Chapter -2

The Quiet Game Begins

Kael Daejin didn’t belong on campus.

He wasn’t a student. He wasn’t a guest speaker. He wasn’t listed anywhere on the university’s website.

But he walked through the entrance like the place had always been his.

Because in some ways—it was.

---

Students whispered. Professors paused mid-sentence. Even the security guard standing by the door subtly reached for his earpiece. But no one stopped him.

Kael Daejin didn’t get stopped.

He wore his black suit like armor and his silence like a weapon. Everyone moved aside.

Everyone except Lia Park.

---

She sat in the third row of the psychology lecture hall. Calm. Eyes on her notes. Hair tucked behind one ear. Her lavender tea steamed gently beside her.

She didn’t flinch when Kael entered.

Didn’t turn.

Didn’t even blink.

But her hand—just briefly—tightened around her pen.

---

Kael’s gaze scanned the room.

And found her.

He walked straight down the aisle. Slow. Focused.

When he reached her row, he pulled out the empty chair beside her and sat without asking.

---

> “You again,” he said, voice low.

> “This is my class,” Lia replied, eyes still on her notes.

> “Then we have something in common,” he murmured.

> “Poor taste?”

He smirked.

> “Fate.”

---

In the back row, Yoon Haneul watched sharply.

Kael Daejin, billionaire CEO and mafia-linked enigma, didn’t attend lectures.

He didn’t sit beside random girls.

He didn’t smile.

Something was wrong.

---

Two seats away, Minji Ahn squealed under her breath, tapping frantic messages into her phone.

> “Lia, girl, he’s totally into you. Did you drug him or save his cat in another life?!”

Lia didn’t respond.

But Kael’s eyes stayed on her.

---

After class, Lia rose smoothly, collecting her things. She moved like water. Quiet, graceful.

Kael followed.

They walked down the hallway in silence, the click of his shoes echoing behind her.

---

> “Why aren’t you afraid of me?” he asked as they reached the glass doors.

She stopped.

Turned.

> “Should I be?”

> “Most people are.”

> “Most people see what you want them to.”

That made him pause. The breeze fluttered strands of her hair, but she didn’t move.

> “You’re not curious?” he asked.

> “About what?”

> “Why I’m following you.”

She looked him dead in the eye.

> “You’re not following me.”

“You’re circling.”

Kael stepped closer.

> “And you’re not running.”

> “Not yet.”

---

Their eyes locked.

And something in him stirred—familiar, ancient, like remembering a dream you never knew you had.

---

That night, Kael sat in his penthouse, glass of whiskey in hand, her file spread before him.

> Lia Park.

Top student.

No family. No medical records before age ten. No online presence before sixteen.

> Clean. Too clean.

He picked up his phone.

> “Have my team re-sweep everything. I want to know where this girl came from.”

---

Back in her tiny dorm room, Lia sat by the window, the city glowing below.

Her phone buzzed once.

She didn’t check it.

She already knew what it was:

Kael looking.

She sipped her tea slowly.

> He still acts like a man who owns everything.

But not me—not this time.

She watched the stars.

Not for peace.

But for calculation.

---

In a private lounge painted in red and shadow, Ji-Hwan leaned back in a leather chair, flipping a silver coin between his fingers.

> “He found her,” whispered a man standing near the fireplace.

Ji-Hwan grinned, lazy and slow.

> “And?”

> “She’s not reacting.”

> “She will,” Ji-Hwan murmured. “Lia Park doesn’t stay quiet when something she loves is at risk.”

He tossed the coin once. Caught it.

> “Let’s see if she still bleeds for him.”

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