Training had gone late. Everyone was exhausted, drenched in sweat, heading toward the showers or dorms.

Anko, lost in thought, brushed past Lina by accident, her shoulder barely grazing her. Lina froze, then turned, her tone dripping with venom.

“Watch where you’re going, cheap girl,” she said. “You think because Ani used to tolerate you, the rest of us will?”

Anko stiffened. Her hand clenched around her bag strap. For a second, she looked like she might walk away again. But before she could, something in the air shifted. The laughter faded.

Because Ani was standing up.

Slowly. Quietly. But the sound of her chair scraping against the floor was enough to silence the entire hall.

She turned her head, and her black eyes locked on Lina like a blade unsheathing.

“Say that again,” Ani said calmly.

Lina blinked, frowning. “Excuse me?”

Ani took a step forward.

“Say it again. But louder this time. So everyone can hear how pathetic it sounds coming from you.”

Ailie’s laugh wavered. “Ani, relax, it’s just a joke…”

Ani’s voice cut through her words like ice.
“Do I look like I’m laughing?

The hall went still. Even the music from down the corridor stopped.

Lina squared her shoulders.

“You think you can talk to me like that? You’re not a leader, Ani. You’re just another trainee who thinks she’s special.”

Ani’s lips curved in a cold, deadly smile.

“Special? No. I just know trash when I hear it.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Ani walked closer, slow and deliberate, every step echoing. Her presence was suffocating and dangerous.

“You,” she said, pointing at Lina, “have been off-key for months. Everyone knows it. The only reason you’re still here is because your looks distract the trainers long enough to forget how flat your notes are.”

Lina’s face flushed red.

Ani turned to Ailie.
“And you, her little backup dancer, repeating every word she says like an obedient pet. Do you even have thoughts of your own? Or are you just waiting for someone to script them for you?”

Ailie stuttered. “I, I didn’t…”
“Enough,” Ani snapped.

She took another step forward until she was so close to Lina that their reflections merged in the glass of the corridor window.

“If I ever hear you talk about her again,” Ani whispered, low enough for only Lina to hear but loud enough that everyone felt it, “I’ll make sure your name disappears before you ever step on a stage. You’ll never debut. You’ll never even be remembered.”

Lina didn’t say anything. Her jaw trembled. She looked away first.
Ani’s eyes softened. Not for Lina, but for the girl standing behind her.

Anko. For the first time in four days, Ani looked at her.

Anko’s face was pale. Her eyes shimmered, full of confusion and something deeper - guilt, maybe. Or love.

Ani’s breath caught. A thousand words burned on her tongue. But she said only one thing - the thing everyone heard without her needing to shout.

“Don’t. You. Dare. Touch. Her.”

Then she turned and walked away, her steps echoing down the corridor like a vow.

No one dared speak. Lina stood frozen, her pride shattered. Ailie’s eyes darted to the floor. And Anko… She stood still, trembling, her heart pounding so hard she could barely breathe. For the first time in days, she felt something other than regret. She felt safe.

That night, the dorm lights went out early, but no one slept.

Not Ani, replaying the moment in her mind.
Not Anko, staring at the ceiling, clutching her blanket like it could hold back the storm of emotions crashing inside her.

Both were awake. Both were breaking. And both knew this silence wouldn’t last forever. Because sooner or later, one of them would have to face the truth.
And the truth was terrifyingly simple.

They couldn’t stay away anymore.

૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡

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