hayi frowns at their classmates, repulsed by how nonchalant they all are over what’s happened. the conversation that had started small has already grown like the madness taking over the city, students shouting their opinions at each other. kwangmin’s focused on his book, and hayi turns back to her’s, not wanting to push the topic any further. she hopes their teacher comes back soon, trying to force the endless chatter into pure background noise so she doesn’t snap at someone.
she looks up in surprise when she hears the scratch of metal against the floor as kwangmin stands up. he manages to leave the classroom louder than before, slamming the door shut as more people start chiming in, nearly shrieking to be heard. there’s a scoff from behind, and hayi turns, recognising the person shouting. “what a coward, ha! teacher’s pet must be so scared, am i right?” of course it’d be the resident troublemaker who’d be stirring up more trouble, as if it wasn’t enough. hayi sighs and closes her textbook, storing it under her desk.
"it isn’t a joke, you know," she says, looking at the boy. "you could get killed. don’t be stupid.”
the other is glaring at her, making a show of rolling his eyes and laughing. “oh, ‘don’t be stupid’,” he mocks, voice pitched higher. “it’s only stupid if you don’t support the joker, got it?”
hayi stills, surprised by his response. he’s one of the joker’s supporters? great, she thinks, and shrugs. “we’ll see.”
she leaves it at that, walking out of the classroom. it seems her classmate takes no interest in her, just scoffing when she leaves. the class is back at it, arguing fiercely - but not about how dangerous it is, no, they’re arguing about which gang’s going to go down first. hayi can’t believe it. she knows she’ll have to go back to class sooner or later, when their homeroom teacher comes back, but she’d rather be away from her class for as long as she possibly can. hayi spots kwangmin a few paces away, down the hallway. she walks towards him, then hesitates. he might want to be alone, after all.
she won’t pester him, she decides. just…ask if he’s okay. hayi catches up to kwangmin, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. “are you okay?”
