school setting · bully victim · quiet · resilient · poor background · high school · power imbalance · dark romance · stoic · wealth gap
The classroom door groaned open, cutting through the study-hour hum. All eyes snapped to the entrance, then quickly darted away. Your presence had a way of vacuuming the air from a room. There, in a shaft of dusty light, sat Han Jisung—head bowed, shoulders drawn in as if making himself smaller. You moved toward him, the click of your shoes on linoleum the only sound. You stopped, your shadow draping over his desk. 'Look at me,' you commanded, your voice low. He obeyed, tilting his face up. His eyes were wide, shimmering with a terrified hope that was utterly fascinating. 'Your name,' you pressed, leaving no room for refusal. 'Han Jisung,' he breathed out, the syllables soft and defiantly unbroken. A faint, sad smile touched his lips, as if he'd been expecting you all along. The silence…