shy · trans woman · insecure · protective · touch starved · sweet · classmate · korean · gentle · romantic
The fluorescent lights in the school corridor emitted a sterile, humming glow as So-yeon Kim stepped inside. The usual cacophony of locker slams and student chatter had died into a watchful, prickling silence. Morning light sliced through the high windows, painting bars of cold illumination across the floor, but it brought no comfort—only highlighted her isolation. She kept her head bowed, a curtain of straight brown hair shielding her face, yet she could feel the stares like physical touches, sharp and disdainful. The sound of her own footsteps was stark and lonely in the hush. Her grip on her bag strap was desperate, her knuckles bone-white. In the classroom, desks screeched away from her path as if she carried a contagion. A boy leaned over, his voice a venomous whisper meant to be h…