Within hours, the news of Aria's transfer spread across KHSS.
The same corridors that once echoed with gossip fell into an uneasy silence.
Every student who had whispered rumors, who had judged her without knowing the truth, felt their heart sink—if only for a moment. The weight of realization hit them all at once.
KHSS without Aria felt… wrong.
The thought of its comeback, its rise, without her presence was hard to imagine—almost impossible.
Gossip Group 1
One girl whispers,
"So… is Aria really leaving KHSS?"
Another girl scoffs,
"Weren't you the one calling her annoying and all that nonsense?"
A boy cuts in, quieter this time,
"No, but—listen. Can you imagine KHSS without Aria?
Room Zero… empty again.
No rules. No expectations.
Just surviving, not knowing what tomorrow brings."
He swallows.
"When Aria came, for the first time, I thought… maybe I'll become something in my life.
Now that feeling is gone."
Silence hangs between them.
Gossip Group 2 (A group of boys)
One boy dramatically groans,
"Oh no, my love, my love—Aria is leaving!
Then I'll leave too. I'll find her new school and transfer there."
Another boy scoffs,
"Easy for you to say. You're rich.
What about people like me?"
His tone hardens.
"I loved Aria like my own life.
And now she's leaving because of you people."
He points around.
"What wrong did she do two days ago?
You pressured her.
You cornered her.
You made her feel guilty."
Another boy snaps back,
"We didn't do anything. It was the girls who spread rumors."
A girl fires back immediately,
"We didn't spread rumors. We were just honest.
You boys overthink everything."
She crosses her arms.
"And everyone knows this—Aria and Zorvath are meant to be.
You were never getting a chance anyway."
One boy sighs,
"Yeah… that's true."
Gossip Group 3
A quieter voice speaks,
"I don't mind if Aria and Zorvath end up together.
Honestly, I'd be happy."
Another nods.
"She was going to be our Queen, right?"
Then the fear slips out,
"But if she leaves…
what happens to us?"
And just like that, the entire KHSS is buzzing.
Corridors, classrooms, the ground near Room Zero—
everywhere, only one name is being spoken.
Aria.
Yet the one person everyone is searching for—
Zorvath—
is nowhere to be seen.
Leo, Rithul, and Mirzand move through the halls, trying to calm the students, trying to hold the school together.
But the crowd keeps growing.
Voices rise in the hall.
Students demand answers.
They want Zorvath.
They want an explanation.
Pushing through the crowded hall, Lily struggled to reach Mirzand.
"I want to see Zorvath," she said urgently.
Trying to calm everyone down, Mirzand replied,
"Yeah, yeah, please relax. He'll be here in a minute."
He kept answering questions, trying to control the chaos, but suddenly—
"I WANT TO SEE ZORVATH!"
Lily's voice cut through the noise of the hall.
Mirzand froze.
He looked at her for a moment, and then Lily said the words that silenced everyone.
"I know where Aria is."
The murmurs died instantly.
Every head in the hall turned toward her.
Within minutes, Zorvath walked in.
One look from him—cold, sharp, unreadable—was enough.
Without saying a single word, the students slowly cleared the hall, leaving behind only Zorvath, Lily, Mirzand, Leo, Rithul, Sona, Sreya, and Danvy.
The large hall felt suddenly empty.
Lily took a deep breath.
"First of all… I'm not completely sure about this—"
She didn't get to finish.
"Why didn't you tell this earlier?" Zorvath snapped, his voice low but burning.
"We're tearing ourselves apart searching for her, and you already knew where she was?"
Lily flinched but stood her ground.
"I understand," she said quickly.
"But this information came to me only a few hours ago. When everyone started searching for Aria, I was on café duty. I didn't even get time to confirm it."
Slow nods followed. No one interrupted.
Sona stepped forward, her voice trembling.
"Where is she now… Aria?"
Lily turned toward sona. she explained calmly, choosing her words carefully.
"Two days ago, Lolan, Mike, and Rizwan planned a trip to the South. Lolan said they were going to meet one of his friends there—some business family's son—who could help us with the supply of premium coffee and tea beans."
She looked around before continuing.
"As Aria mentioned earlier, getting premium supplies could bring more spotlight to our café. So they decided to go and talk directly."
A brief pause.
"But that same day, Mike returned without going. When I asked him why, he didn't give me a clear answer. He kept avoiding it."
Her voice lowered.
"Still, from what he said—and from how scared he looked—I understood one thing clearly: Lolan and Aria went to the South together."
A few breaths were held in the hall.
"And as most of you already know," Lily added slowly,
"Lolan has feelings for Aria. This trip… it wasn't just business for him."
She stopped there.
The silence grew heavy.
Sona finally spoke, her voice anxious.
"So… Aria isn't transferring from KHSS, right?"
Lily shook her head slightly.
"I honestly don't know. Maybe yes. Maybe no."
Then, more softly,
"All I know is this—Aria went on this trip to clear her mind. And Lolan may be trying to use this time."
She didn't finish the sentence.
She didn't dare to.
Everyone felt it anyway.
For a moment, the tension eased.
Mirzand spoke with forced confidence.
"She'll come back. Nothing to worry about."
Then, trying to lighten the mood, he added,
"And don't worry—Lolan isn't going to get any chance. That idiot doesn't stand a chance."
He glanced at Zorvath, who stood silent, looking like he was holding himself together by a thread.
And then—
Danvy spoke.
"Or maybe…" she said slowly,
"Aria left this place completely heartbroken. With no one beside her. No one to comfort her."
Every eye turned to her.
"And when someone like that offers a hand…"
she continued,
"According to girl psychology, there is a chance they might become one."
That was it.
The hall went dead silent.
It felt like a time bomb had just been dropped into the room—
and no one knew when it would explode.
That was when a message popped up—at the exact same second—on almost every phone.
Across KHSS, screens lit up one after another. In classrooms, corridors, the playground—students froze the moment they saw the image. The topic spread like wildfire, faster than whispers, faster than fear.
Inside the hall, where Zorvath and the others stood, the tension was already thick. No one had the courage to check their phones.
No one—
except Mirzand.
His phone vibrated in his palm. He glanced down without thinking.
And his face changed.
Slowly, silently, he turned the screen toward Leo.
Leo's breath hitched. He swallowed and passed the phone to Rithul.
Rithul's fingers trembled as he showed it to Danvy.
Danvy's eyes widened. She passed it to Sreya.
Sreya's lips parted in shock. She handed it to Sona.
Sona's hands shook. Her face went pale as she turned the phone toward Lily.
Still, no one said a word.
The silence was louder than any scream.
That was when Zorvath noticed.
Something was wrong.
The way they were avoiding his eyes.
The way the air felt… broken.
Before Lily could even look down at her own phone, she felt a presence behind her—sharp, heavy, burning.
She turned—
And Zorvath was already there.
In one swift motion, he snatched the phone from her hand.
Looked.
And everything shattered.