Monday arrived with fake sunshine beaming through artificial skylights and a new system announcement buzzing through everyone's tablets:
> COUPLING PROJECT – PHASE I
Assigned Partners:
Chae Luna & Han Leejun
Project: LP Synergy Simulation
Duration: 7 Days
Outcome affects semester ranking.
Luna read it three times.
"Is this… serious?"
Across the room, Leejun stood frozen, tablet glowing with the same message. He met her eyes from across the hall. His face said I didn't plan this, but his faint smirk said I don't mind.
She was about to walk over when a perfectly manicured hand slapped a paper packet on her desk.
Bella Choi.
Rank #2. Social princess. Possibly evil.
"Oh, Luna," she cooed. "Congrats on your little system glitch. You must be so proud of being a charity case."
Luna blinked. "Did you practice that tone, or were you born with it?"
Bella's smile sharpened. "Just a friendly warning. Leejun doesn't do real. He does results. You're a temporary LP experiment. Don't get attached."
"I won't," Luna said evenly. "But you clearly did."
Bella's eyes flashed, but before she could snap back, the teacher walked in.
"Pair up, students! Time to begin your project."
---
Later: Simulation Room 04
Luna and Leejun stood in a virtual garden filled with holographic butterflies, tea sets, and—strangely—alpacas.
"I think the system thinks romance equals petting zoos," Luna muttered.
Leejun tapped his interface. "Our task is to display compatibility through shared choices and emotional alignment. Should be simple."
"Simple," she echoed. "Sure. Until Bella sets the alpacas on fire."
He chuckled. "You're not nervous?"
Luna crossed her arms. "I'm more worried about stepping in digital alpaca poop than I am about fake flirting."
He stepped closer.
"Good," he said. "Because none of this feels fake to me."
She opened her mouth to reply—then the floor vibrated.
BOOM.
A coded explosion tore through the left side of the simulation. Holographic trees glitched. Alpacas fled.
An alert blared across their interface:
> UNAUTHORIZED SYSTEM INTERRUPTION
SOURCE: CLASS 1-A USER – ID: CHOI.B
Bella's "tea table" had exploded in a shower of glitchy roses.
Luna gaped. "Did she bomb our bonding session?!"
"She's trying to force a project failure," Leejun muttered, scanning the chaos.
They barely had time to react before security bots materialized, dragging Bella away, still screaming about "imbalanced matchmaking" and "broken algorithms."
The simulation reset—but not before flashing one more alert:
> LP SYNERGY SCORE:
Chae Luna & Han Leejun: 87%
Highest in Class
---
Back in Reality
Riven watched the numbers from his room, one leg dangling off the window ledge.
"She's syncing with him that fast?" he muttered, tossing a stress ball at the wall.
Behind him, the Headmaster's latest bulletin loaded.
> UPCOMING: MIDTERM HEARTLOCK TRIAL
Partners will be locked in pairs until resonance stabilizes.
Riven stood up slowly.
"Well," he whispered. "Guess it's time I stopped watching."