Strike the heart.

Yoon Seo-ah 윤서아:

“Aigoo, Eomma...” I groaned as she launched into another lecture about not picking fights at school.

I wrapped my arms around her from behind while she cooked breakfast for the family.

“Don’t ‘aigoo’ me. I know you’d pick a fight with anyone,” she said, her voice firm despite the sizzling pan in front of her.

I laughed softly, resting my chin on her shoulder. “Eomma, do I really look like a fighter to you?”

She pulled away to face me and cupped my cheeks in her warm palms. “Dear, I’m not saying you shouldn’t defend yourself—a girl should know how to fight if she has to. But only when it’s necessary. You know what will happen if things get out of hand again.”

The gentle concern in her eyes made my chest tighten. I placed my hands over hers and gave her a reassuring smile. “Yes, Eomma. I’ll do whatever you say.”

“That’s my girl,” she smiled, kissing my cheek. “Now go join your dad and sister.”

I nodded and walked over to the dining table. My little sister, Ji-yoo, was slouched in her chair, scrolling mindlessly through her phone without touching her food. Across from her, Appa was buried behind the morning newspaper.

With a quick sigh, I reached over and snatched Ji-yoo’s phone.

“Eonni!” she yelled, glaring at me with full teenage rage.

“Eat first, then stare at your phone,” I said, setting it out of her reach.

She rolled her eyes, grabbed her bag, and pushed her chair back. “I don’t give a shibal about breakfast.”

“Watch how you talk to your older sister, Ji-yoo,” Appa scolded sternly from behind his paper.

I sighed, grabbing my chopsticks as Ji-yoo stormed off. “What’s up with her lately, Appa?”

“I don’t know,” he murmured, glancing toward the hallway. “You should check on her later.”

I looked at her abandoned phone on the table and nodded. I quickly finished my breakfast, grabbed my bag, and headed for the front door. “Goodbye Eomma, bye Appa!”

Eomma wiped her hands on a hand towel. “Omo, yes! Be safe on your way!”

“Wait,” Appa called out, stepping forward to hand me some pocket money. “Take the bus today, and buy something nice for you and your sister later.”

I beamed, tucking the cash safely into my pocket. “Alright. Love you, Appa!”

The fresh morning air hit my face as I walked down the street, instantly cutting through the morning’s lingering tension. A few blocks down, I spotted Lee Do-hyun—my best friend since childhood. I waved, and a bright grin broke across his face as he waved back.

I jogged over to him.

“Woah, woah, careful,” he chuckled, mirroring my smile as we shared our usual handshake.

“How was your vacation?” I asked as we started walking side by side.

“Honestly? Terrible,” he groaned dramatically. “My mom made me do chores non-stop.”

I laughed. “Same here. But hey, it’s a brand-new school! I’m hoping we actually have some fun here.”

Do-hyun paused, his cheerful expression faltering slightly. “Speaking of Hwan-woong Academy... its history isn’t exactly great.”

“Meaning?”

“There are a lot of bullies,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Isn’t that common in high school?”

“Sure, but these guys are different. They’re deadly,” Do-hyun lowered his voice. “The Jeok-yeong Union... and the Crimson Shadow gang. Once they mark someone, they don’t stop until they’ve beaten them half to death.”

I looked up at the clear morning sky, taking a deep breath to brush off the sudden chill in my chest. “If we just keep our heads down and stay out of trouble, they won’t care about us, right?”

Do-hyun hesitated, avoiding my eyes for a second. “...Yeah. Maybe.”

As we approached the school, the heavy mood shifted back into the lively buzz of student chatter. Hwan-woong Academy stood twenty minutes from my house, and the moment the grand gates came into view, my excitement returned. The long entrance road was shaded by lush green trees, lined with students chatting in small groups.

“It’s pretty huge,” Do-hyun remarked with a light laugh.

“Definitely,” I agreed.

Maybe the gang stories were just exaggerated rumors.

As we pushed through the front gates, a familiar voice called out. I turned to see Park Chae-won sprinting toward us. Chae-won had been our sweetest friend since elementary school—she talked a mile a minute, overthought everything, and fell in love at least twice a week.

“Omo, Seo-ah!” she squeaked, wrapping me in a tight hug.

“Chae-won-ah!” I laughed, hugging her back.

She pulled back, practically bouncing on her feet. “I have so much to tell you! My new house, my new boyfriend, everything!” She then turned her gaze to Do-hyun, gasping dramatically. “OMO, Do-hyun! You’re alive! I saw your mom working your ass off all vacation!”

Do-hyun laughed awkwardly, rubbing his arm, while I lightly nudged her shoulder.

“Oops,” Chae-won muttered with a mischievous grin. “Anyway, let’s go inside!”

The interior of the school was even more impressive than the grounds—bright corridors, elevated classrooms, and sleek double desks. Our assigned room was on the second floor, so the three of us headed up the stairs, filled with quiet anticipation.

We pushed the classroom door open, expecting a normal first day.

What we walked into felt like a completely different dimension.

Near the window, a girl was casually styling her hair with a plug-in curler while another painted her nails a vivid red. Leaning against the back wall were two guys, completely unbothered, blowing cigarette smoke out the window. The rest of the room was a chaotic blur of loud laughter and reckless energy.

“Uh... well, this is new,” Chae-won muttered, a nervous laugh escaping her lips.

Do-hyun scanned the room, looking desperately for a single normal student.

The moment the three of us stepped inside, the noise dimmed. Dozens of eyes locked onto us, cold and judgmental. We quietly made our way to the back—Do-hyun taking a desk behind us while Chae-won and I sat together.

“Well, well. Who’s this pretty face?”

