Kian’s POV

After he finished bandaging my hand, he handed me a clean shirt. I accepted it gratefully and said, "Thank you... I'll return it to you tomorrow."

"Return it to the college office, not to me," he replied coldly. "It’s not mine."

Right... I felt like such an idiot. "Hmm... okay, I'll return it to the office tomorrow."

I better hurry back to class, I thought nervously. My lecture is probably almost over anyway.

I quickly ran out of the infirmary, eager to escape his terrifyingly cold glare. Who could possibly stand being around someone like that for too long? Besides, I realized I still didn't even know his name, despite running into him literally everywhere I went on campus!

The moment I stepped back into the classroom, the teacher shot me a stern look. "Go take your seat. But consider this a warning: do not ever show up to my class in dirty clothes again."

I quietly nodded and hurried to my desk. This college was full of respected, wealthy students who were extremely punctual and strict about appearances—just like I had heard before coming here.

As soon as the lecture finished, a few upperclassmen walked into our classroom. My eyes immediately landed on the same handsome senior standing among them.

One of the seniors stepped forward to address the room. "Listen up, everyone. As first-year fresher, there will be a official welcome event hosted by the college to welcome you all. Just like everywhere else, anyone who feels confident enough can participate. There will be dancing, singing, and short theatrical performances put on by the fresher ."

He paused, looking around the room before continuing. "We seniors will be guiding and organizing you. You’ll head to the student club area to register for whatever you want to perform. After we review your performances, we'll decide who qualifies for the main event. And for a quick introduction—my name is Moon. This is my friend Tom, and this is Kai, our top student. We are all third-year seniors, so be respectful toward your upperclassmen and learn the basic rules from us. You'd better prepare well for your performances because the top act will win a grand prize! That's all for today. College hours are over, so you may all leave."

My eyes widened as I finally learned his name.

Kai... so his name is Kai.

Everyone nodded quietly as the seniors left the classroom. As all the fresher  packed up their things, murmurs broke out across the room about what everyone planned to do for the performance. Some of the girls were whispering excitedly about the senior guys, while Sun turned to me with a worried look.

"What are you going to do?" Sun asked.

"I really don't know," I admitted, feeling completely lost. "It's so confusing. Honestly, I don't have any special talent other than studying."

"Same here, If they force us to perform, we're totally doomed."

"Worst-case scenario, we can just say we'll act in a group drama," I suggested. "Or we can just apologize to the seniors right away and tell them we don't know how to dance or sing. Let's just see what they say."

"Do you really think they'll let us off the hook that easily?" Sun asked skeptically.

"We'll find out tomorrow," I said, giving him a reassuring smile. "For now, let me head home."

I made it back home, and the night passed peacefully. But the moment morning arrived, anxiety tightly gripped my chest. Still, I tried to mentally prepare myself. Whatever happens, I just have to face it. There's no point in being scared. Besides... that senior actually seemed kind of gentle deep down yesterday.

I carefully packed the borrowed shirt into my bag and headed to campus.

The morning lectures went by smoothly, but soon enough, it was time for all the fresher to head down to the student club area to register their performance choices. Sun and I were so nervous that we deliberately stood at the very end of the line just to buy ourselves some extra time.

Around us, other students were debating their options. "What are we going to do?" one girl whispered. "Maybe acting in a drama is the safest bet."

I squeezed my eyes shut as the line slowly shrank. Before I knew it, there were only two students left ahead of us.

Then, it was my turn.

I stepped up to the table, and the senior sitting there looked up and asked sternly, "What are you going to perform?"

My mind went completely blank. It felt like my brain hit a total full stop, and not a single word would come out of my mouth.

The senior glared at me, waiting for an answer.

Panicking under his gaze, I blurted out the first thing that crossed my mind: "I... I'll do a dance!"

What the hell got into me?!

Behind me, Sun was tugging frantically on my shirt.

The senior looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Have you ever danced before?"

I was so terrified that my mind froze. Unable to speak, I just gave him a stiff, simple nod.

"Okay, Kian. Got it. Go over to that section," the senior said, writing my name down.

I walked over, with Sun glaring daggers at the back of my head. In the end, out of pure panic, Sun ended up choosing dance, too!

Soon, the seniors lined everyone up to test whether we actually knew how to dance or not. The music started—and the moment the seniors saw us, it was a total disaster. Sun and I couldn't keep our balance for a single second, failing to hit even one proper move.

Senior Moon stormed over to us, throwing his hands up in frustration. "What on earth is going on here?! You two claimed you could dance, but you can't even stand properly!"

His loud voice echoed across the room. Sun and I hung our heads in shame, utterly terrified.

"To be honest... we aren't skilled at dancing, but... but we love to dance! That's why we picked it!" Sun stammered, trying to save us.

"Loving dance doesn't mean you can perform it on stage!" Moon snapped. "If you don't have the skills, try something else. You two are disqualified from the dance team."

Sun somehow found the courage to speak up again, even though Moon looked like he was ready to throw a punch at us. "We aren't good at any other performances either... can't we just stay in this group? I mean, there are so many people..."

Senior Moon rubbed his temples and let out a heavy sigh. "You two are really hopeless. But still, every fresher has to participate. Go join the drama team. They need background extras to just sit around or stand in the crowds. That'll work fine for you."

Sun and I both nodded eagerly and had our names put down for the drama team.

The seniors had selected a romantic drama theme for the performance. Everything was going smoothly at first—Sun and I were just assigned to be background extras, standing in the crowd and nodding along in one single scene. We were more than happy with that!

Then, out of nowhere, one of the senior directors walked over, stopped right in front of me, and stared at my face for a uncomfortably long moment.

What is his deal? I thought nervously.

"You look like a surprisingly good match for this role," the senior said, his eyes scanning me up and down. "In this scene, you're going to act as the weak girl—the main character's younger sister—who gets bullied by everyone and cries all alone. Then, the hero comes in to protect you. Having you in that role will make the scene perfect!"

"I really don't—" I started, waving my hands.

He cut me off before I could even object. "See? It's super easy! Your face matches the character pretty well. Here's the script—go start rehearsing."

I clutched the paper in my hand, feeling completely defeated. Trouble really never leaves my side, does it?

I stared down at the script. Reading it felt uncomfortably familiar; the character was constantly getting bullied and picked on, which was practically my everyday life. Maybe it won't be that bad... I tried to convince myself.

I read through the lines carefully, but whenever it was time to rehearse with the rest of the cast, I got so nervous that I kept forgetting my dialogue. Every single time I messed up, the senior barked at me and scolded me in front of everyone.

Meanwhile, Sun got to just stand on stage and do absolutely nothing! I, on the other hand, was now expected to wear women's clothes and act out a dramatic breakdown.

Since the seniors had already decided my role for me, there was no escaping it. I took a deep breath, held the script tight, and decided to practice even harder.