CHAPTER 1: THE NEW GIRL

Mina liked coming to school early.

It was the only time the classroom felt quiet enough to breathe in.

No loud voices.

No pointless conversations.

No people trying too hard to be noticed.

Just silence.

And she liked silence.

That morning, she stepped into Class 2-B and stopped immediately.

Someone was already there.

A girl she had never seen before was sitting at the desk beside hers, casually flipping through the school handbook like she had every right to be there.

Mina frowned.

“You’re early.”

The girl looked up and smiled.

“So are you.”

Mina said nothing.

She placed her bag on her chair and sat down.

For a few seconds, the room was quiet again.

Then—

“You look like you hate people who talk too much.”

Mina turned her head slowly.

The girl was watching her with a lazy little smile.

Mina stared for a second before replying,

“You look like one of them.”

The girl laughed.

And for some reason, Mina found that annoying.

“I’m Hana,” the girl said.

“Mina.”

Hana tilted her head slightly.

“Pretty name.”

Mina looked away before her expression could betray her.

Before she could respond, the classroom door suddenly slid open.

“Mina!”

Sora rushed in like a storm, nearly out of breath and way too energetic for the morning.

Then she noticed Hana.

Her eyes widened instantly.

“Oh.”

Then she grinned.

“Ohhh.”

Mina already knew that expression.

And she hated it.

Sora dropped into the seat in front of Mina and looked between the two of them.

“Who’s this?”

“The transfer student,” Hana answered easily.

Sora lit up.

“I knew it! You have transfer student energy.”

Hana blinked. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment.”

“It is,” Sora said. “Probably.”

Mina sighed and looked out the window.

Her peaceful morning was officially ruined.

By lunch, nearly everyone in class had already spoken to Hana.

Mina escaped to the library.

She bought strawberry milk from the vending machine outside and headed to her usual table near the back—

Only to stop when she saw Hana sitting there too.

Mina stared.

“Do you have some kind of problem?”

Hana looked up from the book in her hands.

“With what?”

“With being everywhere I am.”

Hana smiled.

“Maybe I’m just interested.”

Mina ignored the weird feeling that gave her and sat down across from her.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Hana asked,

“You always spend lunch alone?”

Mina pushed the straw into her drink.

“Do you always ask invasive questions?”

“Only when I care.”

Mina froze.

That answer came too fast.

Too naturally.

And for once, even Hana seemed to realize how that sounded.

The silence after was awkward.

Then Hana reached into her blazer pocket and placed a strawberry candy on the table.

“A peace offering,” she said.

Mina stared at it.

“You carry candy in your pocket?”

“Only for emergencies.”

That almost made Mina smile.

Almost.

After school, Mina stayed behind to finish sorting student council papers.

The classroom had gone quiet again.

Most students had already left.

She thought she was alone—

Until she heard a voice near the door.

“You really are still here.”

Mina looked up.

It was Hana.

“I have work,” Mina said simply.

Hana walked over and glanced down at the stack of papers on the desk.

“You know normal people would just throw those into a folder and go home, right?”

“I’m not interested in normal people.”

Hana leaned against the desk beside her.

This time, when she looked at Mina, her expression was quieter.

Softer.

“I think,” Hana said, “you try really hard not to let people get close to you.”

Mina’s chest tightened.

She looked away.

“You don’t know me.”

For the first time all day, Hana didn’t smile.

“No,” she said softly.

“Not yet.”

She picked up her bag and turned toward the door.

Then she paused.

“Oh,” she said, glancing back, “I’m sitting beside the window again tomorrow.”

Mina frowned.

“That’s your actual seat.”

“Exactly,” Hana replied with a grin.

“So you can’t complain.”

Then she left.

Just like that.

Mina sat there for a while after, staring at the empty desk beside hers.

For some reason, the classroom didn’t feel as quiet as it usually did.

And somehow—

that bothered her more than it should have.

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