THE YOUNG DRAGONS

EMILY

Across the cafeteria, a boy stood at the mercy of a group of bullies. He was overweight, his clothes ill-fitting, and his face red with embarrassment as the bullies taunted him, knocking his tray from his hands and laughing as his lunch spilled across the floor. The boy tried to shrink away, but the bullies circled him like vultures, cutting off any escape. The scene was cruel, and it was clear that no one was going to step in to stop it.

Except for one person.

A girl with long, dark hair and striking features stood up from her table. She was beautiful in a way that made the room seem to quiet around her, her presence magnetic and commanding. Without a word, she walked over to the bullies, her expression calm but firm. There was an air of quiet confidence about her, the kind that made people take notice.

"That’s enough," she said, her voice clear and unwavering. The bullies turned to her, surprise flickering across their faces. The leader of the group, a tall, broad-shouldered boy with a sneer permanently etched on his face, scoffed at her.

"What’s it to you?" he asked, his tone dripping with disdain. "This isn’t your business."

The girl didn’t back down. She met his gaze head-on, her eyes narrowing slightly. "It is when you’re picking on someone who can’t fight back," she replied, her voice as steady as ever. "Why don’t you try picking on someone your own size?"

The cafeteria had gone silent, all eyes on the confrontation. Jae-Hyun watched the scene unfold, a spark of something new igniting within him. There was something about the girl’s bravery, her unwillingness to back down in the face of aggression, that caught his attention. She wasn’t just beautiful—she was strong, unafraid to stand up for what was right. In that moment, Jae-Hyun felt a connection to her, an admiration that was unfamiliar and unsettling.

The lead bully took a step closer to the girl, his posture threatening, but she didn’t flinch. Before the situation could escalate further, Jae-Hyun was on his feet, moving across the cafeteria with a confidence that matched the girl’s. He reached them just as the bully was about to say something else, positioning himself between the girl and the group of boys.

"Is there a problem here?" Jae-Hyun asked, his tone deceptively casual. His eyes, however, held a warning. The bully looked at him, sizing him up, but there was something about Jae-Hyun—maybe it was the way he held himself, or the calm, controlled power that radiated from him—that made the bully hesitate.

"No problem," the bully muttered after a tense moment, his bravado deflating. He jerked his head at his friends, and they slinked away, leaving the cafeteria buzzing with murmured conversations.

Jae-Hyun turned to the girl, offering her a small, appreciative smile. "You were pretty impressive," he said, his voice softer now that the tension had passed.

She looked at him, her expression unreadable for a moment, before she returned his smile with one of her own. "I couldn’t just stand by and watch," she said simply, her eyes meeting his. There was a connection in that brief exchange, a spark that neither of them could ignore.

Min-Jun, who had watched the entire scene unfold from his seat, noticed the way Jae-Hyun looked at the girl. His brother, who was always so confident, so sure of himself, was suddenly awkward, unsure of what to say next. Min-Jun could see that this girl was different, that she had already gotten under Jae-Hyun’s skin in a way no one else had.

As the girl helped the bullied boy pick up his scattered lunch, Jae-Hyun found himself wanting to know more about her, to understand what made her so different from everyone else in this school. He had never been interested in anyone like this before, and the feeling was as thrilling as it was terrifying.