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Chapter 5: Behind the Music Room
Jae Li's fingers trembled as she gripped the edge of the stone wall behind the music room. The old brick alley behind it—where students rarely wandered—looked exactly as she remembered it: cracked pavement, faded graffiti, and a broken bench leaning sideways like it was listening in on secrets.
She arrived early. Always early.
The wind rustled the cherry blossoms above. Her heart beat loud in her chest. The paper crane lay folded in her pocket, its edges worn from her touch.
She didn't have to wait long.
Two shadows slipped into view.
Boys.
Seniors.
One of them, taller, with spiked hair and cold eyes, smiled like a knife.
"Told you she'd come," he said.
Jae Li stood straighter. "Who sent the note?"
The other one snorted. "You're cute, acting like this isn't serious."
"I asked a question."
The taller boy stepped closer, expression darkening. "You've been poking around, Kim Jae Li. Asking about people you shouldn't. You want to play detective?"
He reached into his coat—
"Then you'd better be ready to bleed."
Suddenly—
"Touch her and you'll wish you hadn't."
Han Wook.
He stepped from the shadows, school blazer unbuttoned, hands in fists.
The two boys turned.
"Ah. The knight in black."
"This isn't your fight, Lee Han Wook."
He smiled coldly. "It is now."
And in that narrow alley behind the music room, past and future collided.
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To be continued in Chapter 6: The Choice That Changes Everything