Chapter 0: Deviation (1)

“Lights out at midnight. Anyone caught studying with the lights on after that will receive demerits.”

The weary voice of the dormitory supervisor crackled through the ceiling speakers.

Not long after, the room lights flickered off, plunging everything into darkness.

Only a faint moonlight seeped through the window, barely enough to make out shapes in the gloom.

In this pitch-black room, I once again switched on my desk lamp.

At this school, nights stretched far into the early morning hours.

Our high school was known for gathering the cream of the crop from across the country.

Whether it was outstanding grades or excellence in a particular field, only those who stood out were selected.

Thanks to these stringent criteria, the school had produced many notable graduates over the years.

The competition to get in was beyond imagination.

Of course, even that paled in comparison to the internal rivalries once you were here.

When you gather the best of the best, the competition only intensifies.

I’d bet not a single person here sleeps soundly at night.

The lights-out policy seemed pointless, but I didn’t bother questioning it. Surely it was the teachers’ way of looking out for our health.

It was almost comical how they’d then pile on assignments left and right.

All in all, it was a frustratingly suffocating school.

“Haaah…” I let out a deep sigh without thinking.

Somehow, I was finding it hard to focus tonight. Then again, sitting here complaining wasn’t going to help me make any progress.

While I was wasting time, everyone else’s pens were surely moving diligently across their papers.

Maybe I should go splash some water on my face in the bathroom.

I slipped out of my room and was greeted by the dim hallway.

Not a sound could be heard in the quiet space. On the surface, it seemed everyone was asleep, but slivers of light escaped from under each door.

At times like these, I was grateful for the supervisor’s negligence.

I tiptoed towards the bathroom, trying to muffle my footsteps.

Just as I was about to enter the only lit room in the corridor, passing by the rooms of students likely deep in study…

A noise from the adjacent machine room stopped me in my tracks.

Suddenly, I remembered an old rumor I’d heard.

They said if you went down the emergency stairs hidden in the back of the machine room, you could sneak out through an exit on the opposite side of the supervisor’s office.

Apparently, some brave souls occasionally used this route to slip out of the dormitory.

I stared at the machine room door.

A constant mechanical hum leaked out from inside.

Emergency stairs leading outside the dormitory, huh?

I had nothing to do out there. If anything, it would just cut into my study time. And if I got caught, demerits would be the least of my worries.

Even so, a desire to escape welled up inside me.

Whether it was curiosity or rebelliousness, I felt an urge to indulge in this small act of defiance.

Before I knew it, I was turning the machine room doorknob.

Inside, the room was packed with loudly humming machinery.

A narrow path, barely wide enough for one person, snaked between the equipment.

And there, at the back… just as the rumors said, were the emergency stairs.

Swallowing hard, I squeezed between the machines.

It only took a few steps to reach the stairs.

Though they looked ordinary, something about them felt special in that moment.

Having come this far, there was no point in hesitating. Trying to calm my racing heart, I slowly began to descend.

From the fourth floor where my room was, down to the third, past the second, and finally to the first floor exit.

With each step, I could feel my heart pounding harder and harder.

At last, I reached the ground floor, where an iron door stood before me.

Just beyond this door…

With trembling hands, I turned the handle, and a cool night breeze greeted me.

The path connecting to the walking trail behind the dormitory came into view.

Though I’d seen this scenery hundreds of times before, a sense of relief and exhilaration brought an inexplicable smile to my face.

It was my first taste of rebellion after a lifetime of being a model student.

I never dreamed that breaking a simple rule could feel so thrilling.

So, what now?

It felt good to be outside, but I didn’t have the guts to wander around the school grounds.

The supervisor might not catch me, but getting spotted by the security guard would be disastrous. He’d blow his whistle even if we approached the school entrance during the day. Getting caught sneaking around at night would be the end of me.

I decided to just enjoy the night air for a moment before heading back.

But then, beyond the scattered trees near the walking path, I glimpsed what looked like a person sitting on a bench.

Who could it be? Maybe someone else out for a brief escape like me?

Whoever it was, they must have nerves of steel. I hoped they wouldn’t get caught.

Well, even if they did, it wasn’t my business. The smart thing would be to ignore it and hurry back to my room.

Knowing this, I still found myself walking towards the path.

As if I were under some sort of spell.

As I got closer, the person’s features became clearer.

A girl sat with her eyes closed, delicately moving her fingers as if playing an invisible piano.

Long, amber-colored hair that shimmered even in the moonlight. A musical note-shaped hairpin.

Her small frame contrasted with her long, slender arms and legs. The fact that she was “playing” a piano, of all things…

I immediately recognized who she was.

Even after I approached the bench, her silent performance didn’t stop.

She must have been so focused that she didn’t notice any sound or presence around her.

So I decided to quietly watch as she immersed herself in her own world.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through.

As she tucked her fluttering hair behind her ear, her soundless recital came to an abrupt end.

At the same time, her tightly shut eyes slowly opened.

She seemed to finally notice me, looking up with a start.

“Oh, you…” she stammered, her lips trembling slightly.

Hearing her voice made her identity even more certain, but I decided to ask anyway.

“You’re Han So-yul, right?”

At my casual question, she clutched her clothes tightly.

Then, with a movement full of wariness, she gave a small nod.

A second-year like me. The most famous student in our school. And a piano prodigy who had swept various competitions.

This was my first encounter with Han So-yul.

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