"What took you so long?" a guy with threads woven through his hair asked, irritation written all over his face.
"You made us wait thirty minutes outside the school entrance."
I checked the time.
Thirty minutes late.
Does that mean Ria didn't wake me up immediately when the train stopped?
Fuck.
His voice tightened. "The other three groups already went inside. We couldn't—because a certain someone was late."
He didn't need to say my name. Everyone already knew.
"I–I'm sorry. I just overslept on the train," I said, my voice trembling with shame.
I could practically feel the atmosphere sink. Oversleeping on the first day... yeah, that wasn't exactly something you could laugh off.
"I mean, that's expected from a commoner who takes the train," the girl with two ponytails said.
I winced. She didn't even bother looking up—her attention stayed glued to her pink phone, like we weren't worth the effort. Somehow, that hurt more than if she'd actually looked at me.
"Now, now, we shouldn't be this aggressive for our first meeting," the orange-haired girl with tattoos on her arms said, trying to smooth things over. "We're all going to be classmates starting this spring term. And this group is the one we'll be staying with until the term ends."
I admired her optimism. Or maybe she was just used to situations like this.
"Ugh, don't even remind me—Ms. Positive," the girl with two ponytails muttered, her face twisting in disgust.
So that was how things were going to be. Great.
"Let's stop wasting time and go inside," said the silver-haired girl with a cold expression.
Her voice cut through the tension like a blade. No emotion. No hesitation. I had a feeling arguing with her would be pointless.
The muscular man simply nodded in agreement.
No objections. Figures.
Everyone else followed, and we went inside the school.
The moment I stepped through the doors, my thoughts stopped short.
...Wow.
The interior was breathtaking—high ceilings, polished floors, elegant lighting. It felt less like a school and more like a palace built for nobles. For a moment, I almost forgot how awkward the entrance had been.
Everyone else looked just as stunned, heads turning in every direction. Only two people stayed composed: the muscular guy and the silver-haired girl. Either they were good at hiding it, or this kind of place was nothing new to them.
"I deserve this kind of royal treatment," the girl with two ponytails said proudly.
Of course you do.
"It looks like there are only two floors," the muscular guy said, glancing upward.
"Probably two classrooms per floor, since there are four groups," the silver-haired girl added.
She spoke calmly, like she'd already figured everything out. I envied that composure.
"Yeah, that makes sense," I said.
I followed their gaze and noticed a long row of lockers lining the hallway on our floor.
That's when I saw it.
My name.
For a second, I just stared at it, half-expecting it to disappear. Personalized lockers? This place really wasn't messing around.
"Oh, we even have personalized lockers," the orange-haired girl said. "But that's strange. I wonder why the application said not to bring any luggage."
Good question. The more I thought about it, the more unsettling it felt.
"It's probably to get rid of distractions," I suggested, even though I wasn't fully convinced myself.
"I doubt that," the guy with threads said. "We still have our cell phones. Those would be a way bigger distraction in class."
He wasn't wrong. If anything, that explanation just raised more questions.
"We should head to class first," the silver-haired girl said. "We can explore later. It looks like the classroom is on the bottom floor."
Right.
I exhaled slowly. First day. Late arrival. And a school that looked like it belonged to royalty.
Yeah... something about this place felt off.
And somehow, I had a feeling that being late was going to be the least of our problems.