The classroom buzzed softly with the familiar sounds of students finishing their work—chatter mixing with the scratching of pens against paper. Jiho sat at his desk, nervously twisting the threat note between his fingers as he whispered to the one person he could trust completely his best friend, Seungwoo.
"Someone sent me a threat letter," Jiho muttered, his voice barely audible above the classroom noise, his eyes flickering with genuine worry.
Seungwoo's eyes widened comically, nearly dropping his pencil. "What?! Seriously? A threat letter? From who?" He suddenly gasped dramatically, clutching Jiho's arm with both hands. "Oh my god, could it be... Hyejin?!"
Jiho shook his head firmly. "No way. She's too bold for anonymous threats. If Hyejin had a problem with me, she'd confront me face-to-face and tear me apart in public, not hide behind some cowardly note."
"Yeah, that definitely sounds like her style," Seungwoo nodded thoughtfully, then his expression shifted to something more mischievous as he wiggled his eyebrows. "Maybe it's from one of Minjae's obsessive fangirls. You know how crazy some of them get."
"This isn't funny!" Jiho hissed, punching Seungwoo's shoulder harder than necessary.
Seungwoo rubbed his arm with an exaggerated pout, his voice rising in mock pain. "Ow! That actually hurt! I'm just trying to help brainstorm here! Besides..." he leaned closer with a knowing grin that made Jiho's stomach drop, "you two looked pretty cozy after your little movie date Saturday night."
Jiho's face burst into flames. "How did you find out about that?!"
"Instagram, obviously. Someone posted a picture of you two walking together. Your hand in his?" Seungwoo made obnoxious kissy noises that had other students turning to look. "Very convincing performance, lovebirds."
"God, seriously! It wasn't like that—"
Before Jiho could finish his desperate denial, a pair of warm hands suddenly covered his eyes from behind, blocking out his vision completely.
"Guess who~?" a cheerful, familiar voice sang out right next to his ear.
Jiho groaned, already knowing exactly who it was. "You're such an idiot."
"Yaa!" Minjae protested, pulling his hands away and moving around to face him with an exaggerated pout. "That's incredibly rude, you know. I was expecting at least 'my devastatingly handsome boyfriend' or something along those lines."
Seungwoo burst out laughing, nearly falling off his chair. "Don't expect too much from him, Minjae-ya. You kind of walked right into that one."
Minjae settled against the edge of Jiho's desk, impossibly close as always, his thigh brushing against Jiho's arm. "So what are you two whispering about anyway? You both looked pretty serious when I walked up."
"Nothing important," Jiho said quickly, shoving the crumpled note deeper into his pocket and hoping Minjae couldn't see how his hands were shaking.
But Minjae suddenly paused mid-sentence, his entire demeanor shifting as his eyes narrowed, focusing on something near the back door of the classroom. For a brief, unsettling moment, he was absolutely certain someone had been watching them studying them. He blinked hard and glanced again, scanning the area carefully.
Nothing. Just empty space and afternoon shadows.
Maybe he was just being paranoid. Maybe this whole fake dating thing was making him jumpy.
"Are you okay?" Jiho asked, immediately noticing the sudden change in Minjae's expression, the way his jaw had tensioned.
Minjae shook it off with his usual easy smile, but something still felt off. "Yeah, fine. Just thought I saw someone lurking around. Probably nothing."
"You sure?"
"Positive. Don't worry about it."
But even as he said it, an uncomfortable feeling settled in his chest.
---
The rest of the day passed with their usual routine. Minjae teased Jiho endlessly about everything from his messy handwriting to the way he ate his lunch, and Jiho responded with his typical repertoire of exasperated sighs, eye rolls, and muttered complaints about how annoying his fake boyfriend was.
But beneath that comfortable normalcy, the unease in Jiho's chest continued to grow like a knot tightening with each passing hour.
As the final bell rang, students rushed out into the hallway in their usual chaotic stampede toward freedom. Minjae gathered his things leisurely, planning to walk over to Jiho's seat so they could head home together like they'd been doing all week.
But just before he reached him, another student intercepted his path.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" the student asked, looking confused. "Jiho already left school like twenty minutes ago."
Minjae stopped dead in his tracks. "What? That's impossible. I just saw him—"
"No, seriously, I watched him leave through the main entrance with some guy."
A cold feeling started spreading through Minjae's chest. "With who? Was it Seungwoo?"
The student shook his head. "No, definitely not Seungwoo. This guy was taller, had dark grey hair. I think he was Hyunwoo"
Everything inside Minjae froze. His blood turned to ice in his veins.
Hyunwoo-ah.
That name—just hearing it spoken aloud was enough to ignite every alarm bell in his body. Every protective instinct he'd ever had screamed danger.
He didn't even hesitate. He didn't think. He just ran.
He bolted toward the school entrance like his life depended on it, his heart hammering against his ribs, his bag forgotten on the classroom floor.
But in his absolute panic, his tunnel vision focused only on getting outside, he forgot to check one crucial place the classroom itself.
Jiho was still there, quietly fulfilling his cleaning duty for the week, methodically wiping down desks and organizing chairs. He happened to glance out the window just in time to see Minjae sprinting across the courtyard like he was being chased by demons.
Jiho opened his mouth, ready to call out to him. "Hey! Kang Minjae! What's wrong—"
But something stopped him mid-shout.
A shadow fell across the doorway behind him.
His breath caught in his throat.
A chilling, paralyzing fear wrapped around him like ice water.
And then darkness.
A strong hand clamped over his mouth and nose, cutting off his air, and a black bag was pulled over his head with practiced efficiency.
---
Meanwhile, Minjae was still running, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his uniform shirt soaked with cold sweat.
