The night wind seemed to whisper as it slipped beneath the branches of the trees. It was Taehyun who found the courage to break the silence first.
"Arim…" he called softly.
Nau Rin kept walking, eyes fixed ahead, and answered with a faint, "Mm."
"Are you okay?" Taehyun asked, worry evident in his voice.
Nau Rin let out a light laugh and relaxed her shoulders.
"Of course I'm fine. What could be wrong?" she said, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh—right. I didn't tell my mom I'd be late." She pulled out her phone.
Minho walked beside her, hands in his pockets.
"I already told her."
Relief flickered across Nau Rin's face.
"I see… By the way, why didn't any of you answer your phones? I called so many times," she said, glancing at them.
Minho shrugged.
"I left mine in my room."
Taehyun smiled and held up his phone.
"Mine ran out of battery. See? It's still dead."
Seohun adjusted his sleeve and joked,
"Do I even have a phone?"
Nau Rin shook her head with a sigh.
"You're unbelievable…"
Minho replied lightly,
"But we still came, didn't we?"
"Yes," Nau Rin said softly. "You did."
When they reached the front of her house, Seohun handed her bag back. Without another word, they parted ways, each heading toward their own home under the quiet night sky.
Because she was doing Kim Mina's and her friends' homework for them, Nau Rin barely had any time left to study for herself. On some nights, she remained seated at her desk until one or even two in the morning.
That morning, she put on her school uniform neatly, exactly as the rules required, glanced at her reflection in the mirror, and headed downstairs. In the kitchen, she found herself alone at the table with her mother. The breakfast spread—though prepared for only two people—was filled with an abundance of side dishes.
Setting out chopsticks and spoons for both of them, Nau Rin asked,
"Did Dad leave early?"
Her mother nodded.
"Yes. He said he had work and went out early."
They ate in silence for a while. Then her mother spoke softly,
"Arim…"
Nau Rin lifted her head and looked at her.
"What is it?"
Smiling gently, her mother said,
"Starting today, I'm going to attend training classes."
Nau Rin's face lit up.
"That's wonderful news!"
Her mother smiled too, but her gaze dropped, a trace of worry passing over her face.
"But... will I really be able to?"
With quiet confidence, Nau Rin replied,
"Mom, Beginning is half of everything. You've already covered half the distance of the road."
Her mother's expression eased, and she smiled broadly, reassured. But Nau Rin glanced at the table and added with a small laugh,
"Still… isn't this a bit too much food? How are we supposed to finish all this?"
Her mother responded in a concerned tone,
"Eat well. You've been looking thinner lately. Just look at your eyes—they've sunk in."
Nau Rin walked toward school with a faint smile still on her lips. The clear sky and warm morning sunlight felt strangely encouraging, as if the day itself were gently cheering her on.
Maybe today won't be such a bad day, she murmured to herself.
Before heading to her own classroom, she paused at the doorway of Kim Mina's class and peeked inside. It seemed no one had arrived yet—the room was empty and silent. Nau Rin quietly placed their notebooks on Mina's desk and slipped away.
As she walked down the corridor, a sigh escaped her without her noticing. There was hardly anyone in the school who hadn't heard of her by now. Nefarious, demeaning rumors about her had spread everywhere, and even some teachers had begun to look at her with thinly veiled discomfort.
She deliberately chose the quietest paths, slipping into hallways where students rarely passed. Near the library, she found a cozy corner and settled down. The entrance was empty—no footsteps, no voices, not a single student in sight.
Sunlight poured in through a south-facing window, filling the room so completely that even the dust motes floating in the air shimmered like gold. Rows of books lined the shelves, their colorful spines glowing softly in the light, lending the space an air of calm elegance and quiet comfort.
Nau Rin let her fingers trail gently along the edges of the books before pulling one free.
She opened it and began to read. Before she realized it, the bell was about to ring—the break was nearly over.
Afternoon slipped by, and when the final bell echoed through the school, students gradually filtered out one by one. Nau Rin, assigned as the duty student, remained behind alone in the classroom, wiping the floors and straightening the desks.
When everything was finally finished, she gathered the trash and headed toward the disposal area.
At the moment she paused after throwing away the trash, something suddenly splashed down from above.
With shaking hands, she gingerly brushed it off her head—and realized, to her horror, that it was used toilet paper. Cold, wet, and foul-smelling, it clung unpleasantly to her hair, its surface smeared with excrement. For an instant, her mind went blank. Her body froze in place, and her breath caught in her chest. For a moment, it felt as though her lungs had forgotten how to take in air. Her face drained of color, her clenched fingers shook uncontrollably, and the force of her teeth biting down left her jaw aching. Her eyes burned hot, as if blood had surged to the surface.
