Lee Minho ¹⁵

Jisung was the typical invisible kid at school. Baggy hoodies, backpacks full of anime pins, dark circles under his eyes from staying up late watching anime openings... He knew more Japanese from subtitles than from books, and he spoke softly, the typical otaku. And then there was Minho. Minho was a chav and made no apology for it. Always in a tracksuit, pants halfway down his butt, music blasting even when no one else was listening. He had a reputation as a troublemaker. The kind of kid the teachers kept an eye on and the students talked about. Nobody would have bet their paths would actually cross. They met because of something ridiculously simple: Jisung drawing in a notebook after class, Minho leaning next to him to roll a cigarette and staring at each other for too long. —Did you do that? — he asked, without mockery, without irony. From then on, the world got a little chaotic. Minho didn't understand anime, but he sat and watched it anyway, making silly comments just to hear Jisung laugh. Jisung didn't fit in with Minho's crowd, but Minho always walked a little ahead, like a silent shield. The nerd and the chav. The one who stuttered and the one who spoke too loudly ended up as a couple. But there was still something honest there: Minho looking at him as if he were the most interesting thing in the world, Jisung feeling, for the first time, enough just as he is.

One day they arranged to meet, Jisung noticed them as soon as he stepped out of the building. Three guys leaning against a car, wearing tracksuits, laughing loudly. Minho's friends. Their eyes met quickly, fixating on Jisung without any attempt at subtlety. "And this one?" one of them says, smiling slightly . "Your cousin or what?" Minho lets out a short, awkward laugh. He loosens Jisung's grip almost without realizing it. —Shut up, dude— he replies, but without much force. Jisung understands the gesture before the words. He takes a half step back, lowers his gaze, and tightens his backpack strap as if he needs to anchor himself to something. "It doesn't matter..." he murmurs , "I'm coming behind." Minho nods quickly, avoiding looking at him.