Winter Swan

Silje ignored him and went about as usual at work.

"Wow! This salmon sandwich is amazing. All the sandwiches made today were perfect."

"Of course. I put my all into it, so it better be good."

"Then I will have another one."

Laughing and enjoying herself, Silje looked beautiful and Kail couldn't stop looking at her. In her pretty pink sweater and jeans, she finally looked like a normal teenage girl. She looked her age for once.

"It's so delicious! Haha."

Silje smiled and constantly ate as if she was starving and kept exclaiming how good the food was. When more customers came in, she cheerfully greeted them and took their orders.

Her happiness annoyed him.

"Welcome!"

Staring at her, Kail smiled darkly.

Which side of her was her real self?

Kail's smile was shadowy and bloody. He became curious.

'I wonder what kind of face you would have in bed. Would you smile like now? Or would you frown?'

He couldn't wait to find out — he had to see it for himself. Drinking the espresso Silje had made from scratch, Kail smiled.

He wanted to have her. Never in his life had he genuinely wanted a girl like this.

"Every day, I will try my best to fight the pain you caused me, Kail Jorgen Bruntland."

When she said those words to him as if declaring war, he fell for her. He was attracted to Silje and he could now admit it.

And this wasn't a problem at all. All he had to do now was get her.

He ignored what the consequences would be after Silje became his. It didn't matter anyway.

Kail was confident that a mere girl like her would never truly get his heart. He was safe.

At the time, Kail didn't know or expect the cruel penalty he would end up paying for his arrogance. He just smiled confidently.

Brigit and the other customers couldn't help glance at this beautiful young man with a captivating smile, but his eyes followed only one girl.

He was going to have Silje. Kail was determined.

Why did Kail come to the cafeteria where she worked?

Silje couldn't figure it out.

Why? It couldn't have been that the great cruel king of the school had nothing better to do.

And he came with Brigit.

"Did he come because of Brigit?"

She murmured to herself.

"That's the only plausible explanation. Why else would he come to a place like this?"

She was walking down the hall at school. Staring at her talking to herself, the kids whispered amongst themselves that she had finally gone mad, but Silje ignored them.

In truth, she couldn't help but be hurt whenever the kids were cruel to her. Her world was full of enemies, so who would be able to feel any kind of happiness?

Silje smiled bitterly as she continued to walk.

It would be a lie if she said she wasn't lonely, but making friends wasn't something she had any control over.

Just then, Silje noticed a girl who was chatting with her friends. The girl must've noticed Silje's stare because she turned towards her. With her brown hair in adorable pigtails, the small girl was holding an expensive high-end bag.

Irina Hara Janssen.

She was one of the few who had Asian features, which was very rare in this school. In her Skono canvas sneakers, Irina was surrounded by her friends, looking like an adorable mascot. When their eyes met, Irina said to her friends, "Give me a moment."

She then walked towards Silje. They stood together quietly for a while before Irina smiled and greeted her.

"Hi, Silje!"

Silje replied, "Hi, Irina."

Irina looked at her with obvious curiosity as she asked, "My friends tell me that you… were involved in an unfortunate incident. Are you ok?"

She must've been referring to that incident where she'd fallen off the building and was caught by Kail's gang. When Silje remained quiet, Irina studied her.

"I noticed that you watch me sometimes. Have you heard about me, Silje?"

Silje nodded.

"I heard that you…"

"That's right. I have Finnish blood. That's why I sort of look Asian," Irina explained nonchalantly.

With dark almost-black hair, dark brown eyes, pale skin, and exotic features, she was beautiful.

However, Silje realized Irina wasn't Asian at all. When she nodded, Irina cheerfully added, "My mom is Finn and my dad is from Norway."

"I see."

When Silje just nodded, Irina smiled and asked, "You're done with your classes, right? Will you walk with me to the school bus?"

As they walked together, Silje was able to have a normal conversation with a girl who was the same age as her. She asked Irina, "Do your friends know about your family history?"

Irina looked at her with surprise.

"Of course. Everyone knows my mom is a foreigner."

"Oh, I see."

"When I was younger, I used to be nervous whenever my mother came to school. Norwegian was her second language and I was worried she might make a mistake in front of my friends. I thought the kids would make fun of me."

Silje listened hesitantly, and Irina continued speaking calmly.

"Everyone already knew she was a foreigner, but I was still afraid that if they realized my mother didn't speak the language well, it would give them a reason to bully me."

"Oh…"

Silje couldn't say anything. She knew what Irina must've felt, yet she didn't know how to console her.

After a short silence, Irina smiled knowingly and Silje finally asked, "But you have lots of friends, right?"

"You want to say that my situation is different than yours?"

Irina always looked innocent and cheerful, but at this moment, she looked clever and shrewd. Irina reminded Silje of a squirrel. An adorable little squirrel with lots of friends, unlike Silje.

Irina continued, "I do have lots of friends. It's because I'm rich."

Silje was surprised by Irina's frankness.

"My dad's business went very well, so my family is rich. When I was young, my dad used to work at a bank. He was dispatched to a branch in Finland and that is where he met my mother who was working in Helsinki."

Irina, a seventeen-year-old-girl, said cynically, "The kids are nice to me only because I'm rich."

Silje liked Irina who was surprisingly perceptive, but Silje didn't show her feelings. If they became friends, Silje knew Irina could be targeted by the other kids as well. Even if Silje liked her, they could never be friends.

Irina asked, "How about you? Your family must be rich too, right?"

"No."

"Oh, you're adopted, right? I heard that your father has a high-ranking position at the Crown Transportation Company. Is that not true?"

Silje didn't reply, but she shot Irina a look. Silje's family wasn't poor by any means, but her adoptive parents were definitely not as rich as Irina's.

Irina understood and smiled, "I guess your family must be just comfortable. This is a private school, so a poor family would never be able to send their kids here even if they got a scholarship."

"Yeah."

To Silje's surprise, Irina kindly stated, "Kids here are so evil."

She was shocked that Irina felt the same way as her. When Silje shrugged her shoulders, Irina continued, "By the way, you are always alone. Don't you get bored being by yourself all the time?"

"It's not my choice."

"It must be hard, Silje."

Irina replied nonchalantly, but it still made Silje feel better. She hadn't expected that someone in this school could sympathize with her, and it felt nice.

As they got closer to the school buses, they walked by a group of cheerleaders who were giggling amongst themselves. They wore wearing yellow uniforms with the Bestrum School symbol on them.

Irina whispered, "Look over there. It's the queen of this school."