It started with the seating chart.
That morning, I arrived to find my desk had been moved.
Still back row, but now directly behind Haeun.
Coincidence?
Nothing in this place was coincidence.
She didn't look at me when I sat down. But she shifted, just slightly, like I was a bug she didn't want crawling on her shadow.
Fine.
If she wanted a front-row view of my downfall, she could have it.
The day began normally enough. Teachers lectured, students faked interest, and Rayan pretended not to exist in three dimensions.
But the air was heavier.
Every time I raised my hand—or even breathed too confidently—I felt it.
The glances. The whispers. The weight of being almost something in a place where everyone was already too much.
At lunch, Jin Yuri joined me again.
Same bright expression, same cheerful energy. But this time, she sat a little closer. Leaned in a little more.
— "You're gaining traction," she said, sipping from her pink water bottle.
— "People are starting to bet on where you'll land."
— "And what's your guess?"
She smiled.
— "Top thirty."
— "Flattering."
She shrugged.
— "Or maybe I'm just bad at reading people."
There was something in her tone I couldn't pin down.
Half compliment, half... caution?
I filed it away.
Right next to the fact that she hadn't opened her lunch.
That afternoon, the trap sprang.
History class. Same teacher as the day I first spoke up.
He handed out papers—mock essays, all anonymous, graded "for internal review."
As he spoke, I noticed something strange: a few students glancing at me.
Too openly. Too early.
Then I saw it.
My name.
Scrawled in blue ink at the top of a paper.
Not my handwriting.
Not my words.
The paper was filled with shallow arguments, recycled ideas, and a direct quote from the teacher's own lecture.
Plagiarism.
I blinked, heart skipping.
This was planted.
Deliberate.
And when the teacher reached my row, he paused just a little longer. Looked at me just a little too directly.
No accusation. No warning.
Just doubt.
And in a school like this, doubt was poison.
I didn't eat dinner that night.
There was food at home—well, technically. A couple of instant ramen packets, one expired yogurt, and a bag of chips that had gone soft from humidity.
But my stomach was full of tension.
I sat at my tiny desk, scrolling through my class platform, looking for anything—anything—that could clear my name or at least explain what had happened.
Nothing.
The essay wasn't in my history submission file. I hadn't uploaded anything. But someone had clearly printed something with my name on it and dropped it in the pile.
Old me—Alma—would have gone straight to the administration. Demanded a meeting. Threatened a lawsuit.
But Nina?
Nina had no family name, no lawyer, no leverage.
Just instinct. Observation. And the slowly forming certainty that this wasn't just Haeun being petty.
This was a test.
Someone had decided to provoke me.
And the worst part?
It was working.
At 10 p.m., my phone buzzed.
A message. No contact. No name.
"Not everyone gets to be interesting forever."
I stared at it for a long time.
Not afraid.
Just… pissed.
Someone wanted me to back off. To dim down.
They didn't realize I'd spent years being invisible. I had burned in silence before.
This time, I was going to be the flame.
The next day, everything looked the same.
But everything had changed.
Whispers were louder. The looks were longer.
Rayan didn't speak to me before class.
He usually didn't—but today, it felt like a silence full of questions.
Even Jin Yuri was quieter. Her smile thinner.
She still sat next to me. But she kept checking her phone like she was waiting for permission to leave.
I watched her fingers.
One ring. Gold, minimalist.
I'd seen that exact model before—on one of Haeun's friends.
Interesting.
Third period. Assembly.
All students gathered in the auditorium, where a thin man in a gray suit stood at the podium.
— "Good morning. I am Mr. Han, external coordinator for institutional excellence. I'm here to announce this year's first official strategic simulation."
Collective groan. Mixed with curiosity.
— "This will be a graded group assessment. Participation is mandatory. The scenario will be assigned at random. You will act as governments, corporations, or NGOs responding to a complex international crisis."
He clicked the remote.
The screen behind him displayed a mock headline:
South Asian Water Crisis: International Response Simulation
Beside me, Rayan crossed his arms.
Behind me, Haeun exhaled softly.
Jin Yuri glanced sideways, as if trying to predict who would be grouped with whom.
Mr. Han continued:
— "Your ranking may influence your team placement. So for some of you… this is your opportunity to prove you belong."
All eyes flicked to me.
The unranked ghost. The anomaly.
I smiled faintly.
Because ghosts?
They move through walls.
Later that day, we received our team lists by email.
I opened mine and blinked twice.
Team 6:
– Lee Nina
– Jin Yuri
– Han Daejin
– Min Seo-hye
Two names I didn't recognize.
And Yuri.
So.
They wanted to watch me in a team setting.
Let them.
I had just the right mask for the occasion.
The simulation started in two days.
We were given briefing packets, background documents, and a digital platform for communication.
That night, I studied until my eyes blurred.
There was too much to learn. Water politics. Trade routes. UN treaty structures.
But I didn't care.
Because this was a game.
And I'd spent my entire life being forced to learn games I didn't choose.
This one? I'd own it.
Still… one thing gnawed at me.
Yuri hadn't messaged once.
No "let's plan," no "did you read the brief," nothing.
When I finally texted her first, she responded half an hour later.
"Sorry, just swamped. Let's meet tomorrow if you're free?"
Casual.
Too casual.
The next morning, I arrived early to school.
I stopped by the library before class, following a hunch.
There she was.
Not alone.
Standing in the back corner, talking to Haeun.
Not whispering.
Laughing.
Like friends.
Or something worse.
They didn't see me.
I didn't let them.
I turned away and walked back toward my classroom, heels tapping softly, brain already spinning.
Had Yuri been a plant from the beginning? A spy? Or just another girl trying to survive?
Did it even matter?
Because now?
I was done adapting.
They wanted to play dirty?
Fine.
Time to start making my own rules.