Chapter Eight: The Boy Who Wasn't There
Halfway through class, Hyun raised his hand.
"Can I use the restroom?"
The teacher nodded without even looking up. "Go."
He got up quietly and walked out.
Yunli's eyes followed him without meaning to.
She didn't even realize she was staring until the door clicked shut behind him.
And then she just kept… staring.
Her mind wasn't on the lesson. It hadn't been since he sat beside her.
Something's off.
Who is he, really?
The questions wouldn't stop. Her gut kept twisting like it knew something she didn't.
She tried to remember if she'd ever seen him in class before this week. Maybe in the halls? Maybe Yona had a memory of him?
Nothing. Not a single trace.
He wasn't here before.
And yet... no one else seemed to think he was new.
The class just accepted him like he'd always been there. Like he was normal.
But I know he's not.
Even his name felt fake. "Hyun"? That was too neat. Too convenient. And the way he moved, the way he talked—it was always just enough to pass as normal, but something about it didn't sit right. Like he was copying.
Was he possessing someone? Or did he fake his way in here?
What even is he?
She bit her lip, still staring at the door like an idiot.
Then—
"Ji Yona, your attention seems divided"
The teacher's voice cut sharp through the silence.
She flinched.
Every head turned to look at her.
Oh no.
Her face went hot. She straightened in her seat way too fast, bumping her elbow against her desk.
"S-Sorry."
Too late. She'd been staring. Everyone saw.
From the back, someone snickered.
Someone else whispered—not quietly enough—"Seems Hyun left with a part of her."
Yunli wanted to sink into the floor. Just melt into a puddle and evaporate.
She forced herself to look back at her textbook, pretending to read while her ears burned.
They're going to think I like him.
She clenched her jaw, digging her nails into her palm under the desk.
I don't like him.
I just want to know what he is.
But deep down, she knew how it looked.
And for someone like her—someone who'd spent days building walls, acting cold, untouchable—it was worse than embarrassing.
It was humiliating.
I'll kill him.
---
A minute later, Hyun came back.
Everyone stared at him—not curiously, but mockingly. That stupid kind of high school mockery that comes in sideways glances and suppressed laughter. Yunli saw it immediately. Some nudged each other. Others whispered behind cupped hands.
Hyun paused for half a second in the doorway, like he could sense something was off, but he didn't ask.
He just walked in and slouched into his seat, looking completely unbothered. As if he didn't notice the attention. As if nothing had happened.
But something had.
And Yunli couldn't stop thinking about it.
---
Break Time
She was out on the court, half-focused on a casual basketball match with some classmates. The sun was bright, the air smelled like sweat and dry leaves, and someone was blasting music from their phone—but she wasn't really in it.
Then she saw him.
Hyun.
He was moving quickly across the field, headed toward the bushes near the edge of the school—where no one really went unless they were skipping or hiding. He was walking fast, looking over his shoulder.
Almost like he was… hiding something.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Hey, I'll be right back,she told her friends, jogging off before anyone could ask questions.
She followed him, careful to keep a good distance.
The bushes were tall and ragged, forming a small cluster of trees beyond the gym wall. Yunli crept closer, her footsteps soft against the grass. She hid behind one of the thicker bushes and parted the leaves just enough to see.
There he was.
Standing alone.
His back turned.
Then he began unbuttoning his shirt.
Her heart jumped. What is he?
She almost turned away out of instinct, but something held her there. A tension in the air.
He pulled his shirt off, slowly, like even that movement hurt.
And then she saw them.
Scars.
Long, brutal scars. Deep ones across his back and ribs. Some were old and healed wrong, others still looked raw, red, painful. Her breath caught in her throat.
It wasn't normal.
No one had scars like that unless something violent had happened. Repeatedly.
And suddenly, her mind flashed back to her own scar. The long one her father gave her.
But his were worse.
Much worse.
Her chest tightened.
Who would do something like that to him? Was he being abused? Like me?
He sat down heavily on a rock and pulled out a small cloth and bandages. His hands trembled slightly as he unwrapped an old bloodstained dressing from his side and began cleaning the wound. He moved with effort—like he was used to pain, but not immune to it.
She felt like an intruder.
But also… like she couldn't look away.
She saw the way his jaw clenched when he touched the sore skin. The way he paused and breathed deeply like he was fighting something, pain? Rage? Something else?
How has he been walking around like nothing's wrong?
He was a walking contradiction. Loud. Teasing. Annoying. But behind that, —this?
A boy covered in wounds, alone in the bushes, quietly patching himself up.
When he was done, he put his shirt back on with a wince and tied it carefully.
Yunli blinked.
And in that blink—he was gone.
Her breath hitched.
And in the next moment—he was behind her.
His voice was soft in her ear, too close, too calm.
"You like what you see?"
She spun around, heart in her throat. He was standing there, smirking—but something was off.
The air around him had changed.
His scent—she noticed it instantly. When her uncle was around, his scent was different comparef to now.
Now… it was different.
Not that of a spirit, Not as a ghost.
Not human, either.
Something… in between.
"What are you doing?" she snapped, trying to sound angry, but her voice shook.
He stared at her.
For a second, his eyes were cold. His expression blank, almost threatening.
Then—
He smiled.
That stupid, lopsided grin again.
"So the rumors were true," he said. "You do have a crush on me?"
Her cheeks flared with heat—but not from embarrassment. From pure, sharp anger.
"You—! You know that's not true!"