Looking up, she saw Kim Mina and her friends standing there, smiling cruelly, waving at her.
"That trash really seems to suit you," they laughed, then sauntered away.
Blood trickled from the corners of her bitten lips. She wanted to scream, to shout —but no sound emerged. She had endured insults, scornful glares, and humiliation before, but never anything like this.
In a sudden rush of resolve, she sprinted toward the restroom, threw off her coat, repeatedly washed her hands, and scrubbed at her hair again and again—but it made no difference.
Grabbing the coat she had thrown on the floor, she stormed back to her classroom, yanked open her locker, pulled out her gym uniform, and hastily changed. One by one, she threw her uniform onto the floor, packed her bag, and ran from the school.
She ran straight home, barely aware of her surroundings. Everything blurred as her eyes failed to focus; the world around her flickered and swirled. Inside, she carried a storm of frustration, anger, and bitterness that she could not release—so she just ran.
She burst through the front door, tossed her belongings onto the floor, and dashed into the shower. As hot steam filled the room, she scrubbed her skin until it was raw, but though the physical filth washed away, the stain on her soul remained.
Finally, she stood under the hot spray, motionless, her head bowed.
"I thought if I just endured it like before, everything would be fine. I thought that simply holding on was enough..."
Now, what was she supposed to do? Should she tell her parents? Should she report it to the school administration?
She truly didn't want to cause her parents any pain
She had secretly watched her mother weep in her father's arms many times while she was hospitalized. They always blamed themselves for everything that had happened. Perhaps that was when she chose to be strong instead of weak. Even when she stumbled and scraped her knees, she learned to stand back up in silence, without a single tear.
When she stepped out of the shower, the house lay wrapped in silence. Even the sound of water droplets falling onto the floor seemed unnaturally clear. Yet somehow, that stillness brought a strange kind of calm, a subtle comfort that she hadn't expected. Moving unhurriedly, Nau Rin went downstairs, deciding to straighten the things she had left scattered before her parents returned.
She turned on the washing machine and sat watching the metal drum spin. From the side, it might have seemed as though she was observing it closely, but her gaze reflected nothing—only emptiness. What is she really seeing?
She had spent far too much energy that day; her body felt completely drained. And yet, instead of lying down on her bed, she sat on the cold window sill, staring into the distance.
What was she searching for?
The next day, she pretended to be sick and stayed home alone, skipping school. She spent the entire day curled up in bed. Perhaps all she needed was rest.
Another day passed, and the weekend arrived. Her father left for work as he sometimes did even on days off, while her mother—having just begun doing something she truly enjoyed—wore a bright, excited smile as she hurried off to her class. As always, they shared breakfast together.
Later, as Nau Rin sat alone at the small desk in her room studying, the doorbell suddenly rang. The moment she opened the door, her friends nearly burst inside.
"We're going to the park! Want to come?" they asked cheerfully.
Before she could even answer, they grabbed her and pulled her along with them.
Nau Rin muttered in annoyance,
"Why did you even ask if you weren't going to listen to the answer?"
Minho replied casually, almost teasing,
"Asked just to hear an answer?"
The weather that day was warm and sunny, around seventeen degrees. Wearing light jackets, they walked beneath the gentle warmth of the air and sunlight.
Before Nau Rin could protest, her friends paid for everything themselves, not asking her for a single coin. They rode nearly every attraction, ate their fill, and let the hours slip by without a care.
Eventually, they disagreed over which ride to go on next and split into pairs. Seohun and Taehyun headed toward the haunted house, while Minho and Nau Rin made their way to the bungee jump.
Away from the park's center, a steel tower rose above an artificial lake, towering nearly sixty meters high. As the elevator climbed, Minho's expression grew stiff, the color slowly draining from his face.
"I didn't think it'd be this high… Should we stop?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly as he looked at Nau Rin.
But she had already fastened her harness. She stood quietly at the edge of the platform, ready.
Minho didn't have the heart to look down. Clinging tightly to the railing, he looked over at Nau Rin, who stood at the very edge of the platform, staring straight back at him. Her face was devoid of fear, devoid of thought—unnervingly calm.
For reasons he couldn't explain, a suffocating dread seized Minho's chest, and he shouted without thinking.
"Arim!"
Nau Rin closed her eyes and fell backward into the silence of the air that surrounded her.