"Please be safe, Jiho-ya," he whispered to himself as he ran, the words becoming a desperate mantra. "Please, please just be safe somewhere."
In the distance, he spotted a familiar figure walking calmly down the tree-lined path that led to the bus stop.
"Seungwoo-ya!" Minjae shouted, his voice cracking with panic.
Startled, Seungwoo turned around to see Minjae looking like he'd run a marathon—disheveled, sweating, and clearly in distress. "Jesus, what happened? Are you okay? You look terrible."
"Have you seen Jiho?" Minjae gasped, barely able to get the words out. "Someone said he left school with Hyunwoo, but that can't be right because "
"What?" Seungwoo interrupted, looking genuinely confused. "No, that's impossible. Jiho's still at school. He had cleaning duty today, remember? He was complaining about it this morning."
Minjae stopped dead in his tracks, the world tilting sideways.
"What did you just say?"
Seungwoo's expression shifted from confusion to concern. "He's still at school, Minjae. Why would someone tell you he left?"
"Oh god..." Minjae whispered, the full horror of the situation crashing over him like a wave. "JIHO!"
He turned and ran back toward the school faster than he'd ever moved in his life.
---
When the suffocating black bag was finally lifted off Jiho's head, his heart plummeted straight into his stomach.
Standing before him, wearing that same cruel smile that had haunted his nightmares for days, was the last person he ever wanted to see again.
Hyunwoo.
"Well, well," the boy sneered, his voice dripping with mock affection. "Long time no see, Jiho-ya. Miss me?"
Jiho didn't answer. He couldn't. His throat felt like it had closed completely.
"Still giving me the silent treatment, huh?" Hyunwoo mocked, circling him like a predator. "How incredibly rude. But then again, you always were a stuck-up little princess, weren't you? I told you before next time we met, you wouldn't get the chance to ignore me."
Jiho kept his lips sealed, his eyes fixed on the ground, trying to make himself as small as possible.
Hyunwoo stepped away for a moment, and Jiho could hear him rummaging through something behind him. When he returned, Jiho's blood ran cold.
In Hyunwoo's hands was a tiny, trembling kitten—orange and white, probably no more than a few weeks old.
"Look what I found on my way here," Hyunwoo said conversationally, crouching down in front of Jiho again with that same sickening grin. "Cute little thing, isn't it?"
Jiho's eyes widened in horror as he realized what was happening.
"So here's how this is going to work," Hyunwoo continued, his voice taking on a sing-song quality that made Jiho's skin crawl. "You can keep playing the strong, silent type if you want. But if you do..." He held the kitten up by the scruff of its neck, ignoring its pitiful mewing. "This little guy takes a swim in the river behind us. Your choice."
"You're insane," Jiho breathed, his first words since the bag had come off. "It's just a baby. You have a problem with me, not with an innocent animal!"
Hyunwoo's grin widened into something truly twisted. "There we go! Look everyone, the ice prince finally speaks!" He called out to his friends who were watching from a distance. "I knew you'd come around eventually."
"Please," Jiho begged, hating how his voice shook. "Let the kitten go. I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt it."
"Oh, you'll do whatever I want anyway," Hyunwoo said sweetly, standing up and walking closer to the river's edge. "But thanks for the offer."
And then, with casual cruelty that took Jiho's breath away, he threw the kitten into the rushing water.
"NO!" Jiho screamed, the sound tearing from his throat like it was being ripped out of him.
His body moved before his mind could process what he was doing. Pure instinct took over as he sprinted toward the edge of the embankment and dove into the icy water without a second thought.
He didn't know how to swim. He'd never learned. But none of that mattered.
The river was deeper and colder than he'd expected. The current immediately tried to drag him under, and panic set in as water filled his mouth and nose. He was flailing, choking, his lungs burning, but somehow he managed to grab the kitten and push it toward a large rock that jutted out of the water near the bank.
The kitten clawed its way to safety, shaking and terrified but alive.
But Jiho...Jiho was sinking fast, his heavy school uniform dragging him down, his limbs growing numb from the cold.
This was it. This was how he was going to die.
And then, from somewhere above him, a voice tore through the air like thunder.
"JIHO! I'M COMING! HOLD ON!"
Minjae.
Through his panic and the rushing water, Jiho saw him standing on the bridge above the river, and then suddenly he was falling through the air, having jumped without any hesitation.
The icy water hit Minjae like a physical blow, knocking the air from his lungs, but he didn't care about anything except reaching Jiho. He was a strong swimmer, had been on the school team for years, and he cut through the current with powerful strokes.
When he reached Jiho, he wrapped his arms around him tightly, holding him against his chest as he fought against the river to get them both to shore.
"I've got you," he gasped, water streaming down his face. "I've got you, you're okay."
Up on the embankment, Hyunwoo stepped back from the edge, his smugness fading as he watched Minjae drag Jiho's limp form onto the muddy bank.
Their eyes met across the distance—Hyunwoo and Minjae and something deadly passed between them.
"You've crossed every line there is, Hyunwoo," Minjae said, his voice low and dangerous in a way Jiho had never heard before. "And now you're going to pay for it."
But before he could say anything else, before he could even think about confronting the person who'd nearly killed the boy he—
Jiho's hand gripped his tightly, and when Minjae looked down, his heart stopped.
Jiho was burning up with fever, his skin pale as paper, his lips blue and trembling uncontrollably.
"Jiho? Hey, look at me. Can you hear me?"
And then—
Jiho's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed completely into Minjae's arms.
"Jiho! JIHO!" Minjae cried, shaking him gently, then more urgently. "Wake up! Please, you have to wake up!"
But Jiho didn't respond. He didn't open his eyes.
He was unconscious, burning with fever, and Minjae had never been more terrified in his entire life.
---