The door creaked open.
I expected a student. Instead, I found myself staring at the chest of a man in a sharp, charcoal suit. I slowly looked up. He had a perfectly groomed mustache and eyes that could peel paint off a wall.
"Yes?" the teacher asked, his voice dripping with annoyance.
I swallowed hard. Behind him, I could see the classroom. It was sleeker than ours—tiered seating, soundproofing panels on the walls, and about twenty students in red Hanyeong blazers staring at me.
I stood there, panting, sweat dripping from my nose, my white shirt clinging to my chest, wearing a Kirin tie.
"I..." I wheezed, my lungs burning. "I need ... Park Jin-hyun."
The room erupted in whispers.
"Is that a Kirin tie?"
"What is a Kirin student doing here?"
"Is he a spy?"
"He looks like he swam here."
The teacher narrowed his eyes.
"This is a closed campus, student. You are trespassing. I am calling security."
He reached for the wall phone.
"JIN-HYUN!" I shouted over the teacher's shoulder, ignoring propriety. "CODE RED! MS. CHOI IS COMING! SHE'S COMING TO THE PRACTICE!"
In the back row, a figure with silver-dyed hair had been leaning back in his chair, balancing a pen on his nose.
At my shout, the pen dropped.
Park Jin-hyun sat up.
He looked at me—sweaty, desperate, and clearly insane enough to break into a rival school.
His eyes widened slightly. He understood.
He stood up, grabbing his bag in one fluid motion.
"Mr. Park?" the teacher barked. "Sit down."
"Apologies, Mr. Kim," Jin-hyun said, his voice smooth but urgent. He walked down the aisle, buttoning his red blazer. "Family emergency. That's my... cousin. From Europe. He has... directional challenges. And panic attacks."
"He shouted about Ms. Choi," Mr. Kim argued.
"That's his mother's name. Trauma," Jin-hyun lied effortlessly, reaching the door. He grabbed my arm with a grip of steel.
Before the teacher could protest further, Jin-hyun yanked me into the hallway and slammed the door shut.
"Run," he commanded, dropping the polite act.
We bolted.
"You broke into Hanyeong?" Jin-hyun asked, running beside me, his long legs eating up the distance easily. "You actually have a death wish, Mountain."
"Ms. Choi... wants to see... the band," I panted, struggling to keep up. "Also... there is a giant orange refrigerator chasing me."
"A what?"
We rounded the corner to the exit, and there he was. The PE teacher in the orange tracksuit was standing by the main doors, smacking his bamboo sword against his palm.
"THERE HE IS!" the Orange Refrigerator roared. "AND HE'S GOT AN ACCOMPLICE!"
"Ah. Mr. Ma," Jin-hyun grimaced. "He's fast. Left!"
We swerved toward the side exit. I slammed into the push-bar, bursting out into the sunlight. We sprinted across the pavement toward the main gate.
"Gate... locked..." I gasped. "We have to... climb..."
I prepared to jump at the pillar again.
"Idiot," Jin-hyun muttered.
He didn't slow down. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a lanyard, and slapped his student ID card against the sensor on the pedestrian side door.
BEEP.
The magnetic lock disengaged with a clunk. Jin-hyun kicked the door open and stepped through.
I stood there for a split second, mid-jump, feeling incredibly stupid.
"Are you coming or are you going to hug the pillar?" Jin-hyun called out.
I scrambled through the door just as the PE teacher slammed into the bars behind us.
"STOP! PARK JIN-HYUN! I KNOW THAT'S YOU!"
The taxi was waiting exactly where I left it. The driver's eyes widened as he saw two students sprinting toward him—one in red, one in white.
I dove into the back seat, grabbing my navy blazer. Jin-hyun slid in from the other side.
"Kirin Arts! Go! Fast!" I yelled.
The driver hit the gas. The tires screeched, leaving Hanyeong and the furious PE teacher in a cloud of dust.
I collapsed against the leather seat, trying to put my blazer on over my trembling arms. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears.
Jin-hyun sat calmly, fixing his hair in the rearview mirror. He looked at me, an amused smirk playing on his lips.
"So," he said, brushing a speck of dust off his red lapel. "Ms. Choi is coming to the practice room?"
"Yes," I wheezed, finally getting my arm through the sleeve. "Applied Performance. Professor Kim's class. She wants to see... results."
"Fun," Jin-hyun said. "We don't have a finished song."
"We have... a structure," I argued. "And a name. H-Wnot."
"H-Wnot?" Jin-hyun tested the name. He looked at the passing city blur. "Not bad. Sounds pretentious. Kirin will love it."
He looked at me again. He took in my sweaty hair, my red face, and the sheer exhaustion radiating off me.
"You ran all the way here for this?" he asked quietly.
"I told you," I said, buttoning my blazer and trying to look presentable. "I'm the frontman. It's my job to assemble the team."
Jin-hyun stared at me for a moment longer, then let out a short, genuine laugh.
"Alright, frontman," he said, pulling a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and putting them on. "Let's go show Ms. Choi what a collision of two schools sounds like."