The campus did not sleep after registration.
It pretended to.
Lights stayed on longer than usual. Phones vibrated more than they should have. Conversations stretched past midnight in dorm rooms, cafes, group chats, and anonymous forums where names became initials and initials became speculation.
Queen Selection had officially begun.
And nothing else mattered.
Kitty's POV
Kitty lay on her bed staring at the ceiling, her phone resting against her chest. The room was quiet except for the faint hum of the air conditioner and the distant echo of laughter drifting in through the window from another building.
She should have been tired.
Instead, her mind refused to slow down.
Her name on the list replayed itself again and again. Not the act of writing it. The aftermath. The way people looked at her differently almost immediately. The subtle recalibration in their expressions.
Like something had shifted.
She rolled onto her side and unlocked her phone.
Messages waited.
Not from XH.
From people she barely spoke to.
"Didn't know you were entering. Good luck.""You're going to win for sure.""Campus queen incoming."
She stared at the screen.
None of it felt real.
Winning meant standing alone under lights.Losing meant standing alone in silence.
She was not sure which frightened her more.
Her phone buzzed again.
This time, it was XH.
"You okay?"
Three simple words.
Kitty exhaled.
"I think so," she typed back. Then erased it. Rewrote it. "I don't know yet."
A pause.
Then: "That makes sense."
She smiled faintly.
He always answered like that. Never dismissing. Never forcing certainty.
She hugged the phone briefly to her chest before setting it aside.
Across campus, June was also awake.
June's POV
June sat at her desk, notes spread neatly in front of her. She was not studying.
She was organizing.
Schedules. Rehearsal times. Outfit plans. Media appearances she had already been asked about even though nothing had been decided yet.
Control calmed her.
Uncertainty did not.
Her mother's words echoed in her mind.
"Remember why you're doing this."
June clenched her jaw.
She remembered.
She had remembered since she was a child. Since effort became currency and results became proof.
Second place was not acceptable.
Not here.Not now.
Her phone buzzed.
A campus group chat notification.
Someone had already posted the registration list.
Blurred photo. Cropped names. Circles drawn around familiar ones.
Her name circled in red.
Kitty's circled in blue.
Comments flooded in beneath.
"Health track dominating again.""Calling it now. It's between these two.""Anyone else even stand a chance?"
June closed the app.
She did not need validation.
She needed certainty.
And certainty only came from winning.
XH's POV
XH sat on the edge of his bed, elbows resting on his knees, staring at the floor.
He had replayed the registration moment too many times already.
Not the list.
The people.
June's posture. Controlled, sharp, like a blade she kept polished.Kitty's calm. Quiet but deliberate. Like water that chose its own shape.
He wondered which one the campus would crown.
He wondered which one he would disappoint no matter what happened.
That thought unsettled him more than he expected.
His phone buzzed again.
A message from NS.
"You feel it too?"
XH replied after a moment. "Yeah."
Another pause.
NS: "This thing is going to get loud."
XH typed back. "It already is."
Campus Shift
The next day, the change was undeniable.
Whispers followed Kitty and June through corridors. People who had never greeted them before suddenly smiled too brightly. Others avoided eye contact entirely.
Classes continued, but focus did not.
In the lecture hall, Kitty sat beside NC, pretending to take notes while sensing every glance directed her way.
NC leaned closer. "You're trending."
Kitty blinked. "That's not comforting."
NC smiled softly. "It's reality."
Across the room, HTN sat with Thoon and SRM, their heads close together, murmuring observations like analysts watching a game unfold.
"She's more nervous than she lets on," SRM said, nodding toward June.
Thoon smirked. "The quiet one's more dangerous. People underestimate calm."
HTN's gaze flicked to Kitty. "We'll see how calm she stays under lights."
None of it was said loudly.
It did not need to be.
Rehearsals Begin
By afternoon, rehearsal schedules were posted.
Stage walk.Lighting checks.Interview practice.
No performances yet. Just preparation.
Kitty stood on the stage during her time slot, bare lights overhead, empty seats stretching into darkness.
She swallowed.
Without the crowd, the space felt larger.
She imagined the applause. The silence. The judgment.
She took one step forward.
Then another.
Her heels echoed sharply.
She stopped, breathed, then smiled gently at the empty hall.
"I can do this," she whispered. Not as a declaration. As a reminder.
June's rehearsal followed.
She walked the stage with precision, chin lifted, shoulders squared. Every movement practiced. Every smile measured.
The instructor nodded approvingly. "You've done this before."
June nodded back. "Yes."
But when she stepped off the stage, her hands trembled slightly.
She clenched them into fists until the feeling passed.
Kitty and June, Apart
They did not speak much that day.
Not out of hostility.
Out of awareness.
Each knew the other was carrying something heavy.
Sometimes distance was respect.
Sometimes it was fear.
XH Watching
XH watched rehearsals from the back, unnoticed.
He saw Kitty pause mid-step and breathe through it.
He saw June correct her posture when no one was watching.
He saw strength in both.
And felt helpless.
That evening, rain clouds gathered again.
No forecast mentioned it.
XH noticed anyway.
He always did.
As campus lights flickered on, he stood beneath one of them and looked up.
Something was coming.
He did not know what.
Only that the calm after registration was not peace.
It was pressure building.
And when it broke, it would break loudly.