The next seven days did not feel like regular campus life.
They felt like preparation for war.
Not the kind of war that left bruises on skin, but the kind that left bruises on pride. The kind where a single mistake could become a screenshot, a meme, a rumor that followed you through hallways like perfume you didn't choose.
By Monday morning, everyone already knew.
Health track was forming a team.
Engineering was confident.
Business was loud.
Computing was quiet but smug.
And the Headmaster's deal hovered above the campus like a contract written in invisible ink.
If you win, you keep it.
If you lose, you beg.
XH walked into the lab building with a backpack that felt heavier than usual. Not because of books, but because of the pressure everyone had poured into this week.
He wasn't alone.
TZ arrived with a grin, cracking his knuckles like he was about to fight someone.
JP arrived with a notebook in hand and a look of exaggerated seriousness, like he was a coach and a player at the same time.
NS arrived last, hood up, eyes sharp, scanning like someone expecting sabotage.
Andrew and HS arrived together, both carrying laptops.
Kitty arrived with NC and Jihye.
June arrived with Cherry and Anna.
The group didn't look like a friend circle today.
They looked like a committee.
They gathered in the empty classroom they had claimed as a base.
Andrew opened his laptop and projected a white screen onto the board.
"We need structure," Andrew said calmly. "Roles. Schedule. Discipline."
JP clapped once loudly. "Yes. Strategy."
TZ laughed. "Bro thinks he's a general."
JP pointed at him. "I am. And you are a soldier."
TZ shrugged. "Fine. I like being a soldier."
June spoke quickly, voice sharp. "Stop wasting time."
JP blinked. "Okay, boss."
Cherry smirked. "June's already acting like she's captain."
June ignored her.
Kitty spoke softly, but everyone heard. "We should assign roles based on strengths. Not based on who talks the loudest."
June's eyes flicked toward Kitty.
Kitty's gaze stayed calm.
The room tightened for a second.
Then NC cleared her throat gently. "We all want the same thing. So let's not turn it into a fight yet."
Cherry laughed. "Yet?"
NC gave her a look that made Cherry stop smiling.
Andrew tapped the laptop. "Okay. Dota 2 roster proposal."
He listed names.
NS, position 1 carryXH, position 2 midJP, position 3 offlaneTZ, position 4 supportHS, position 5 hard support
JP raised his hand again like a student. "I want the record to show that I'm flexible and can play anything."
TZ muttered, "You play drama."
JP pointed. "Drama wins games."
June frowned. "What about me and Kitty? We can't play?"
Andrew responded calmly. "You can. But the roster needs stability. Your role is different."
June's eyes narrowed. "Different how?"
Kitty answered first, voice calm. "We lead the psychological side."
June blinked, slightly offended. "Psychological?"
Kitty continued, "Cheerleading isn't just screaming. It's pressure control. It's keeping the team together when they start tilting."
TZ nodded seriously. "She's right. Tilt kills."
JP added dramatically, "Tilt is death."
HS nodded quietly. "We need them. Especially them."
June's cheeks flushed slightly, but she didn't argue.
She liked being needed.
Kitty didn't react.
Kitty always liked being useful quietly.
Andrew clicked to the next slide.
"Schedule. Every night, three hours. Draft practice. Communication drills. Strategy review."
JP groaned. "Three hours? We have quizzes."
June snapped, "So does everyone else. Do you want to lose?"
JP sat up straight. "No ma'am."
TZ laughed. "June scares him more than the Headmaster."
JP whispered, "Because the Headmaster can't glare at me like that."
June's glare sharpened instantly.
Kitty's lips curved slightly.
XH noticed.
It was small, but real.
Kitty found humor in June's fire.
And that humor made XH's heart twist.
Because it meant they weren't enemies.
They were just rivals standing too close.
Night One: Drafting Like It Was a Personality Test
They gathered in NS's place for the first training night.
NS's apartment wasn't flashy, but it was comfortable, clean, and quiet in a way that felt expensive.
The boys set up their laptops in a row.
Kitty and June sat behind them, one chair apart.
NC and Jihye sat nearby, watching, occasionally giving commentary like sports analysts.
Cherry sat in the corner with her phone, pretending she didn't care while listening to everything.
Andrew stood behind the players like a coach.
"Okay," Andrew said, "we start with draft logic. Engineering team has stronger mechanical play. They'll pick early fight heroes. We counter with discipline. Teamfight. Map control."
JP cracked his knuckles. "So I should pick Broodmother."
TZ turned his head slowly. "You and that hero again."
JP smiled proudly. "Broodmother is art. It's psychological warfare."
June frowned. "What is that?"
XH explained quietly, "It's a hero that controls space. It forces the enemy to respond."
June nodded slowly. "So it's like… making someone react."
Kitty spoke softly, "Like jealousy."
The room went quiet for half a second.
June's eyes flicked toward Kitty.
Kitty didn't look back.
JP coughed. "Okay, that was deep."
TZ laughed. "Kitty is cooking."
XH's chest tightened slightly again, but not the scary kind.
More like the heart kind.
They practiced drafts.
They practiced voice calls.
NS was quiet but precise.
TZ was loud and emotional.
JP was theatrical but strategic.
HS was steady, calm, anchoring communication.
XH was focused, quiet, carrying the weight in his eyes.
June watched him closely.
Kitty watched him too.
But their watching was different.
June watched like she wanted to claim.
Kitty watched like she wanted to understand.
At one point, XH made a mistake in a mock fight and the whole team wiped.
