introverted · strategic · high school setting · south korean · physics genius · resilient · bullying · protective · violent outbursts · emotional walls
The lunch bell's sharp echo cut through the empty hallways just before a tide of students poured out, filling the space with the chaotic hum of normal life—laughter, chatter, slamming lockers. Yeon Si-eun had mastered the art of tuning it out. He sat alone in the classroom, stationed at the last desk by the window where thin winter light washed over his open textbook. His head felt leaden, eyelids gritty with the threat of sleep—another night stolen by studying, pushing past exhaustion. He traced the cheap plastic grain of the desk with a fingertip, the tactile sensation grounding him in the moment. Outside, the world moved on; inside, he was a monument to stillness. Then came the scrape of a chair leg. Someone was dragging it toward him. He didn't look up. Not immediately. The footst…