“The Fire Beneath The Frost “

There was something different in the air.

The snow was melting, but it wasn’t just the weather. It was her.

Her walk had changed. Still cautious, still light but no longer fearful.

Something was blooming beneath her skin.

Not joy. Not yet. But power.

The school’s walls still held whispers. Eyes still followed her. But now, they lingered not out of pity… but curiosity.

She had begun to glow.

Not the fake kind. Not makeup or name-brand gloss.

It was in the way she stood now. Quiet, observant, graceful like a flame you couldn’t touch.

Even the servants at the mansion noticed it.

She didn’t speak much, but when she did — they listened.

She didn’t smile often, but when she did — it haunted.

Her cousins, Yerin and Ji Joe, began to burn with something they couldn’t hide anymore: jealousy.

It started with a boy.

He stood near the back of the library one rainy afternoon. His uniform was clean, but worn. His eyes were heavy — the kind of heavy that comes from carrying something for too long.

He looked at her like he knew her.

Not Kim Anna. Her.

Anne.

At first, she ignored it. She had learned that most stares meant trouble.

But this one was different. It wasn’t hunger. It wasn’t hate.

It was guilt.

And sorrow.

He never spoke to her.

He’d just linger — near the edges of rooms, behind corners, in quiet hallways.

Watching.

Like someone waiting for a ghost to forgive him.

Her bodyguard noticed him too.

And though he said nothing, his shadow grew tighter around her, more protective.

But Anne was no longer just surviving.

She was starting to see.

She began to study the boy.

He was sharp. Fast. Brilliant.

But also quiet. Always alone.

And something inside her whispered ,He knows Kim Anna.

One morning, she approached him.

It was by the lockers.

The moment was simple. Bare.

“I’ve seen you watching me,” she said, her voice calm, quiet.

He froze.

“I… I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Why?”

He looked at her like the world was ending.

“Because I betrayed you.”

His name was John.

Her best friend.

Her only friend from the life she couldn’t remember.

And he had betrayed her ….but not by choice.

That night… the night she was drugged, the night she was almost ruined…

He was the one who took her there.

Because she trusted him.

Because he trusted them.

And then they took his sister ,Yuri.

Kidnapped. Used as leverage.

He was told: Stay silent or your sister dies.

So he did.

And he carried that silence like a curse.

When she spoke to him, he broke.

Right there, under the dull glow of the hallway lights.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” he said. “You weren’t supposed to wake up.”

She didn’t cry.

She simply nodded. “Neither did I.”

Their friendship began again — this time slower, sadder, but real.

And that was what set the fire loose.

Yerin noticed first.

Then Ji Joe.

They saw the way John looked at her — with regret, reverence, and a pain deeper than lust.

They hated it.

And they plotted.

One afternoon, in a quiet alley behind the school gym, they cornered him.

It wasn’t just the cousins. Three others came too — shadows loyal to them.

John didn’t run.

“You think just because she’s pretending to be someone else, she’s untouchable?” Ji Joe snarled.

John smiled — blood on his lip, but his eyes burning.

“I’ve been quiet long enough.”

He pulled out a phone.

One file.

A single video.

A night.

A trap.

Their trap.

“If you lay another finger on me or her… this goes online. Everywhere.”

Yerin hissed “ like I care , right here and now I can do with you what I want and no one can do anything about it not even the school board “

“ How about your grandfather? I’m sure he would love this …. Look at that camera “ they all looked at it causing them to froze a little but they kept the expressionless face “ it’s connected to my phone. One click it’s go to your grandfather and you wouldn’t wanna loose your remaining face would you?” John threatened

“Shut your trash” ji joe said and kicked him but he knew he was right they’re fighting T to be the next heir and since they’re already on their grandfather’s wrongnessg side they might as well loose everything. “ let’s go yerin …. Better watch your step john “

The silence that followed was sharper than a scream.

They backed down.

But john knew… it wasn’t over.

Back at home, the tension began to bend.

Not break. But bend.

Her grandfather still said little, but one day he gave her something strange — a photo.

Her father, holding a baby in one arm, and a beautiful Black woman in the other.

His eyes, bright.

Her mother’s, fierce.

The baby — her — smiling like she owned the sky.

“You look like her more every day,” Grandfather Seokjin said softly.

“Her?”

“Your mother. She was… unforgettable.”

“ why did you hate her thrn grandpa” she found her self asking

It was the first time he’d spoken of her mother with respect.

” I never we hated her…. Just that your father disrespected me, my business my reputation “

“ because he married her?”

“Im sorry child, I realized love knows no color. Staring at you made me know all colors are beautiful “ he hugged her. His embrace was warm but filled with guilt,

Anne held the photo like it was sacred.

School grew kinder.

She began meeting people — not many, but enough.

A girl who painted sad poems on her wrists.

A boy who hummed to himself in class and shared his headphones.

She didn’t let them in all the way. But she no longer shut the world out.

And through it all, her bodyguard stayed close.

Always three steps behind.

Always watching.

Not saying much — but saying everything with his silence.

There was safety in that. A comfort she couldn’t explain.

Sometimes, she wondered if he remembered that night too.

If he blamed himself.

She never asked.

And he never spoke of it.

But one night, she caught him watching her from the garden — under the moonlight, face unreadable — and in his eyes, she saw the same thing John carried:

Regret. And something more.

⸻

⸻

CHAPTER FOUR: The Fire Beneath the Frost

There was something different in the air.

The snow was melting, but it wasn’t just the weather. It was her.

Her walk had changed. Still cautious, still light — but no longer fearful.

Something was blooming beneath her skin.

Not joy. Not yet. But power.

The school’s walls still held whispers. Eyes still followed her. But now, they lingered not out of pity… but curiosity.

