Bella had barely survived her morning classes, dodging whispers and suspicious glances like emotional dodgeballs. Every hallway felt like a stage. Every glance felt like a spotlight. Her shoulders were tense from keeping her head down. Her brain was fried from overthinking every sideways comment and poorly hidden smirk.
She couldn't even enjoy Chemistry, and she liked Chemistry.
When the final bell rang before lunch, she was among the first to stand, slinging her bag over her shoulder with a sigh that was far too heavy for someone who had only survived half the day. She moved with the current of students toward the hallway.
And then she stopped.
Dead in her tracks.
Because he was there.
Yunho.
Leaning against the wall just opposite her classroom door, arms crossed over his chest, one ankle kicked up against the baseboard like he'd been there forever. Like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Her stomach did a full Olympic somersault.
He spotted her instantly, eyes locking on hers the second she stepped into the light. His body shifted. He pushed off the wall, standing upright, like he had been waiting for only her.
And that was when it began.
The whispers.
It was subtle at first. A few startled sounds. A shoulder nudge. A pointed look.
Then, like dominoes falling, the hallway erupted into a low buzz of chaos.
"Is that Yunho?"
"He's literally waiting for her."
"No way."
"Oh my god, oh my god, they're really a thing?"
"I need to sit down."
Bella could feel her face heating with every step. She tried to walk like she didn't notice the small crowd gathering. Like she didn't see the heads turning. Like she didn't hear the gasp of someone filming on their phone.
It was very much a big deal.
She didn't even dare glance at him again until he stepped directly into her path.
"Hey," he said.
Just one word. But somehow, it knocked the air right out of her lungs.
"You're… here," she replied, blinking.
"You said I could thank you with food," he said, so casually it was disorienting. "I'm here to lock that in."
The hallway noise shifted. Not gone, just muted, like the entire school was holding its collective breath, eavesdropping as one organism.
Bella stared. "Now?"
He shrugged. "Or later. But I'm not letting you dodge it."
"I wasn't going to," she said, voice tight.
"You're thinking about it."
"I'm not."
Yunho stepped slightly closer. She could smell the faintest scent of chlorine and something minty.
"You literally flinched when you saw me just now."
"I did not flinch."
"You flinched."
Bella narrowed her eyes. "Okay, fine. But maybe I just wasn't expecting you to show up like… this."
"Like what?"
She lowered her voice. "Like a drama male lead. Outside my classroom. In full view of the entire school."
He smirked.
Somewhere behind her, someone whispered, "He's smiling at her."
Another voice added, "He never smiles at anyone."
And a third, almost choked, "This is getting out of hand."
Bella exhaled, trying to stay upright. "Alright. Food. Pick a day."
Yunho didn't even hesitate. "Saturday."
She hesitated.
He saw it. "Not a date. Just… a thing. Food. Thank-you food."
Bella crossed her arms. "Okay. Saturday."
He gave a slow, satisfied nod. "I'll message you."
And just like that, he turned and walked off. The hallway parted for him without question. There was a slight limp in his gait, a leftover from the pool incident, but it didn't seem to touch his confidence at all.
He disappeared around the corner, and the moment he was gone, the sound in the hallway surged back to full volume like a tidal wave breaking.
Bella stood there, frozen in his wake, her cheeks burning.
And then, as if summoned by dramatic timing, Emily appeared beside her.
"Did you just get publicly claimed?" she asked, voice pitched somewhere between astonishment and amusement.
"I'm going to now go and bury myself in the gym equipment storage room," Bella mumbled.
Emily grinned, practically glowing with secondhand embarrassment. "Good luck. There's no hiding now. Especially not from that."
Bella groaned and rubbed her face with both hands. "It's not a date."
Emily looped her arm through Bella's. "No. But it's definitely not not a date."
They were just starting to move again when a voice cut through the noise.
"Wait."
Bella turned instinctively.
Yunho had come back. His usual cool composure? Gone.
He stopped a few steps away from her, scratched the back of his neck and held out his phone, slightly awkward, very un-Yunho.
