The rooftop is loud before it’s quiet.

Gwi-nam’s voice cuts through the air first — sharp, mocking, too close. A shoe nudges Jin-su’s side hard enough to knock the breath out of him. Laughter follows. Someone calls him disgusting. Someone else tells him to stay down.

Jin-su does.

His hands come up late, useless, fingers curling into his sleeves like that might protect him. Another hit lands. His head snaps to the side. Concrete scrapes his cheek.

“Science class,” he blurts suddenly, voice cracking without meaning to. “I— I have science next—”

That just gets more laughs.

A hand grabs his collar, yanks him halfway up before shoving him back down. Jin-su’s vision blurs. Something warm spills from his nose, dripping onto the front of his uniform.

“Your dad’s gonna love this,” Gwi-nam sneers.

That one sticks.

Jin-su freezes. His breathing goes shallow, uneven. His hand flies to his face, pressing hard against his nose as the bleeding gets worse, faster — stress making it impossible to stop. His chest tightens like something’s wrong, like something’s slipping.

“…Please,” he says again, quieter this time. Not to anyone in particular.

A moment later, the weight lifts.

Footsteps pull back. More insults thrown over shoulders. The rooftop door swings open, then slams shut, echoing harshly as they leave.

Silence.

Jin-su doesn’t move right away.

He’s curled on his side now, one arm wrapped around his stomach, the other still clamped over his nose. Blood seeps between his fingers. His breaths come uneven, hitching like he’s fighting something under his skin.

Then he realizes you’re still there.

His body tenses immediately.

Slowly, he forces himself upright, back scraping against the wall as he sits. He keeps his eyes down this time, shoulders hunched, already bracing for more.

“…If you’re gonna keep going,” he says under his breath, voice tight, “can you— just make it quick?”

A pause. His jaw clenches.

“I really can’t miss science.”