Class began.
Adrian tried to focus on the professor's lecture, but his mind was elsewhere.
It didn't matter how carefully he listened.
He didn't know the terminology.
He didn't know the subjects.
He didn't know the rules of this place.
Every explanation seemed to belong to a life that wasn't his.
Then—
Knock.
The classroom door opened.
Every head turned toward the entrance.
A student stood there, breathing slightly heavier than usual.
"Sorry for the interruption, Professor."
The man looked up from his desk.
"You're late, Oliver."
The student lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
A murmur spread through the classroom.
Adrian looked up.
The name surfaced immediately.
Oliver.
Another fragment.
Another piece of the puzzle.
The young man walked into the room with practiced composure.
He was different from everyone else.
Not because of his appearance.
But because of the way he seemed to carry the weight of every gaze fixed upon him.
His uniform was clean, but worn.
His appearance was modest.
Far too modest for a place where most students looked as though they came from families wealthy enough to buy anything they wanted.
Oliver made his way to his seat.
Then his eyes met Adrian's.
There it was.
The same look Adrian had sensed before.
It wasn't fear.
It wasn't respect.
It was resentment.
Adrian remained still.
What happened between us?
He had no answer.
Leo's reaction, however, was immediate.
His body tensed.
Marco and Bruno noticed as well.
Their bodies reacted before their mouths did.
As though that single student represented a familiar threat.
Adrian raised a hand slightly.
"No."
The three of them froze.
"But, Boss..."
"We're in class."
His voice was calm.
He didn't need to say anything else.
The three quietly settled back into their seats.
Oliver looked away.
But the tension remained.
Adrian watched him for several seconds.
He didn't seem dangerous.
At least, not at first glance.
So why were his subordinates reacting like that?
Why could an ordinary student provoke such hostility?
Another question.
Another missing piece.
Adrian opened his notebook.
He had no intention of getting involved.
The bell hadn't rung yet when the classroom door opened once more.
Astrid Roche stepped inside, carrying a couple of books against her chest.
As almost always happened, several conversations immediately grew quieter.
Not because she wanted them to.
It simply happened.
Her presence stood out even when she tried not to attract attention.
Astrid walked down the center aisle with her usual calm expression.
She didn't need to look to know where Adrian was.
For years, she had grown accustomed to sensing his presence.
The constant glances.
The excessive attention.
The way his friends reacted whenever she appeared.
It was exhausting.
But this time...
Something was different.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
Adrian was sitting in his usual seat.
Back straight.
Notebook open.
Expression calm.
There wasn't the slightest trace of expectation.
He wasn't waiting for her to notice him.
He wasn't trying to get her attention.
He wasn't pretending to ignore her.
He was simply...
Occupied.
Astrid unconsciously slowed her pace.
Only for a moment.
Something didn't feel right.
Still, she continued to her usual seat, two rows in front of him.
Gradually, the classroom settled back into its normal rhythm.
Pages turning.
Chairs shifting.
Quiet conversations.
Then a chair scraped across the floor.
Oliver stood up.
Adrian noticed.
Not because he had been watching him.
But because, ever since arriving in this place, everyone seemed to react strangely whenever Oliver did anything.
Leo stopped writing.
Marco looked up.
Bruno's shoulders stiffened.
The reaction was immediate.
Adrian noticed it from the corner of his eye.
What happened between them?
He still had no answer.
Oliver walked toward the front of the classroom.
Several students began whispering.
"Is he really going to do that?"
"After what happened yesterday..."
Adrian heard the words, but he still didn't understand the context.
Again.
The party.
The incident.
Oliver.
Too many missing pieces.
The young man stopped in front of Astrid's desk.
"Astrid..."
His voice was quiet.
Almost uncertain.
"About the history assignment... could you help me review the research section?"
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Adrian looked down at his notebook.
Not because he wanted to ignore what was happening.
But because he had no idea what he was supposed to do.
Intervene?
Why?
Was that what the old Adrian would have done?
That was precisely the problem.
He wasn't the old Adrian.
The silence continued.
Astrid didn't answer immediately.
Her first reaction wasn't to look at Oliver.
It was to look at Adrian.
She was waiting for something.
A word.
A glance.
A signal.
Anything.
But she found nothing.
And that was the strangest part.
Stranger than an argument.
Stranger than a provocation.
Because for the first time in a long while, Adrian seemed to have no interest in controlling the situation.
Astrid turned her gaze back to Oliver.
"We'll review it after class."
Her tone was polite.
Though slightly more distant than usual.
Oliver looked surprised.
He had expected something else.
Perhaps rejection.
Perhaps a scene.
But nothing happened.
"Of course. Thank you."
He returned to his seat.
The murmuring in the classroom resumed.
But this time, it was different.
They weren't talking about Oliver.
They were talking about Adrian.
Leo looked at him, unable to hide his confusion.
"Boss..."
Adrian slowly raised his eyes.
He said nothing.
He simply stared at him.
Leo understood the message and immediately closed his mouth.
But his expression said only one thing:
Something was wrong.
Astrid, meanwhile, didn't look at Oliver again.
Her attention kept returning to Adrian's seat.
She couldn't understand what had just happened.
It wasn't relief.
It wasn't satisfaction.
It was confusion.
But she wasn't the only one.
In one of the side rows, Sara remained completely still.
For three years, she had watched the same scene repeat itself again and again.
Adrian searching for any opportunity to get closer to Astrid.
Adrian accepting humiliations that anyone else would have considered unbearable.
Adrian changing his plans, priorities, and even his own behavior just to receive the smallest bit of attention from her.
And Sara had always been there.
Watching as someone she had known since childhood chased after a person who never truly seemed to look at him.
At first, she thought it was just a phase.
Then she thought it was stubbornness.
Eventually, she stopped trying to understand.
Because that was Adrian.
The proud, intelligent, and confident young man who lost all sense of reason whenever Astrid Roche was involved.
But now...
Sara looked toward his seat.
Adrian was calm.
Too calm.
There was no resentment.
No jealousy.
No desperate need to be noticed.
It was as if someone had erased the last three years.
The pencil in Sara's hand stopped moving.
A small pressure formed around her fingers.
She didn't know which feeling was stronger.
The happiness of seeing that he had finally stopped chasing someone who rejected him...
Or the strange sensation of watching someone she knew become a stranger.
Because she knew his silences.
She knew his expressions.
She knew his little habits.
And this wasn't the same kind of silence.
Sara narrowed her eyes.
"Adrian..."
She whispered his name.
As if saying it aloud could confirm that he was still the same person.
At that moment, Adrian raised his gaze.
Their eyes met.
Sara expected to find the boy she had known for years.
But what she saw was far more unsettling.
She didn't see indifference.
She didn't see pride.
She saw confusion.
As if he himself didn't understand why she was looking at him that way.
And that was what truly disturbed her.