Luna didn't say yes to either of them.
Not at first.
Instead, she did the most logical thing a girl could do when caught between two walking distractions with weaponized cheekbones.
She ran.
Straight to the vending machines.
Ten minutes and two strawberry milk cartons later, she sat on a bench outside the dorm towers, debating her life choices and checking her LP like it was a fever.
15 minutes later.
She stood in front of Leejun's dorm suite. The entrance was glowing faint blue—elite tier access only. Fancy.
She knocked.
The door slid open.
The suite looked less like a dorm and more like a luxury sky lounge. Glass walls, dim lights, soft music, a cake that probably cost more than her entire scholarship.
Leejun stood in the center, wearing a black turtleneck like he'd stepped out of a magazine cover shoot.
"You came," he said.
Luna shrugged. "There was cake. I have zero self-control."
A corner of his mouth lifted. "Noted."
Only three other guests were there—two nodded politely, the third immediately excused herself when Luna walked in.
"Sorry," Leejun said. "They're intimidated by system anomalies."
"Cool," Luna said. "I'm a walking bug report."
They sat on a plush couch, awkward tension thick between them.
Leejun broke the silence. "I wasn't lying. I wanted to talk."
She glanced over. "About… resonance?"
He nodded. "And the fact that since you entered the academy, I've lost exactly 15 LP. All of it traceable to you."
She blinked. "I don't know how it works. I didn't mean to—"
"I know," he said softly. "That's what's interesting."
Just as things began to soften, the door hissed open again.
Riven.
Holding… a pizza box.
Luna stared. "How did you even get in?"
"Bribed the guard with garlic bread," he said casually, walking in like he owned the place.
Leejun stood up, icy. "You weren't invited."
Riven grinned. "Yeah, but I was curious. Birthday boy and Luna, alone? Sounded like a drama I wanted front-row seats for."
Luna groaned. "This is not happening."
Riven dropped beside her, offering a slice. "You promised me cake, but I figured this was safer."
Leejun didn't sit. "This was supposed to be a conversation."
"And it still can be," Riven said, mouth full of pizza. "Luna. Who's your emotional resonance partner, huh? Me? Him? The cake?"
Ping.
> +5 LP
Source: Emotional Confusion + Triangular Tension
Luna buried her face in her hands. "I need a system reboot. Or a nap."
---
Elsewhere…
In the shadows of the LP Lab, the administrators reviewed the footage.
"She's accelerating faster than we projected," one muttered.
The Headmaster tapped the table. "Let the chaos unfold. The system grows stronger with unpredictability."
He stared at Luna's glowing profile.
"Especially hers."