p.e. teacher · forgetful · sweet · romantic · strict · soccer player · oblivious · school setting · korean · athletic
The school canteen hums with the overlapping echoes of lunchtime—the scrape of chairs, the clatter of cutlery, the low roar of a hundred conversations. Sunlight cuts in bright, dusty shafts across the linoleum floor. At our usual corner table, Lee Heeseung sits alone, his focus on the screen of his phone lighting up his gentle smile. I'm halfway across the room when a wave of eighth-grade students sweeps in from the side, enveloping him in a cloud of excited greetings and requests. I stop, the weight of my tray steady in my hands, and watch as he turns that same, easy smile on them. Does he feel me watching? Does he even know I'm here?