A guy with headphones draped around his neck slouched over to my desk, a sharp smirk on his face. I stared straight ahead, completely ignoring him.

“Come on, girl, let me get a look at you,” he sneered, reaching out toward my face.

Before his fingers could touch me, I caught his wrist in a iron grip and stood up. At the exact same second, Do-hyun yanked the guy backward by his collar.

“Mind your own business,” Do-hyun muttered, his eyes dark.

The guy shoved Do-hyun’s hand off, stumbling back with a snarl. “Fucker.”

The entire room went dead silent. Every single student was staring at us now—not with shock, but as if we had just signed our own death warrants.

Chae-won tugged frantically at my skirt from below. “Sit down,” she whispered, her voice trembling.

I slowly slid back into my seat, my pulse thumping in my ears.

This wasn’t just a bad start to the school year. This was war.

Do-hyun gave me a slight nod, his jaw still tight as he slowly let go of the tension in his shoulders. I looked away from the guy trying to harass me, refusing to give him any more of my attention.

“You don’t fight,” Chae-won whispered urgently, grabbing my wrist under the desk. Her eyes were wide with genuine panic.

I forced a smile, swallowing down the bitter taste in my mouth. I really didn’t want to fight. But deep down, I inherited my dad’s explosive temper—a dark spark I constantly had to keep on a tight leash. If I lost control here on my very first day, my mother and my best friends would literally eat me alive.

“You can’t fight,” a mocking voice echoed in the back of my mind.

Shut up, I ordered my own thoughts.

I forced myself to take a deep breath, desperately trying to lock away the memories of my past. I wanted nothing more than to strip my life clean of conflict, but it was never that easy. You can’t just rip corruption out by its roots overnight. Still, if I couldn’t physically lash out, I could at least verbally defend myself against the rot around here.

While I was still fighting my inner demons, the heavy classroom door burst open.

In walked a man in his mid-thirties wearing a simple checked shirt and dark trousers. He had a sharp, tired look in his eyes—our homeroom teacher.

“Everyone, sit down. Now,” he commanded strictly.

The entire room erupted into a collective groan, but amazingly, the unruly students scrambled back to their desks in a hurry. The girl with the curler yanked it from her hair, and the two guys by the window quickly flicked their cigarette butts out into the breeze. Chae-won, Do-hyun, and I braced ourselves.

“We have three transfer students joining us today,” the teacher announced, setting his leather briefcase on the podium with a thud. “I request them to come up front and introduce themselves.”

The three of us exchanged a quick look, slowly stood up, and walked over to the front of the classroom. Facing the cold, judgmental glares of forty hostile teenagers felt like stepping onto an execution stage.

Chae-won cleared her throat first. “Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Park Chae-won... and I don’t think we’ll be friends anytime soon.”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. I jammed my elbow hard into her side, muttering through gritted teeth, “Are you insane?”

Everyone was staring and judging us already, and her blurted-out honesty was not helping! I cleared my throat loudly to cover the awkward silence and took a confident step forward.

“Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Yoon Seo-ah,” I said, putting on my best, most diplomatic smile. “I hope we can make a good team together.”

Do-hyun stepped up last, keeping it brief and low. “Lee Do-hyun. Nice to meet you.”

“Alright. Go back to your seats—Chae-won, Seo-ah, Do-hyun,” the teacher said, giving us a brief nod.

We walked down the aisle in quiet defeat as whispers rippled across the room like a sudden draft. As soon as we sat, the teacher placed a thick textbook on the lectern and scanned the room with a razor-sharp gaze.

“I am Kim Ji-sung, your math teacher and homeroom advisor for the year,” he announced, slowly pacing in front of the chalkboard. “You should know right now that I do not tolerate students who talk during my lecture, eat in class, or fail to submit their projects on time. I will beat your ass.”

Suddenly, his eyes snapped directly onto mine. My breath caught in my throat.

It was that universal, terrifying student phenomenon—when a teacher is delivering a general threat to the entire class, but makes eye contact with you, making you feel like you’ve already committed a crime. I quickly nodded along like a obedient mannequin, pretending I absorbed every single word.

“Right. Now I’ll take attendance,” Mr. Kim said, opening his grade book.

“Choi Yu-na,” he called out.

A girl near the middle raised her hand.

“Park Yu-min.”

A guy in the front put his hand up.

He continued down the list. “Yoon Seo-ah.” I raised my hand firmly. Then came Do-hyun and Chae-won.

He flipped the page. “Kang Han-joon.”

Silence.

The name hung in the air, instantly striking a strange chord in my memory. My eyebrows knitted together as a faint prickle ran down my spine. Where have I heard that name before?

“Kang Han-joon?” Mr. Kim repeated, irritation creeping into his tone. “Where is he?”

Before anyone could answer, the classroom door swung open with a heavy bang. A collective gasp echoed through the room.

A guy stepped through the threshold. He was tall—easily 6′2"—with a lean, athletic build. Silky, jet-black hair fell loosely over his forehead, framing a pair of dark, piercing eyes. His expression was completely icy, radiating an overwhelming sense of boredom.

Around me, several girls instantly clasped their hands over their mouths, gasping in hushed excitement.

“Here,” he drawled coldly, not even glancing at the teacher.

Surprisingly, Mr. Kim didn’t say a single word of reprimand. He just gave a tight nod as the boy sauntered toward the back of the room. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he slid into an empty desk right next to the gang of delinquents—including the headphone guy who had tried to grab my face earlier.

I rolled my eyes and looked back toward the front board, but the name Kang Han-joon refused to leave my mind. It felt heavy, electric, and dangerously familiar on the tip of my tongue.

Is this deja vu... or something worse?