Beneath Their Devotion (Yanderes x Reader)

2.3 New President

The heavy door groaned on its hinges as Yuuichi pushed it open, revealing the Circle building's inner chamber. Y/N stepped inside after him, and immediately the atmosphere seemed to change, becoming thicker and heavier, as if she had crossed some invisible barrier into another world.

The room was dominated by a massive table, long and gleaming, with chairs circling it, most of them already occupied. Voices murmured here and there, but nothing loud enough to break the oppressive quiet that sat heavy on the room. Y/N recognised a few faces immediately. Classmates or people she'd seen at the gala. Their voices were low, their smiles tight, and their postures still.

Yuuichi walked forward, still holding onto her hand.

She followed, each step sending little flickers of nerves up her spine. They approached an empty seat near the far end of the table, where the light didn't quite reach so cleanly.

Y/N slid into the chair, the leather cold against the backs of her thighs. Yuuichi took the seat beside her. She was just about to say something when someone dropped into the chair on her other side. Y/N turned quickly, heart still ticking too fast in her chest.

To her relief it was Rory. But unlike usual, her posture was stiff and her smile flickered as she met Y/N's gaze.

"Hi," Y/N said softly, offering a small, tentative smile.

"Hey," Rory echoed, but there was a hesitation in her voice—a pulling back.

Y/N caught it immediately, the slight nervous glance Rory gave to Yuuichi, the way her hands fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve. A sliver of cold slipped down Y/N's spine, but she smoothed her face into something pleasant. She wasn't going to push. Not just yet. Instead, she leaned back slightly, hands folded neatly in her lap, pretending not to notice the distance growing between them.

The door at the far end of the room opened again. Y/N's body tensed instinctively before she even turned to look as Ren walked in.

He was dressed simply—dark jacket, tie, hair slightly messy as if he'd run his hands through it a few too many times. There was an effortless arrogance to the way he moved, as if the entire room were merely orbiting around him.

The quiet conversations faltered as he passed.

He moved toward the head of the table, the one chair set apart from the rest, and sat down, one hand resting lightly against the wood, the other curling around the armrest of the chair.

Y/N couldn't manage to look away. Her heart stuttered violently in her chest, each beat louder than the last.

Memories slammed into her. Nao's voice. Ren's reaction to it. Her dream. The dream that had chased her into the corners of her own mind, that whispered things she didn't understand.

Her breathing quickened.

For a heartbeat, her body refused to obey her. She felt locked inside herself, trapped between the past and the present, panic crawling up her throat every second.

That's when Ren's eyes swept the room and landed on her.

Y/N froze completely.

The eye contact lasted only a moment, a breathless, endless moment, but it was enough. She ripped her gaze away, staring down at the table's dark surface as if it could anchor her.

Her fingers dug into the fabric of her skirt under the table. She bit her lower lip hard enough to hurt, trying to force the panic back, trying to force herself to be calm. And above all, trying to hide the emotions she felt—that something was wrong.

The walls of the room seemed to lean inward, closer and closer, the light above glowing brighter and brighter, dimming in her vision.

Under the table, she felt Yuuichi's hand find hers. Normally, that grounding pressure would have helped. Tonight, it only made her feel trapped.