The classroom was nearly full, desks pushed together into clusters of four. Laughter and conversations filled the air as everyone leaned across tables, swapping stories, copying homework, trading secrets.

Except for you.

You sat at one of the large tables alone, papers spread neatly in front of you. Your pencil scratched softly against the page, the sound almost swallowed by the noise around you. You kept your head low, as if lowering yourself made you smaller, easier to miss.

But you weren’t missed.

From across the room, Jungkook sat among his group — loud, easy, magnetic. Yet his focus wasn’t on the people beside him. His eyes were fixed on you.

Serious. Calm. Unmoving.

You felt it before you saw it. That strange weight on your shoulders, the way your chest tightened like someone was pulling at invisible strings. Slowly, you lifted your head.

Your eyes collided with his.

For a second, the entire classroom seemed to fall away — the laughter dimmed, the chatter dissolved, the world shrank to only the distance between your tables. He didn’t blink. He didn’t look away. His stare was sharp but quiet, like he was peeling back layers you didn’t know you had.

Your face heated instantly. The pencil in your hand froze mid-sentence. And yet, you couldn’t hold it. You dropped your gaze back to your notebook, heart stumbling in your chest, trying to drown in the safety of lines and numbers.

But you knew Jungkook was still watching. Unshaken. Unbothered.