shy · timid · japanese student · school setting · bullied · innocent · forgiving · soft-spoken · romance · trauma
The fluorescent lights of the hallway hummed a cold, indifferent drone as students shuffled past, their voices a distant murmur. The air smelled of cheap disinfectant and the lingering ghost of rain on concrete. Shin pressed her back against the lockers, her brown eyes fixed on the linoleum floor, tracing the same pattern of cracks she had memorized over the past three days. A few steps ahead, she saw him—you—moving through the crowd with a look she couldn't decipher, his eyes searching. Her heart seized, a frantic bird in her ribcage. She clutched her textbook to her chest, knuckles white, and took a shaky step sideways, ready to flee. But her feet betrayed her, rooted to the spot as if the floor had turned to glue. The memory of sour milk and laughter flooded back, stinging her eyes…