunch tray.

“Hey.”

Ara grabbed it first and pressed it back into Hyun Woo’s hand.

“Seorin already has one.”

Seorin glanced briefly at Ara before pushing the carton back toward the center of the table.

“I didn’t ask for it.”

Her voice was quiet.

Then she looked at Hyun Woo.

“Thanks for earlier.”

Her fingers nudged the carton farther away from her tray.

“We’re not that close.”

Hyun Woo didn’t move.

Several seconds passed amid the constant flow of students carrying trays around them.

Then the corner of his mouth lifted.

“Not yet.”

One of Seorin’s brows rose slightly.

“I can start now.”

Her grip tightened around her chopsticks.

Ara’s chair scraped loudly against the floor.

Ara stood.

“Hyun Woo. Enough.”

She stepped forward until she was standing directly in front of him.

“Leave Seorin out of it.”

Hyun Woo looked at her evenly.

“First Minji. Now Seorin.”

He let out a short breath.

“Do you want everyone?”

Ara didn’t answer.

Something tightened along her jaw before she finally looked away.

Hyun Woo tilted his head slightly.

“Seorin isn’t like you.”

The noise of trays and conversations continued around them, but nobody at their table moved.

Seorin looked between the two of them.

“Hyun Woo.”

He turned toward her.

“I think you should leave.”

His gaze lingered on her face for a moment before he finally nodded.

“Okay.”

He turned away.

Two steps.

Then stopped.

“I’m serious.”

Hyun Woo looked back at Seorin.

“I’ll come again.”

Seorin didn’t answer.

Eventually, he left.

Ara remained standing, watching Hyun Woo’s retreating back disappear between the cafeteria tables.

“Seorin.”

Ara’s voice was low.

“Stay away from him.”

Seorin raised her eyes.

“Did you hear me?”

She set her chopsticks down gently on her tray.

“I heard you.”

Then she stood, lifting her tray.

“But I’m not taking orders from you.”

Ara’s gaze locked onto her instantly.

“Han Seorin—”

Several students at nearby tables started looking over.

Seorin paused.

“I’m going first.”

She walked away first without looking back.

She vaguely heard Dongchul calling her name behind her. Footsteps followed for a few meters, then stopped.

Seorin kept walking.

***

Debate club practice had ended only a few minutes ago.

The room was still filled with the sounds of chairs scraping and bags being zipped shut.

Seorin stood beside a desk, aligning the edges of the papers in front of her. One sheet sat slightly crooked. Her fingers immediately straightened it again.

Footsteps stopped behind her.

“Han Seorin...”

Her fingertips went still atop a page, but she didn’t turn around.

“Why can’t you two just talk it out?” Dongchul said quietly. “Ara must have a reason.”

Seorin adjusted a sheet that was already perfectly aligned.

“I don’t need a reason like that.”

“We don’t even know what the reason is.”

One corner shifted again. Seorin pressed it down harder than before.

“Dongchul.”

She exhaled slowly.

“Just because Ara doesn’t like Hyun Woo doesn’t mean I have to feel the same way.”

Somewhere across the room, someone zipped up a bag.

“That’s between them.”

“There’s a reason Ara’s acting like this.”

The corner of Seorin’s mouth moved faintly before disappearing again.

“For what it’s worth,” Dongchul continued, “Hyun Woo really is a problem. He kept bothering Minji even after she rejected him over and over.”

Dongchul rubbed the back of his neck.

“If it weren’t for Ara... Minji and I might’ve already fallen apart.”

The edge of the paper in Seorin’s hand crumpled slightly.

She placed it back on the desk with a soft sound that still seemed loud in the nearly empty room.

“I know Ara and Minji are close.”

Seorin finally turned toward him.

“And I know Ara protected the two of you.”

She took a step forward.

“But I’m different?”

Her gaze didn’t waver.

“What am I to Ara?”

Dongchul fell silent.

“Protecting me from what?”

The last student left the room. The door opened with a creak and clicked shut again.

“Has Ara ever actually talked to Hyun Woo?”

Dongchul didn’t answer.

Seorin stared at him for several seconds before giving a small shake of her head.

“Funny.”

Her voice was low.

“You’re the one who told me not to judge people before I got to know them.”

Her eyes remained fixed on him.

“But now I’m not allowed to do the same?”

Dongchul opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Seorin drew in a short breath.

“You’re just standing on their side.”

Her gaze dropped briefly to the desk before lifting again.

“Maybe once you like someone, everything starts looking different.”

She gathered the papers together again, quickly this time, no longer caring whether the edges lined up perfectly.

Her bag went onto her shoulder in one motion.

Seorin walked past Dongchul without stopping.

The classroom door closed softly behind her.

Out in the corridor, her pace slowed for a moment. Her fingers were still gripping the strap of her bag too tightly.

She took a long breath.

Then her footsteps filled the empty hallway once more, faster than the sound of the footsteps that had tried to follow her.