Haneul Academy exploded with the news before first bell.
"Ugh, I told you it wouldn't last."
"He must have done something stupid."
"I guess he isn't perfect after all."
The cafeteria at break was a battlefield.
Ji-hoon dropped his tray like a grenade.
"Come on, man, are you gonna keep staring at us like that?"
Min-jun met every pair of eyes.
"I'm sorry. I know it was selfish of me to disband the squad without talking to you guys first, but at that moment it felt like I've been carrying a weight that needs to be dropped on time. I don't know if you guys feel it too, but the SDF doesn't sit right with me. It feels like they're using us for something unfamiliar."
Hye-jin shot to her feet, palms slamming the table.
"Ugh, the squad was created to save your ass in the first place! So now that you aren't the target for the government anymore since the arising of Genesis, you just decided to leave without letting anyone know? 'Using us' doesn't sit right as an excuse."
She leaned in, voice shaking.
"I had plans, damn it!! I get it's your squad and all that, but do you really care about what others think? Do you think I only joined your damn squad because of Ji-hoon only?"
Silence swallowed the room.
Soo-jin's warm voice floated across the freeze.
"That's enough. I know you guys are angry and you have the right to, but not to justify his actions—he also has every right to do what he did. The squad was created for him after all."
Ji-hoon shrugged.
"Hey, who said I was angry?"
He cracked a grin that didn't reach his eyes.
"And what do you mean about disbanding our squad? Do we even need an SDF title before we can become a squad?"
Hye-jin's stare turned arctic.
"Yes, we do. It was the main reason I came back to Seoul in the first place."
She looked straight at Ji-hoon.
"I'm sorry, Ji-hoon, but I can't keep pretending everything is fine when it's really not. Since there's nothing left for me here, I'll leave now."
Her chair scraped like a gunshot. She was gone.
Ji-hoon's knuckles went white around his chopsticks.
A minute later Soo-jin stood.
"Wait, guys. I too will be leaving soon."
Min-jun's calm cracked.
"Wait, what? Why?"
"To be honest I was planning on telling you guys later, but seeing as things turned out I'm a bit glad. Our second year will be over soon and once it is I'll be leaving to China with my elder brother."
Ji-hoon blinked.
"Why so sudden?"
Soo-jin smiled, small and brave.
"To be honest I don't know what I really want, and I'll be using this opportunity to find out. But it isn't goodbye—we will be seniors together after, so don't feel too down."
Min-jun swallowed the ache.
"Oh. Okay. Have fun."
---
Lukas Braun's office – same hour
A single red flag popped on screen:
**GENESIS RESIDUE – INCHEON DOCK 17**
Lukas's wind mana rattled the blinds.
*Of all places… Incheon. Headquarters needs this yesterday.*
---
After school – twilight streets
Ji-hoon kicked a can.
"Huh, what a shitty day."
Min-jun smirked.
"Feeling too cool-headed for someone whose relationship just ended."
"I could say the same for you."
"I'm not the one who was in a relationship."
"Hey, man, what's your point? I've already known it wouldn't last. Our relationship was kinda fishy anyway. I'm not that dense."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Hey!"
They bantered until the fork in the road. Ji-hoon vanished left.
A voice drifted from the shadows behind Min-jun.
"Hey there, you're Min-jun, right?"
Mid-20s, hoodie, average face—but the air around him carried the weight of a squad captain.
Min-jun turned.
"Yes, I am."
"That's great. My name is Kai.
I'm an envoy from Genesis."