The nurse's office was quiet.
Too quiet.
A fan hummed softly in the corner, its breeze doing little to cool the heat in Sera's chest.
She sat on the edge of the vinyl chair, arms folded tight, foot tapping the floor like it was trying to stomp down everything she felt.
Across the room, Jisoo sat on the cot, a white bandage above his eyebrow, his expression blank.
As always.
Too blank.
The nurse had already fussed over him, muttered about the "accident," then left to call his guardian. She asked Sera to stay with him — probably assuming they were friends.
Funny.
Sera wasn't sure what they were.
But she stayed anyway.
Jisoo didn't look at her. Just stared at the floor like it had done something to offend him.
Sera stared at him.
Hard.
"You're not going to say anything?" she asked.
Silence.
"I saw them. They threw that ball at you, not near you."
He didn't answer.
"You had your back turned," she said. "You weren't even part of the game."
Nothing.
"Jisoo."
Still nothing.
Sera stood suddenly, the legs of her chair screeching across the floor.
"What's wrong with you?"
That made him blink.
She took a step forward, arms dropping to her sides. "You let people talk. You let them spread rumors. You let people hit you. And you just sit there. Like it doesn't matter."
His voice, when it finally came, was flat. "Because it doesn't."
"It does to me."
Silence again.
This time, heavy.
She exhaled shakily, fists clenched. "Why won't you tell me what's really going on? Why do you have those bruises all the time? Why did you transfer schools? Why do people keep targeting you and you act like it's normal?"
Jisoo looked up, slow.
His eyes met hers. And for once—he didn't hide.
"They think I'm easy to blame," he said quietly. "Because I don't fight back anymore."
Anymore.
Sera's breath caught.
"What happened?" she asked again, softer this time.
He looked away.
"I got into a fight. At my old school. Broke a guy's nose. Broke three desks. Got suspended. My brother pulled me out before they expelled me."
"Why?"
"Because the guy I hit was from a rich family. And I wasn't."
Her heart twisted.
Jisoo's fingers tightened over the edge of the cot.
"And the bruises?" she asked gently.
He didn't answer.
Didn't have to.
The silence between them suddenly felt heavier. Like a secret had just curled into the air, fragile and shivering.
Sera stepped closer.
"You don't have to tell me everything," she said. "But don't lie to me."
Jisoo looked at her again.
And in that moment, his eyes weren't cold.
Weren't blank.
They were tired. Scared. Grateful. All at once.
"I won't," he said softly.
Sera nodded, her heart loud in her chest.
Then, without thinking, she reached out—
and gently touched his sleeve.
"I'm not leaving," she whispered.
And this time, Jisoo didn't pull away
Her fingers hovered just above the bandage.
And then—gently, hesitantly—she touched the edge of the white strip on his brow.
Not the wound. Just the soft edge of it. The part that said, I see you. I care. Even if you won't say it out loud.
Jisoo flinched—
But didn't pull away.
His breath hitched. Not because it hurt, but because no one touched him like that. Not carefully. Not with concern. Not since… well.
He looked at her.
And for a second, just a second, everything around them vanished.
Even the hallway.
Even the open door—
where Taeyang stood silently, just outside the frame.
He had come looking for Sera, maybe to check on her, maybe to tease her, maybe… to say something else.
But what he found instead—
was that look.
Her hand.
Jisoo's stillness.
The silence humming between them like a secret being born.
Taeyang didn't say a word.
He just stepped back into the hallway, fists clenched in his pockets, and walked away.
No one saw him.
Not Sera. Not Jisoo.
And definitely not the nurse, who returned just moments later, clipboard in hand.
"Your brother can't come," she said briskly, checking her watch. "Said you know the way. You're good to leave."
Jisoo nodded, eyes lowered. "Obviously."
"Yoon Sera," the nurse added, "you're free to go too. Thank you for waiting."
Sera grabbed her bag. "It's no problem."
They left the office together, stepping into the hallway that had grown quiet after the sports day chaos. The late afternoon light filtered through the windows, soft and low, painting the floors in golden stripes.
For a while, they walked side by side without speaking.
But when they reached the stairwell, Sera finally broke the silence.
"Do you… eat dinner?"
Jisoo glanced at her. "That's a weird question."
She shrugged. "You don't eat in the cafeteria. You barely touch your lunch. I figured maybe... you just forget. Or you don't have time."
He said nothing.
She tried again.
"There's this convenience store down the road. They have those instant spicy seafood noodles. I thought…"
A pause.
"I thought maybe after school—if you want—"
He stopped walking.
She did too.
His gaze on her was unreadable. But not cold.
"Are you asking me to eat instant noodles?"
Sera blinked. "I—yes? I mean. Just. If you want. We're already partners. Might as well suffer through ramen together."
A beat passed.
Then Jisoo looked away, lips twitching just slightly. "You're weird."
Sera grinned. "So that's a yes?"
He didn't say it.
But he started walking again.
And when she followed—
he didn't stop her.