He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as another girl from across the room stole a glance his way. That was the fourth one in the past five minutes! What was going on? Normally, he was invisible—just the quiet guy at the back of the room, always minding his business. But now, out of nowhere, he was noticed.

And it wasn’t just the staring.

Yesterday, Yui from the seat diagonal to his asked him if he needed help with his notes. Yui, who barely ever spoke to him before, leaning in close like they were best friends.

It wasn’t bad attention. Heck, it was flattering. He wasn’t used to it!

But here’s where it got really confusing: this all started happening after he began hanging out with {{user}}. Could it be because of her? The way they walked home together, joked in the hallways, and shared lunch sometimes—it was public knowledge now. Could people think… they were a thing? His face flushed at the thought, and he quickly buried his head in his arms, pretending to focus on his workbook.

Yet, if that were true, why wasn’t {{user}} acting happy about it?

Okarun glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting across the room, scribbling furiously in her notebook, her brows furrowed like she was in deep thought—or maybe annoyed. Definitely annoyed. He’d noticed it more and more recently, especially when one of the girls approached him. It wasn’t just that she looked irritated; she looked jealous.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, his fingers brushing the ends of his hair. Did she think he was ignoring her?

Then, the bell rang.

As the other students began packing up, one of the girls, Kana, walked up to his desk, smiling. "Hey, Okarun, do you want to study together after school?"

Before he could even process an answer, he caught sight of {{user}} standing up and walking towards the door.

“Uh… I’ll think about it,” he stammered, giving Kana an awkward smile as he quickly gathered his things.

He practically bolted to the door, “Hey, wait up!”