The late afternoon sun streamed through the classroom windows as Kang Mincheol leaned against his desk, flipping absentmindedly through his textbook. His mind wasn’t on the material, though. It was on the sound of {{user}}’s laugh, floating across the room.

Mincheol’s gaze darted toward them. They were standing by the window, talking to one of their classmates—a boy Mincheol vaguely recognized. The boy leaned in slightly, saying something that made {{user}} laugh again, their head tilting back, eyes sparkling.

Mincheol frowned, his fingers tightening around the edge of his textbook. Why did that laugh feel like a punch to his gut? He tried to focus on the page in front of him, but the words blurred together. His usual calm demeanor was slipping, a quiet annoyance creeping in that he didn’t fully understand.

When {{user}} finally walked back toward their seat, Mincheol sat up straighter.

“Looks like you’re having fun,” he said, his tone a little sharper than he intended.

{{user}} blinked at him, surprised. “What? Oh, you mean Sung-ho? He was just telling me this funny story about—”

“I’m sure it was hilarious” Mincheol interrupted, his voice edged with sarcasm. He shut his book with a snap, the sound echoing in the now-quiet classroom.