The first day of school was always chaos.
Chairs dragging, teachers calling roll, students talking nonstop… the typical mess that seemed to work by pure luck.
Then the classroom door opened.
A girl walked in wearing an impeccable uniform. The blazer was from an expensive brand, her shoes looked brand new, and her backpack probably cost more than several cell phones put together.
But nothing about her conveyed arrogance.
Quite the opposite.
She walked with her head down, shoulders tense, and her hands gripping the backpack straps, as if she wanted to make herself invisible.
—This is Yena. She's new. I hope you'll welcome her.
Yena gave a small bow.
—Nice to meet you.
Her voice was so low they barely heard her.
The teacher sat her in the only free seat.
Right next to Bang Chan.
Chan gave her a kind smile.
—Hi. I'm Chan.
It took her a few seconds to respond.
—…Yena.
Nothing more.
She didn't look up.
She didn't smile.
She didn't speak again.
⸻
Throughout the morning, Chan noticed strange things.
Every time someone raised their voice even a little, Yena would tense up.
When a book fell to the floor, she gave a little jump.
And when the teacher walked behind her desk to check her work…
She stopped writing for an instant, as if she were holding her breath.
Chan frowned.
“It doesn’t seem like just shyness…”
⸻
At break, everyone left the room.
Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N talked and laughed as always.
Chan looked toward the classroom.
Yena was still sitting in her seat, looking out the window with a completely blank expression.
She didn’t look sad.
She didn’t look angry.
She looked… tired.
As if the weight of the whole world was on her shoulders.
—Is she always like that? —Felix asked.
Chan slowly shook his head.
—I don’t know… but I feel like she’s carrying something very heavy.
⸻
Days went by.
Yena remained just as quiet.
She answered only when necessary.
She apologized for everything, even when it wasn’t her fault.
She never talked about her life.
She never mentioned her family.
And when someone commented on how nice it must be to live in a mansion because her last name was known by everyone…
She simply looked down.
She didn’t smile.
She didn’t brag.
She just said in a low voice:
—There’s nothing nice about it.
The room went silent.
No one brought it up again.
Chan watched her for a few seconds.
It was strange.
Everyone would think such a wealthy girl would have a perfect life.
But Yena’s expression said exactly the opposite.
As if she hated everything that last name represented.
⸻
One afternoon they were doing a project in pairs.
Chan moved a chair by accident.
The noise made Yena immediately raise her arms, covering her head by reflex.
It all happened in less than a second.
She slowly lowered her hands once she realized what she had done.
Her face went completely pale.
—…Sorry.
She whispered.
As if she had done something wrong.
Chan felt a knot in his chest.
—You didn’t do anything.
She just nodded.
But she avoided looking at him for the rest of the class.
⸻
As the weeks passed, Chan reached a conclusion.
Yena wasn’t cold.
She wasn’t unfriendly.
Nor was she a girl who thought she was better than others because of her family's money.
She was a girl who seemed to have learned that feeling, trusting, or speaking too much always ended up hurting her.