She had begun to glow.

Not the fake kind. Not makeup or name-brand gloss.

It was in the way she stood now. Quiet, observant, graceful like a flame you couldn’t touch.

Even the servants at the mansion noticed it.

She didn’t speak much, but when she did — they listened.

She didn’t smile often, but when she did — it haunted.

Her cousins, Yerin and Ji Joe, began to burn with something they couldn’t hide anymore: jealousy.

⸻

It started with a boy.

He stood near the back of the library one rainy afternoon. His uniform was clean, but worn. His eyes were heavy — the kind of heavy that comes from carrying something for too long.

He looked at her like he knew her.

Not Kim Anna. Her.

Anne.

At first, she ignored it. She had learned that most stares meant trouble.

But this one was different. It wasn’t hunger. It wasn’t hate.

It was guilt.

And sorrow.

He never spoke to her.

He’d just linger — near the edges of rooms, behind corners, in quiet hallways.

Watching.

Like someone waiting for a ghost to forgive him.

⸻

Her bodyguard noticed him too.

And though he said nothing, his shadow grew tighter around her, more protective.

But Anne was no longer just surviving.

She was starting to see.

She began to study the boy.

He was sharp. Fast. Brilliant.

But also quiet. Always alone.

And something inside her whispered — He knows.

One morning, she approached him.

It was by the lockers.

The moment was simple. Bare.

“I’ve seen you watching me,” she said, her voice calm, quiet.

He froze.

“I… I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Why?”

He looked at her like the world was ending.

“Because I betrayed you.”

⸻

His name was John.

Her best friend.

Her only friend from the life she couldn’t remember.

And he had betrayed her — but not by choice.

That night… the night she was drugged, the night she was almost ruined…

He was the one who took her there.

Because she trusted him.

Because he trusted them.

And then they took his sister — Yuri.

Kidnapped. Used as leverage.

He was told: Stay silent or your sister dies.

So he did.

And he carried that silence like a curse.

⸻

When she spoke to him, he broke.

Right there, under the dull glow of the hallway lights.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” he said. “You weren’t supposed to wake up.”

She didn’t cry.

She simply nodded. “Neither did I.”

⸻

Their friendship began again — this time slower, sadder, but real.

And that was what set the fire loose.

Yerin noticed first.

Then Ji Joe.

They saw the way John looked at her — with regret, reverence, and a pain deeper than lust.

They hated it.

And they plotted.

⸻

One afternoon, in a quiet alley behind the school gym, they cornered him.

It wasn’t just the cousins. Three others came too — shadows loyal to them.

John didn’t run.

“You think just because she’s pretending to be someone else, she’s untouchable?” Ji Joe snarled.

John smiled — blood on his lip, but his eyes burning.

“I’ve been quiet long enough.”

He pulled out a phone.

One file.

A single video.

A night.

A trap.

Their trap.

“If you lay another finger on me or her… this goes online. Everywhere.”

The silence that followed was sharper than a scream.

They backed down.

But Anne knew… it wasn’t over.

⸻

Back at home, the tension began to bend.

Not break. But bend.

Her grandfather still said little, but one day he gave her something strange — a photo.

Her father, holding a baby in one arm, and a beautiful Black woman in the other.

His eyes, bright.

Her mother’s, fierce.

The baby — her — smiling like she owned the sky.

“You look like her more every day,” Grandfather Seokjin said softly.

“Her?”

“Your mother. She was… unforgettable.”

It was the first time he’d spoken of her mother with respect.

Anne held the photo like it was sacred.

⸻

School grew kinder.

She began meeting people — not many, but enough.

A girl who painted sad poems on her wrists.

A boy who hummed to himself in class and shared his headphones.

She didn’t let them in all the way. But she no longer shut the world out.

And through it all, her bodyguard stayed close.

Always three steps behind.

Always watching.

Not saying much — but saying everything with his silence.

There was safety in that. A comfort she couldn’t explain.

Sometimes, she wondered if he remembered that night too.

If he blamed himself.

She never asked.

And he never spoke of it.

But one night, she caught him watching her from the garden — under the moonlight, face unreadable — and in his eyes, she saw the same thing John carried:

Regret. And something more.

⸻

Things weren’t perfect.

The shadows still circled.

Her cousins still plotted.

Secrets still slithered beneath the floors of that house.

But Anne… was rising.

She laughed once in class — a real laugh — and the entire room paused like it had heard music.

She wasn’t trying to be beautiful.

But she was.

In that fierce, graceful way of girls who survive what should have killed them.

And every time she walked past Yerin, the cousin flinched like she’d been touched by flame.

Anne was becoming dangerous.

Not because she fought.

Not because she screamed.

But because she now knew who she was — and who she wasn’t.

She was no longer begging to go back.

She was learning to live here.

Until she could unlock the truth.

Until she could rewrite the ending.

Because she wasn’t just trapped in someone else’s body.

She was born again.

In fire.

Things weren’t perfect.

The shadows still circled.

Her cousins still plotted.

Secrets still slithered beneath the floors of that house.

But Anne… was rising.

She laughed once in class — a real laugh — and the entire room paused like it had heard music.

She wasn’t trying to be beautiful.

But she was.

In that fierce, graceful way of girls who survive what should have killed them.

And every time she walked past Yerin, the cousin flinched like she’d been touched by flame.

Anne was becoming dangerous.

Not because she fought.

Not because she screamed.

But because she now knew who she was — and who she wasn’t.

She was no longer begging to go back.

She was learning to live here.

Until she could unlock the truth.

Until she could rewrite the ending.

Because she wasn’t just trapped in someone else’s body.

She was born again.

In fire.

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