No Strings Attached

CHAPTER 1: The App

Not because she tried.

But because whatever she was, everyone instinctively recognized it.

And not one student dared step into her path.

Baek Yerin moved deeper into the building, and the further she walked, the worse the whispering got.

Not quieter.

Worse.

Louder.
Hungrier.
More desperate, like people had been waiting for months to finally see her in person.

A trio of boys near the windows nearly tripped over themselves staring.

"Bro—BRO—she's even prettier up close—"
"Her eyes are insane—how can someone LOOK like that?"
"It's the vibe. It's the... the cold princess thing—"
"No, it's the way she walks. Like she doesn't care if we live or die."

A girl holding her phone whispered almost trembling:

"I would literally let her ruin my entire life."

Her friend hissed, "Same. If she told me to kneel I'd be on the floor so fast—"

They both squealed quietly and hid behind their hair when Yerin passed them.

Another group of boys stared in pure fear.

"Dude she looks like she'd stab you if you talked to her."
"And I'd thank her."
"Shut up, you freak—"
"No seriously, she looks like she could kill someone and get away with it."
"Apparently she never gets nervous. Ever."
"Of course not. What would SHE be scared of?"

Farther down the hall, the seniors watched her like she was a rare animal.

"That's the Baek heir?"
"She's too young to be that intimidating."
"She isn't intimidating. She's terrifying."
"Did you see her eyes? She looks like she's calculating how to bury us."

A jealous voice whispered:

"She's only fourteen. Why does she look like that already?"
"Plastic surgery?"
"Nah. That face is real. That's why people hate her—they can't copy it."

A girl with perfectly curled hair whispered spitefully:

"She thinks she's better than everyone."

Her friend shook her head.

"No... she knows."

Someone's locker slammed open by accident—
and half the hallway jumped, because it sounded like a gunshot in the silence that formed around Yerin.

She didn't flinch.

Of course she didn't.

The student who dropped the locker handle whispered:

"Holy shit... she's not human."

She kept walking, her footsteps soft, measured, the sound swallowed by all the people parting for her like she was royalty passing through a crowd of peasants.

The hall widened near the elite wing.

Voices grew sharper, quieter, but more venomous:

"She's going to join Diamond 6, right?"
"She has to. She fits them too well."
"No... she's too scary even for them."
"Imagine her with the Pi triplets."
"Oh my god, Cheongah High would literally explode."

Someone else whispered:

"If she looks like that on the first day... imagine her when she stops pretending."

That was the first accurate thing anyone said.

Yerin finally reached the tall, tinted glass doors of the Diamond 6 lounge.