Chapter1: Hanseong University
Some people entered Hanseong University with confidence.Avelisse Laurent entered it with fear.The huge black gates opened slowly in front of her while expensive cars passed one after another beside the sidewalk.Luxury brands. Perfect faces. Rich laughter.Everything there looked untouchable.And Avelisse hated how small she suddenly felt standing in the middle of it.Her fingers tightened around the strap of her old bag.“Breathe,” Mia whispered beside her dramatically. “You look like you’re entering prison.”Avelisse laughed nervously.“Maybe I am.”Mia rolled her eyes instantly.Mia Laurent was the complete opposite of Avelisse.Confident. Loud. Beautiful without trying.Even in simple clothes she looked like someone people noticed naturally.Meanwhile Avelisse always felt like background noise in crowded places.“You overthink too much,” Mia complained while dragging her toward the main building. “Nobody here cares if you’re scholarship or rich.”The moment they entered the hallway—three girls glanced toward Avelisse’s shoes and laughed quietly.Mia’s face instantly flattened.“…Okay, maybe some people care.”Avelisse looked away quickly before the embarrassment showed on her face.That happened often lately.People noticing what she lacked before noticing her.Her clothes too simple. Her phone too old. Her silence too awkward.Hanseong students smelled expensive.Avelisse smelled like coffee beans and sleepless nights.Because while most students here spent weekends partying—Avelisse spent hers working.Morning café shifts. Evening restaurant shifts. Late-night studying.Sometimes she slept three hours.Sometimes less.But none of that mattered as long as her mother smiled while paying bills.That alone made exhaustion worth it.“You okay?” Mia asked softly after noticing her expression.Avelisse nodded automatically.Lie.But she smiled anyway.Because smiling always made people ask fewer questions.Meanwhile—three floors above the crowded hallway—someone watched her.Not openly.Not obviously.Just quietly enough to remain unnoticed.Xavian Volkov leaned against the glass railing overlooking the entrance hall while students kept their distance around him naturally.No one told them to.They simply did.Power had its own atmosphere.And Xavian carried too much of it.Tall. Dark clothes. Cold gray eyes.Even silence looked expensive around him.Beside him stood Adrian Keller adjusting the sleeve of his watch lazily.“First years look terrified this year.”No response.Adrian glanced sideways.Then noticed Xavian wasn’t watching the crowd.He was watching one person.The girl near the staircase.Brown sweater. Nervous posture. Trying not to look overwhelmed.“…Seriously?” Adrian muttered quietly.Xavian’s gaze never moved.“What?”“You’re staring.”“She looks lost.”Adrian almost laughed.Since when did Xavian Volkov care about lost people?This was the same man who once got a professor fired because he got bored during a lecture.Normal things rarely interested him.People interested him even less.Yet somehow—his attention stayed fixed on the scholarship girl downstairs.Not because she was loud.Because she looked like someone trying very hard not to exist.And strangely—that made her stand out more.Below, Mia suddenly nudged Avelisse dramatically.“Oh my God.”“What?”Mia grabbed her arm tighter.“Don’t look obvious but the Xavian Volkov is literally upstairs.”Avelisse frowned slightly.“Who?”Mia looked horrified.“WHO?”She lowered her voice instantly.“His family basically owns half the country.”Avelisse finally glanced upward.And saw him.For one second—their eyes almost met.Almost.But Avelisse looked away first.Too intense.Something about his stare felt uncomfortable.Not rude.Just…heavy.Like he wasn’t simply looking at people.Like he was reading them.“Weird,” Mia whispered slowly.“What?”“He usually ignores everyone.”Avelisse shrugged nervously.“Maybe he wasn’t looking at me.”Above them—Adrian smirked slightly.“She noticed.”Xavian finally looked away from Avelisse.Calmly.“She notices everything,” he murmured.Adrian blinked once.That sentence sounded strange.Too personal.Before he could ask anything else—another voice interrupted them.“Xavian.”A tall elegant girl approached confidently.Seraphina De Luca.Rich. Beautiful. Dangerous in her own way.Most boys at Hanseong were obsessed with her.Xavian barely tolerated her.“You disappeared all summer,” she complained lightly. “People thought you left Korea.”“I was busy.”“With what?”Xavian’s eyes drifted downstairs again briefly toward Avelisse.Then away.“Nothing important.”Lie.For some reason—the lie felt dangerous.Downstairs, Avelisse opened her schedule nervously while trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling lingering in her chest.She didn’t know why.Maybe because rich people like Xavian belonged in stories that ended badly for girls like her.And somewhere far above her—without her realizing—someone had already memorized her name before she ever looked up at him.