"I, uh… realised I don't have your number," he said, not quite meeting her eyes. "Kind of need that if I'm going to message you."
Bella stared. Was he… nervous?
"You came all the way here… without a plan?"
He gave her a flat look. "I had a plan. I just forgot the part where I needed your number to pull it off."
Behind Bella, Emily let out the tiniest snort. She wasn't even pretending to be subtle anymore.
Bella slowly took the phone from him. She typed in her number, double-checked it, then handed it back.
Yunho looked at the screen, gave a small nod, and said, "Cool. Okay. I'm gonna go now. For real this time."
And then he actually did.
He turned, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and disappeared down the corridor again.
Bella blinked after him. Dazed. Uncertain. Lightheaded.
Emily exhaled beside her, like she'd been holding her breath the whole time. "…Did the swim captain just short-circuit?"
Bella didn't answer.
Because yes. Yes, he had.
And it might have been her favourite version of him yet.
The rest of the day passed in a blur.
Everywhere she went, eyes followed. Conversations hushed when she entered rooms. It was like someone had handed out flyers that read: "Bella, starring in a real-life romance."
By the time the final bell rang, she felt like she had lived a hundred lives in one school day.
She collapsed onto a bench outside the library with Emily and pulled her knees up to her chest.
"On a scale of one to social implosion, how bad was today?" Bella asked.
Emily didn't hesitate. "Twelve. But also? Iconic."
Bella groaned and buried her face in her arms.
"It could be worse," Emily added thoughtfully.
"How?"
"You could have agreed to the date without realising it was a date. At least now you have time to mentally prepare."
Bella peeked out from her arms. "You think it's going to be… a real thing?"
Emily shrugged. "I think Yunho doesn't do things halfway. If he's showing up in public like that, then yeah. It's probably real."
Bella let the thought sit. Heavy and electric.
Saturday was only four days away. But already, it felt like her world had shifted. And Yunho Choi had something to do with it. She leaned her head back, exhaling slowly. The warm breeze brushed against her face, but her thoughts were stormy.
That was when she remembered.
The bet.
Her spine stiffened.
She sat up straight and looked over at Emily. "Hey… do you know that Ava knew about this way earlier? And something about a bet?"
Emily blinked. "Oh. Right. The one Ava was talking about in her group chat?" Bella nodded.
Emily's smile faltered. "Yeah. Some people are saying there's a wager going around. Like, literal bets on whether or not Yunho's going to properly ask you out."
Bella's face tightened. "And people are actually taking it seriously?"
Emily hesitated, then gave a small nod. "It's high school. They'll bet on anything. But… yeah. Apparently, some of the juniors are the ones who started it."
Bella leaned forward, elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands again.
"I knew my days in school were too good to be true. I was doing so well, lying low and not calling attention to myself."
Emily reached over and lightly nudged her shoulder. "Hey. Don't spiral. Just because they made a bet doesn't mean he knows about it. And even if he does, that doesn't mean his feelings aren't real."
Bella didn't look up.
"Still," she muttered. "It makes me feel like I'm on display. Like I'm some character in someone else's game."
Emily went quiet for a moment, then said gently, "You saved his life, remember? You didn't ask for any of this. You just were there. And maybe… so was he."
Bella finally lifted her head, eyes tired. "I hate feeling like I don't know what's real anymore."
"You'll know," Emily said firmly. "Saturday will help."
Bella pressed her lips together. "Unless it turns into another performance for everyone to watch."
"It won't," Emily promised. "If Yunho wanted to make a show of things, he would've done it in the cafeteria, not outside your classroom looking like he wanted to climb out of his own skin."
Bella let out a reluctant laugh. "He was weirdly nervous."
"And it was adorable," Emily added. "So go. Let him feed you overpriced burgers or noodles or whatever. And then decide if it's something you want. Not what they want."
Bella leaned back, her heart still thudding. There was still so much she didn't know. So much that could go wrong. But somewhere under all that mess…
She kind of wanted it to go right. Especially if the whole school was watching.