That morning, R arrived later than usual.
It wasn't because he wanted to make Stela wait. Nor was it because his driver had been driving too slowly. His body simply hadn't fully returned to normal yet. His steps were still a little heavy, and his face looked paler than it had in the days before the surgery.
Even so, he forced himself out of the car.
"You're not allowed to go to school yet," Bari said from behind the wheel.
R shut the car door and leaned down to look at his father. "If I don't go in, someone might miss me."
"They can miss you through text messages."
"What if they take forever to reply?"
Bari sighed. His son had been stubborn since birth. This time, though, R's stubbornness had a more worrying reason behind it. He didn't want Stela to see him as someone who needed pity.
"Don't overdo it. If you feel dizzy, come straight home."
R gave him a small salute. "Yes, Boss."
The car hadn't even really left yet when R jogged toward the gate. He only realized how short of breath he was after he saw Stela standing near the bulletin board.
The girl was holding her phone with both hands. Her face wasn't as bright as it had been yesterday.
"Morning, Princess."
Stela looked up. Her eyes immediately traveled over R's body from head to toe.
"What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with what?"
"You're pale."
"I'm naturally this handsome."
Stela rolled her eyes, then reached for R's hand. Her fingers pressed against his palm, as if she wanted to make sure R was really standing in front of her.
"Just go home."
"I just got here."
"Then why did you come?"
R lowered his head and smiled faintly. "I missed you."
That one sentence left Stela speechless. She wanted to scold R, but her cheeks turned red first. The hand holding his didn't let go after all.
They had only walked a few steps when whispers began drifting from behind them.
"That's R, right?"
"Didn't he just have surgery?"
"I heard he ended up in the hospital because he got into a fight."
"No. I heard it was because of his girlfriend."
Stela stopped walking.
R took two more steps before realizing their hands were no longer moving. He turned and saw Stela staring at several students who were ducking their heads near the stairs.
"You heard that, right?" Stela asked.
"I heard."
"They're talking about you."
"I have ears too."
"Don't joke around."
R smiled, but this time, the smile didn't reach his eyes. He'd known the rumors would come. School always found a way to turn someone's wounds into entertainment.
In front of the classroom, things were even worse.
The whiteboard was covered in huge red-marker letters.
R HAD SURGERY BECAUSE OF STELA.
Below it was another, shorter sentence.
A CURSED GIRLFRIEND.
The classroom fell silent when R and Stela walked in. Even the sound of a chair scraping across the floor sounded like a loud punch inside the room.
Stela stared at the writing. The color slowly drained from her face.
R released her hand and walked toward the whiteboard. He picked up the eraser and calmly rubbed out the first sentence.
No one dared to speak.
Once the writing was gone, R moved on to the second sentence. His hand stopped right above the final word.
"R," Stela called softly.
The boy turned. There was no trace of humor left in his eyes.
"Don't."
"Why not?"
"If you erase it, they'll write it again."
"And?"
"Let me handle the talking."
Stela walked over to him. She took the eraser from R's hand and stood in front of the whiteboard.
One swipe. Two swipes. Three swipes.
The writing vanished along with the white dust falling to the floor.
Stela turned to face the entire class.
"R ended up in the hospital because of his illness. Not because of me. If anyone still has something to say, say it to my face. Don't hide behind your writing."
Not a single voice answered.
R stared at Stela's back. His chest felt full of something he couldn't put a name to. All this time, he'd always stood in front of anyone who wanted to attack him. But today, someone had stood in front of him.
And that someone was Stela.
The school bell rang.
The teacher hadn't arrived yet. The class was still tense. Suddenly, one of the students sitting in the back row stood up.
"We only heard it from someone else," he said.
Stela turned toward him. "Who is this someone else?"
The student bit his lip and pulled out his phone. He opened an anonymous account that had just uploaded a photo of R in front of the hospital.
The caption beneath the photo read:
HE'S NOT JUST SICK. HE'S HIDING SOMETHING.
R took the phone.
His expression changed.
The photo had indeed been taken at the hospital. But the angle was far too close. Whoever took it had to have been standing inside the patients' family area.
At the bottom of the post, there was a new comment.
JUST WAIT. EVERYONE WILL FIND OUT WHO R REALLY IS.
Stela moved closer and read the words. Her fingers reached for R's hand again.
"Who knows about you?"
R didn't answer right away.
Beyond the classroom window, a light rain began to fall. The drops tapped against the glass one by one, like someone knocking on a door and waiting for them to open it.
R stared at the comment for a long moment.
Then a message came in on his phone.
Unknown number.
I KNOW WHY YOU'RE SICK.
R held his breath.
Another message appeared a few seconds later.
AND I KNOW WHO GOT STELA KICKED OUT OF HER OLD SCHOOL.
R's hand slowly curled into a fist.
Stela stared at his suddenly rigid face.
"R?"
The boy locked his phone screen. Then he tightened his grip on Stela's hand.
"From now on, never go anywhere alone."
"Why?"
R looked at her. This time, there was no smile, no teasing, and no way to hide his fear.
"Because the same person might be looking for you again."
Outside the classroom, someone stood at the end of the hallway.
A black umbrella covered their face. They didn't move when the bell rang, didn't leave when students ran past, and showed no sign of going anywhere.
They only stared at R's classroom door.
As if they had finally found what they'd been looking for all along.
"Don't even think about leaving me, R," Stela whispered.
R squeezed her hand in return.
"I'm not going to leave you. But this time, you can't leave me either."