TZ groaned loudly. "Bro!"
JP slapped his forehead. "Why would you dive like that?"
XH frowned. "I thought I could finish."
NS's voice was low. "We win with patience. Not ego."
June leaned forward, eyes sharp. "Again."
The boys blinked.
June repeated, more intense. "Again. Do it again until it's clean."
JP muttered under his breath, "She's actually scary."
Kitty whispered softly, "She's scared."
June heard it.
Her eyes snapped toward Kitty. "I'm not scared."
Kitty's voice stayed calm. "Then why are you acting like losing would end your life?"
June's cheeks flushed.
Cherry smirked in the corner like she enjoyed the fight.
NC cleared her throat gently. "Both of you are right. But save it. We need this energy in the match, not here."
June exhaled hard and leaned back.
Kitty looked away.
XH stared at his screen, but his mind was on their voices.
Two girls.
Two styles of love.
One boy sitting in the middle like a prize nobody asked him to be.
Girls vs Girls Begins Before the Match
By Wednesday, the training had become campus gossip.
Engineering girls started showing up near the training rooms "by coincidence."
HTN walked past the cafeteria table where June and Kitty sat, smirking.
SRM sat nearby and laughed loudly at jokes nobody made.
Thoon stood with her friends near the fountain, watching like she was waiting for someone to slip.
Kitty noticed it all.
June pretended she didn't.
But her pride did.
On Thursday afternoon, a confrontation finally happened.
It wasn't screaming.
It was worse.
It was polite.
June and Kitty were walking near the notice board when SRM approached them with a smile.
"June," SRM said sweetly, "I heard your major is training hard."
June's voice was calm. "We are."
SRM tilted her head. "Cute. Do you think effort beats talent?"
June's eyes narrowed. "Do you think talent beats discipline?"
SRM laughed softly. "I think discipline beats desperation."
Kitty's gaze sharpened.
June's jaw tightened.
Kitty spoke quietly, "Desperation looks like someone who needs to insult others to feel secure."
SRM's smile stiffened.
Thoon stepped forward, voice calm but sharp. "Kitty, you always speak like you're above everything."
Kitty's eyes met hers. "I'm not above. I'm just not loud."
HTN laughed lightly. "Quiet girls still lose, you know."
June stepped forward then, voice icy. "And loud girls still get humbled."
The air tightened.
Students nearby slowed to listen.
SRM's voice softened dangerously. "We'll see at the match."
Kitty nodded faintly. "Yes. We will."
As the other girls walked away, June's breath came out sharper than she meant.
Kitty glanced at her. "You're shaking."
June snapped, "I'm not."
Kitty didn't argue.
She simply said, "You don't have to win to be loved."
June stopped walking.
Her eyes turned toward Kitty like a weapon.
"What did you say?"
Kitty's voice stayed calm. "I said you don't have to win everything."
June's voice lowered. "That's easy for you to say. Everyone already likes you."
Kitty blinked slowly.
That was the first crack.
June's insecurity exposed like skin.
Kitty whispered, "Do you think being liked means being chosen?"
June's throat tightened.
She turned away sharply. "Whatever."
Kitty watched her go, eyes quiet.
NC stepped beside Kitty. "You didn't mean to hurt her."
Kitty whispered, "I didn't."
NC sighed. "But you did."
A Subtle Shadow
That evening, when June left the building, she paused near the parking lot.
A car was parked near the admin walkway.
Not a student car.
Too clean.
Too calm.
June's expression shifted.
She didn't approach.
She just stared for half a second.
Then looked away quickly and kept walking.
XH saw it from a distance.
He didn't see the driver.
He only saw June's face.
It looked like someone had silently reminded her of something she didn't want to remember.
Kitty noticed too.
Not the car.
The way June's posture changed.
Kitty didn't ask.
Kitty stored it like information.
Night Seven: The Final Practice Before the Match
Sunday night felt heavier.
Everyone knew tomorrow would be the day.
The boys sat at their laptops again.
Andrew stood behind them.
June and Kitty sat behind the team, closer this time.
Not because they wanted closeness.
Because tension forces people together.
Andrew spoke calmly. "Tomorrow is best of five. Engineering is confident. They will try to break you early."
JP grinned. "Let them."
TZ nodded, surprisingly serious. "We don't break."
NS's voice was low. "We hold. We wait. We punish mistakes."
HS nodded. "We communicate. No ego."
XH inhaled slowly.
His chest felt tight, but steady.
June leaned forward and spoke quietly, voice strong. "You're not playing for pride. You're playing for your future."
Kitty added softly, "And you're not alone."
June glanced at Kitty.
Kitty met her eyes.
For a moment, rivalry softened into alliance.
June whispered, "We can fight later."
Kitty nodded. "After we win."
XH's throat tightened.
He looked at them both.
And for the first time, he understood something.
They weren't fighting because they hated each other.
They were fighting because they were both terrified.
Terrified of losing the future.
Terrified of being second.
Terrified of being unloved.
Outside, the campus was quiet.
No rain tonight.
But the air felt like it could storm at any moment.
Because tomorrow, they would step onto a different kind of stage.
And the whole campus would watch.
Not just the boys' hands on keyboards.
But the girls' eyes.
The pride.
The longing.
The rivalry.
The way love could turn into war without anyone meaning it.
And in the middle of it all, XH sat still, feeling the triangle tighten again.
Not with kisses.
With stakes.
With fate.
With the sound of a match approaching.