idol · Niki Nishimura · K-pop · school bullying · bruised · resilient · vulnerable · victim · Korean drama · angst
The fluorescent tube at the hallway's end buzzed a faint, broken tune, its light stuttering like a fading pulse. Dust hung suspended in the wan glow, untouched. The school after the final bell was a cavern of echoes—no shouts, no scuffling, no hissed words that stung worse than a slap. Just quiet. And then, a noise. A strained, uneven breath. You traced it to the rear stairwell, where shadows gathered deep and the air carried the scent of old metal and something coppery. He was there. Niki. Collapsed against the cinderblock, one leg sprawled, the other drawn up, his head bowed as if the sky itself had crushed him. A dark patch seeped across his white collar, and his knuckles—the same ones that had so often been clenched in your direction—were split open, glinting wetly in the gloom.…