After your Mystic Knowledge class, you skipped lunch and ran outside, your heart pounding.

May the best alpha win.

And to make things even more confusing, Jaehyo had said nothing to you the entire class. He sat next to you, as if you were a total stranger and he didn’t want to talk to you.

You shivered, Sun Hee’s steely voice still echoing in your head. She sounded so confident, sure she would win.

And she probably will. You thought miserably.

Sighing, you sat down behind the school in the fluffy snow, shivering slightly as your skirt grew damp with snow. You brought your knees to your chest and wrapped your arms around them, putting your head down on your knees.

I wish I wasn’t an alpha. If I wasn’t, the whole “incident” wouldn’t have happened.

If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be rivals with Sun Hee, maybe even friends.

But no, it just HAD to be me. I hate this life.

“________?”

You looked up surprised.

Hyun Jae was standing there in the snow, looking down at you with concern. “Why aren’t you eating lunch?”

You opened your mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again.

She must think I’m trying to imitate a fish or something.

Hyun Jae sighed as she carefully smoothed her skirt and sat down in the snow next to you. “Are you okay?” She gently touched your arm.

You sighed as you leaned back and looked at the white, snowy sky. “I don’t know, Hyun Jae. I just don’t know.”

“Try thinking more positive?” She suggested with a kind smile.

“It’s hard.”

“So?” She smiled. “I’ll help you. Your negative thoughts are filling the entire campus.”

“What?” You stared at her.

She dropped her hand from your arm. “I can sense people’s thoughts. I can’t exactly read what they are, but I can tell whether they’re positive or negative, and yours are definitely negative.”

You frowned. “So you can tell what I’m thinking?”

“Like I said, not exactly. But I know where and who the thoughts are coming from. That’s how I found you here.” She nodded.

“Oh...”

She started to get up. “So are you going to come in?”

“I...I think I’ll stay here for a bit longer.”

“Come on, _______.” She said softly. “You can’t hide forever.”

You nodded. “I won’t, I just want to think a little bit longer.”

“Fine.” She sighed gently. “If you come in, Nana and I are at our normal table.”

You nodded.

“See you around.”

When she turned the corner, you put your head back down on your knees.

Please let this be a dream...

But it’s not.

It’s reality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your feet led you to the door of the training room early again. You blinked when you found yourself in front of the door, hand wrapped around the polished brass doorknob.

Hesitating for a minute, you took a deep breath before turning the doorknob and pushing open the door.

The head trainer jumped when he heard somebody walk in. His face dissolved into a kind smile when he saw you. “_______, annyeong!”

“Hi...”

“I’m glad you’re back.” He said firmly, coming over to pat you gently on the back. “Could you come in my office for a minute?”

“Uh...sure.” You followed him to his office and he closed the door firmly behind him, even though there was no one else in the training room.

“Have a seat.”

You did.

He took a seat behind his messy wooden desk piled up with paperwork. “So, _________. I understand that you’ve probably had a bit of trouble after coming back?”

Why is everyone treating the “incident” like it’s a normal thing to happen?

“Yes, Sir.”

He sighed as he put his elbows on his lap and clasped his hands together. “It had better not mess with your training, okay? I want you to focus on your training for your upcoming fight with Sun Hee.”

You nodded. “Um...about that, Sir. Is there any way to drop out of the fight?”

“You want to drop out of the fight?”

To your surprise, he didn’t seem surprised by your lack of enthusiasm about becoming an alpha.

“Yeah...I’m sorry, but I just don’t think I’m the right person to be in this position.” You murmured, sighing.

“This is normal. Many new alphas face this thought, and many times, I’ve been asked to let them drop out of the fight, but __________, think about it. This is what many students can only DREAM of and here you are, trying to avoid this opportunity.”

“They have pretty crappy dreams then.” You commented.

He couldn’t help it and cracked a smile. “You’re not going to drop out, __________, and I’m going to make sure of that.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~