Winter Swan

Ding dong ding dong.

As the bell rang, Silje entered the classroom with her bandaged wrist.

It was the second period of the day and she was about to attend her classic literature class. It was an elective, so the students in the room weren't her regular classmates.

When she walked in, everyone stared at her. The rumor of the incident between her and Kail had already spread widely, so the kids whispered among themselves. They were clearly talking about her, but Silje ignored them and sat down quietly. She was used to this.

The teacher started the lesson, "Let's begin from where we left off last time. In the northern European myth, berserkers were Odin's bravest men who went without armors into battle. They…."

Of all topics, the teacher was talking about berserkers. Silje didn't like it. It reminded her of the devil, Kail.

Her wrist still throbbed painfully. Silje shook her head and tried to focus on the lesson, but suddenly, she realized that the classroom was unusually quiet. None of the students were making a sound, which was strange.

Why? What was happening?

Silje looked around and noticed the person who sat at the back. Under the afternoon sun, his dark hair and sharp eyes looked intense. He sat on the chair as if he owned the entire school.

Silje became confused for a second before she met his eyes. He was looking right at her, those sharp green eyes.

Oh my god.

Kail was staring at her from the back of the classroom and Silje gasped in shock.

Kail the devil was clearly not paying attention to class at all. He was openly looking at her without bothering to hide what he was doing. Kail studied Silje, who looked paler and thinner than usual due to her recent ordeal.

She quickly looked away, but she couldn't stop her heart from beating so fast. Was this finally the end for her? She knew they were in the middle of a class so he couldn't do anything to her at this very moment, but she couldn't help her body from trembling with anxiety.

Was that bastard going to hurt her again?

He was wearing a green fur jumper, a cashmere sweater, and a pair of black jeans that accentuated his long legs. He looked impossibly arrogant as he continued to stare at Silje.

She wondered, 'What's up with him? Why is he staring at me like that? It's like… He's looking at me like he wants me. Or am I just losing my mind?'

Silje couldn't understand.

Why was he doing this?

He looked at her up and down one more time before suddenly turning away.

Looking at him was an unwanted reminder for Silje of a horrifying memory. All she wanted now was for class to end. She wanted to escape this moment as quickly as possible.

When the bell rang finally, Silje immediately stood up. She glanced back but Kail wasn't there anymore. It seemed that he left the classroom before class ended.

Kail had chosen this class.

She frowned at the strangeness of it.

The cruel king took classic literature?

It didn't make sense. Silje glared at the seat he sat in just a moment ago.

Of all classes, why did he take this one? There was no way he was interested in classical literature.

When she got to the hallway, she felt someone watching her again. She turned around, and there he was.

Kail was staring at her again.

What the! How long had he been standing there?

Silje flinched and stood frozen on the spot.

Kail, who was standing on the stairs in the bright sun, waved at her.

What? Was he asking her to come to him?

Silje flinched again. A new kind of fear was growing inside her from the recent trauma.

Should she run away from him?

Silje hesitated for a second before realizing this was very unlike her. She stared back at him and remembered that she couldn't back down. She needed to get her revenge against the cruel king and running away from him wasn't going to help her at all.

She looked straight into his eyes walked towards him briskly. She wasn't going to avoid him.

Looking at Silje who was storming towards him, Kail smiled with interest.

She argued, "What do you want from me now?"

When she asked angrily, Kail grinned, "I think I should be the one asking you that question, don't you think?"

"Why did you get me to come here? What's your reason?"

She acted like she was ready to fight, making his smile even wider. He replied slowly, "I see that you are in defense mode, yet you sound very aggressive. I just wanted to talk to you, that's all."

She had no idea what was going to happen next. She couldn't relax even a little. After all, she was standing in front of the one who sliced her wrist with a knife. While she continued to glare at him, Kail crossed his arms with an odd expression.

"Calm down. I'm not gonna bite you. I just…"

Kail gave her a lazy smile and continued, "I just wanted to talk to you. I was curious about what kind of girl you are."

Silje couldn't believe her ears.

What? He wanted to know what kind of girl she was?

Still incredibly tense, she glared at him with her reddened eyes and asked with a husky voice, "What do you mean by that? What are you planning to do?"

"Like I said, I just want to get to know you."

It had to be a lie.

A familiar silence fell and Silje inhaled deeply. They stared at each other wordlessly.

Her wrist throbbed, reminding her again of who Kail really was. She refused to look away while Kail studied her calmly.

And after a long while, it was Kail's lovely low baritone that broke the silence.

"…Your name is Silje Kim Pettersen, right?"

At an unexpected question, Silje looked panicked but she quickly straightened her back.

"Yes. That's my name."

When she said in an accusing tone, he grinned again.

"Gunhild told me you were adopted from Korea. Is that true?"

"Yes. I was adopted from Korea."

So what?

Kail didn't respond to her argumentative tone.

When she blinked questioningly, Kail murmured, "…Is that why you acted with such a desperate fierceness?"

"What?"

She asked in confusion, but Kail refused to explain.

What was he doing? What was he trying to achieve?