"Sure. That's why you were creeping behind a bush, watching me take my shirt off. Totally innocent."
"I—I was suspicious!" she yelled. "You were acting weird—I just wanted to know what you were hiding!"
"Aw," he said, tilting his head. "You care."
"I don't care!" she snapped, flustered. "I don't—I don't care at all, okay?!"
He only laughed. That stupid, casual laugh. Like this whole thing was a joke. Like she wasn't two seconds away from throwing a rock at his head.
To him, it was just fun.
To her, it wasn't, not at all.
Because now she had more questions than answers.
And Hyun?
He was definitely not normal.
And not just because of the scars.
---
The bell rang, echoing down the hallway like a warning shot. Break was over.
Everyone began dragging themselves back to their classrooms, laughter fading, footsteps loud against the tiled floor. Yunli walked in last, her thoughts still scrambled from what she had seen in the bushes.
Scars.
Bandages.
And that look on Hyun's face.
She didn't want to think about it. But she couldn't not think about it.
She sank into her seat, trying to focus, but her eyes darted to him.
He was lounging in his chair like nothing happened. Arm thrown over the backrest, chin tilted like a bored prince. But she could feel it—he knew she was watching him.
The teacher wasn't in yet.
Hyun stood up slowly. Like he had all the time in the world. Like the moment was stretching just for him.
The room quieted. Everyone sensed something was about to happen.
Then he walked toward her.
Right to the front of her desk.
And just stood there.
The entire class went still—half amused, half confused.
Yunli's heart picked up speed. Not from embarrassment—but fury.
What the hell is he doing now?
He crossed his arms and tilted his head, giving her that same mocking grin.
Smug.
Infuriating.
He was doing it again.
But this time, in public.
"You know…" he said lazily, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "you've got this really creepy habit, you know that?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"
"Yeah," he continued, clearly enjoying himself, "following people into bushes, spying on them changing? I mean, that's a little much. Even for you."
The class gasped, some snickering, others whispering.
Yunli stood up so fast her chair screeched back.
"You—!" she snapped. Her face flushed, not out of guilt, but rage. "That's not what happened and you know it!"
He leaned forward just slightly, voice soft now, like a secret between just them.
"You really shouldn't stalk people, Yunli. People might get the wrong idea."
She looked like she was about to explode.
Which was exactly what he wanted.
He liked her like this.
Angry.
Eyes blazing.
Jaw clenched.
Every part of her resisting the chaos he dragged into her life.
Hyun grinned wider.
"Yeah," he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear. "That face. That's the one."
Yunli's fists clenched at her sides. She had no words left. Her mind was too clouded—part rage, part confusion, part that stupid, lingering image of him in pain.
Why is he like this?
Why was someone so obviously hurt...so annoyingly smug?
And why, no matter how many times she told herself to ignore him, did he always manage to get under her skin?
---
After saying what he wanted, Hyun turned away—calm, smug, completely unaffected.
He strolled back to his seat like nothing happened.
Like he hadn't just humiliated her in front of the entire class.
Like her face wasn't still burning.
Like her fists weren't trembling at her sides.
Yunli stood there, rigid. Her heart was pounding loud in her ears. She could feel every eye in the room watching her, waiting to see what she'd do next.
But she did nothing.
She forced herself to sit back down, her jaw tight, her breathing shallow.
He's not normal, she thought bitterly.
There was something about him that didn't feel...human.
Even when he joked, when he laughed, when he smiled like a fool—there was something dark underneath it. Something cold and unreadable.
She clenched her fists under the desk.
The scars. The way he changed those bandages like it was routine. The way he caught me even though I didn't make a sound. That speed, that scent—
He wasn't a ghost.
He wasn't a spirit.
And he wasn't just some annoying, good-looking guy with a bad attitude.
Then what the hell are you, Hyun?
From his seat, Hyun glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
And smirked.
Just when she thought the worst was over—
Someone stepped in.
The classroom door slid open again.
Yunli exhaled, her body relaxing slightly. Finally, the teacher's here...
But it wasn't the teacher.
No, of course not.
It was him.
Jang Zhaoren.
Her blood brother.
He stepped in like he owned the air they breathed, tall and sharp and unbothered. His black jacket slung lazily over one shoulder, collar loose, expression unreadable. The air around him shifted as every head—especially the girls—turned in unison.
Whispers spread like wildfire:
"Whi is he?"
"He's even hot—"
"Wait, he knows Yunli?!"
She sat frozen, her stomach twisting into something cold and tight.
Zhaoren didn't speak for long.
Didn't need to.
He scanned the room—eyes barely flicking over Hyun—then landed directly on her. Sharp, magnetic, unrelenting.
"Meet me outside," he said.
Just three words.
Then he turned and left.
No one dared stop him.
Yunli's chest locked.
Her hands were cold now.
This was worse than Hyun.
This was family.
This was her real brother.
And he'd seen everything.
Hyun, of course, didn't miss a beat. He leaned back casually, arms stretched across the desk, watching her like she was his favorite drama. His voice was soft, teasing, smug:
"Looks like big bro wants a word."
Yunli stood up, legs stiff, blood pulsing loud in her ears. Every step felt like it dragged her fate behind her. She could feel the whole class watching her again. Only this time, there was something different in their eyes.
Fear. Curiosity. Jealousy.
She caught Hyun's smirk as she passed his desk.
She wanted to slap it off his face.
But her body was trembling.
Because outside that door, Zhaoren was waiting.
And unlike Hyun, he wasn't here to play.
---