Miss Chen picked up the telephone and called one of the students outside.
“Please send Aria and Shuyong to my office.”
A few minutes later, Aria and Shuyong started walking toward the office together.
While walking, Aria looked nervous and kept talking nonstop.
“Wait… what if your ‘not talking’ thing was some kind of official rule?” she whispered dramatically.
“And now because of me you broke it.
What if I get expelled?
I’m too young to die.”
Shuyong glanced at her calmly.
“There was no such rule,” he said quietly.
“They probably just want to talk.”
Aria sighed in relief.
A moment later, they arrived outside the office.
Aria knocked gently.
“May I come in, miss?”
“Yes, come in,” Miss Chen replied.
The moment Aria entered, she noticed an elegant woman sitting beside Miss Chen.
“Aria,” Miss Chen said softly, “meet Mrs.
Yu… Shuyong’s mother.”
Aria immediately smiled politely.
“Oh!
Hello, aunty.”
Mrs.
Yu looked surprised for a second before turning toward Miss Chen.
“This is the girl?”
Miss Chen nodded with a smile.
“Yes.
She’s the reason Shuyong spoke today.”
Mrs.
Yu looked at Aria with curiosity shining in her eyes.
“Really?
Then tell me, dear… how exactly did you make Shuyong talk?”
Aria immediately looked toward Miss Chen awkwardly.
Mrs.
Yu noticed her hesitation and smiled warmly.
“Miss Chen, if you don’t mind… could you give us a little privacy?”
“Of course,” Miss Chen replied before leaving the office.
The moment the door closed, Aria relaxed slightly.
“So… aunty, can I explain everything properly?
Because the story is kind of long.”
Mrs.
Yu laughed softly.
“Of course.
Sit down, dear.
Shuyong, you too.”
Everyone sat down.
Aria pointed at herself proudly.
“My name is Aria, by the way.”
Mrs.
Yu smiled warmly.
“And my name is Hena.”
Aria nodded before suddenly asking,
“So… aunty, you know why he got depression, right?”
Mrs.
Yu’s smile slowly faded.
“…No.”
Aria blinked in surprise.
“He never told you?”
Mrs.
Yu quietly shook her head.
Aria leaned back in her chair dramatically.
“Alright then.
The story begins in junior high school.”
Shuyong closed his eyes tiredly as if he already regretted everything.
“At that time,” Aria continued, “your son fell in love with a girl named Lucy.”
Mrs.
Yu listened silently.
“But that Lucy girl cheated on him by dating Roy behind his back.
That’s why he fell into depression and stopped talking to everyone.”
Mrs.
Yu’s expression darkened.
“And then,” Aria said proudly while pointing at herself, “I entered the story.”
Shuyong sighed quietly.
“I wanted permission to wear pants in school instead of skirts,” Aria explained.
“So I asked my friend Shin for help.
Then he told me that the principal listens to Shuyong.”
She crossed her arms dramatically.
“Roy was also an option… but we fought on the second day itself, so that plan died quickly.”
Mrs.
Yu tried not to laugh.
“So my last option was this heartbroken statue beside me.”
Shuyong stared at her blankly.
“I annoyed him so much that he was finally forced to speak to me.
That’s all.”
For a moment, the office became completely silent.
Then suddenly—
Mrs.
Yu burst into laughter.
“So this whole time my son was acting like a heartbroken boy?”
Aria nodded seriously.
“Yes, aunty.
You know what I called him the first time I saw him?”
Mrs.
Yu smiled curiously.
“What?”
Aria pointed proudly at Shuyong.
“A living corpse… and a heartbroken lover.”
Even Mrs.
Yu couldn’t stop herself from laughing.
Shuyong quietly looked away in embarrassment.
Then Aria suddenly remembered something.
“Oh right, aunty!
That Lucy girl cheated on Roy too.”
Mrs.
Yu’s smile disappeared instantly.
“What?”
Aria nodded.
“She’s apparently having an affair with a boy named Ash from Section B.”
Mrs.
Yu immediately looked worried.
“Roy didn’t do anything to Ash, right?”
“Not yet,” Aria replied honestly.
Mrs.
Yu sighed softly in relief before standing up.
“Alright, children.
I should leave now.
I have an important meeting.”
Aria quickly stood up too.
“Oh right!
And the pants permission?”
Mrs.
Yu smiled warmly.
“I’ll handle it personally.
From tomorrow onward, you can wear the boys’ uniform instead of skirts.”
Aria’s eyes sparkled instantly.
“Thank you, aunty!”
Meanwhile, back in the classroom—
Laulilla looked curiously at Shuyong.
“Shuyong… why weren’t you talking to anyone for an entire year?”
Shuyong’s expression turned cold again.
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
Nearby, Suzumi, Aria, Usagi, and Shin were standing together making weird faces while secretly listening.
Suddenly, the classroom door slammed open.
Jennifer entered the room—
But the moment she saw Shuyong talking normally, she froze in complete shock.
“What the—”
Before she could finish, another girl rushed inside the classroom in panic.
It was Lucy.
“Jennifer!” she cried out nervously.
“Ash’s nose is bleeding!”…