“Hey! Are you okay?”

“Hey! Cho Sa-Rang, are you alive?!”

Buzzz—

Her head rang painfully and incessantly as the voices echoed around her.

What’s going on? Why are there so many people around me?

A sharp ache throbbed through her skull. Groaning softly, Cho Sa-Rang forced herself to look up, only to find a crowd of students surrounding her with worried expressions.

Something warm dripped down her forehead.

Confused, she lifted a trembling hand and touched it.

Sticky.

Red.

Blood.

Her eyes widened in horror.

“Sa-Rang!” Her best friend, Choi Joo-Kyung, rushed toward her. “Are you okay?!”

Meanwhile, Song Seung-Il didn’t even bother looking up from his phone.

“Stop being so dramatic. You’re fine,” he muttered coldly. “And Joo-Kyung, stop encouraging her antics.”

Choi Joo-Kyung immediately flushed red at his words, smiling shyly before helping Sa-Rang to her feet.

“I’ll take her to the infirmary,” she said softly.

Without another glance, Song Seung-Il walked back toward his classroom.

Cho Sa-Rang barely noticed the exchange.

Her mind was too occupied with the strange red numbers floating above everyone’s heads.

At first, she tried convincing herself it was just dizziness from the injury—but no matter how many times she blinked, the glowing red values remained.

Uneasy, she turned to Joo-Kyung.

“Hey… can you see those red numbers above everyone’s heads?”

Joo-Kyung stared at her like she’d grown another head.

“Are you crazy?” she sneered.

Sa-Rang froze.

As they passed by a window, her reflection caught her attention.

A thick crimson line connected her and Joo-Kyung together. The line was impossibly vivid, stretching between their heads like a thread pulled tight. At the end of it, an arrow pointed directly toward Sa-Rang.

Her stomach twisted.

What was this?

But the pounding in her head grew worse, making it impossible to think clearly. Blood still trickled down her temple as dizziness overwhelmed her senses.

On the way to the infirmary, her eyes landed on someone familiar.

Go Do-Yoon.

Her breath caught instantly.

As always, countless girls crowded around him, drawn in by his effortless charm. Standing beside him was the school’s infamous beauty, Kang Ga-Eul.

The sight made Sa-Rang’s chest ache.

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she stared at them.

Then suddenly—

Go Do-Yoon looked back at her.

As though he had felt her gaze.

His dark eyes locked onto hers with the same intensity, sending her heart into complete chaos.