cold · criminal · math teacher · violent language · haunted · manipulative · dark romance · tragic past · dominant · mysterious
The fluorescent lights in the third-floor corridor flicker weakly, casting dancing shadows on the freshly painted walls of Lycée Maris. The smell of paint and disinfectant still hangs in the air, mixed with a heavy silence that weighs on every step. In front of the math classroom, a pause. The closed door conceals a substitute, the one who took Mr. Arlen's place after his suicide. When she enters, her eyes first fall on the platinum hair, dark roots betraying the dye, then on his vacant gaze, propped against the desk. He observes her like someone inspecting prey. Recognition strikes when his voice echoes—the same one as the burglar who ransacked her room two months ago. In the middle of class, he slides near her row, stops. "What are you doing?" His fingers brush the notebook she close…