The classroom was louder than usual.
Not chaotic—
just that steady noise of paper sliding, chairs scraping, pencils tapping like impatient thoughts.
Art day.
School sketch activity.
The teacher had written on the board:
"Group Work: Emotion Through Portraits"
Meaning: draw someone's face, capture emotion, color it, pretend it's deep.
Meaning for me: suffering.
I adjusted my seat.
My desk was pulled into a group.
Of course it was.
Jea-Hyun was already there, sitting sideways in his chair like rules were optional.
He gave me a lazy wave.
"Yo."
"Don't 'yo' me," I muttered, dropping my bag.
Then—
I noticed the rest of the group.
Seo-Yeon.
Lalita.
And some guy I barely knew.
He looked like the kind of person who always knew where the charger was in class.
Short hair, sharp glasses, calm expression.
Too calm.
He glanced up.
"Min-Jun, right?"
I nodded slightly.
"…yeah."
He pointed at himself.
"I'm Haneul."
Of course his name is Haneul.
Why does everyone around me sound like they were designed for drama.
Jea-Hyun leaned closer.
"Bro, we got collected."
"I noticed."
Lalita slid into her seat across from me.
Too smooth.
Too natural.
Like she had been placed there on purpose.
She smiled faintly.
"Hi again."
My brain paused for half a second.
"…hi."
That was all I managed.
She set her sketchbook down.
Her fingers lingered on the edge of my desk for a second longer than necessary before pulling back.
Too close.
Again.
Seo-Yeon arrived last.
Of course.
Quiet steps.
Careful.
Like she didn't want to disturb anything… or anyone.
She sat beside Haneul.
Didn't look at me immediately.
Which was worse.
Because it felt like she was choosing not to.
The teacher clapped once.
"Group starts now. Pick a subject. Emotion. Work together."
Chaos began immediately.
Jea-Hyun leaned back.
"I'm not drawing anything emotional."
Haneul adjusted his glasses. "We should assign roles."
Lalita tilted her head slightly.
"I can sketch faces."
That was said casually.
But she said it while looking at me.
Not the group.
Me.
I shifted slightly in my seat.
"…okay."
Jea-Hyun raised a brow at me.
"Oho."
"Don't start."
Haneul tapped the table lightly. "We still need a subject."
Silence.
Then Lalita spoke again.
Soft.
"Let's draw Min-Jun."
I froze.
"…why me."
She smiled.
"Because your face is easy to read."
Jea-Hyun immediately leaned forward.
"That's a lie."
"It's not," Haneul added calmly. "He looks like he hasn't slept in three years."
"HEY—"
Seo-Yeon finally looked up.
Slowly.
Too slowly.
"…that's fine," she said.
Three words.
Flat.
Controlled.
But something about her tone felt tight.
Jea-Hyun blinked.
"…okay then."
I exhaled slowly.
"Why am I the victim in every group activity."
Lalita already opened her sketchbook.
Her pencil moved fast.
Confident.
Too confident.
She didn't even ask me to pose.
Which meant she didn't need to.
That was worse.
Because it meant she was watching me closely enough already.
Jea-Hyun nudged me.
"Just sit still."
"I am sitting still."
"You're vibrating."
"I'm not—"
Haneul leaned in slightly, studying me.
"Relax your shoulders."
"…I hate all of you."
Seo-Yeon suddenly stood.
"I need more light."
She walked to the window.
Pulled the curtains slightly.
Then stopped.
Just stood there.
Looking outside.
Not us.
Not the drawing.
Outside.
I frowned slightly.
"…what's she doing?"
Jea-Hyun shrugged.
"Existing suspiciously."
Lalita's pencil didn't stop.
But her eyes flicked up.
Just for a second.
Following Seo-Yeon.
Then back to me.
Too quick.
Like she didn't want to be caught noticing.
Haneul spoke quietly.
"She's been like that since earlier."
Jea-Hyun leaned closer.
"Like what?"
"…watching everything," he said.
That made me pause.
Lalita finally spoke again.
Still drawing.
"Hold your expression like that."
"What expression?"
"That one."
"…what one."
"The one you make when you don't trust anyone."
I froze.
Jea-Hyun laughed under his breath.
"Oof."
"I don't have that expression."
"You do," Lalita said simply.
Seo-Yeon turned back.
Slowly.
Her eyes landed on the sketchbook.
On me.
Then Lalita.
Then me again.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her own pencil.
Just a little.
Jea-Hyun noticed.
"…you good?"
Seo-Yeon blinked.
Then nodded.
"I'm fine."
Too fast.
Too clean.
Haneul tilted his head slightly.
"…are we actually drawing or just psychologically damaging Min-Jun?"
"Both," Jea-Hyun said immediately.
I groaned.
"Can I transfer groups."
"No," all four said at once.
I stared at them.
"…that was suspiciously synchronized."
Lalita leaned closer again.
Her shoulder almost brushing mine.
Too close.
Again.
"Stay still," she whispered.
"I am—"
Her pencil paused near the page.
Her voice lowered slightly.
"Your heartbeat keeps changing when she looks at you."
I froze.
"…what?"
She didn't look up.
Didn't explain.
Just kept drawing.
Like she hadn't said anything strange at all.
Across the table—
Seo-Yeon suddenly dropped her pencil.
It hit the floor.
Clack.
Everyone looked.
She bent quickly to pick it up.
Too quickly.
When she stood again—
her gaze briefly met Lalita's sketchbook.
And for a split second—
her expression shifted.
Not anger.
Not sadness.
Something sharper.
Unstable.
Then gone.
She sat back down.
Quiet.
Jea-Hyun leaned toward me.
"…this group is weird."
I whispered back.
"Tell me something I don't know."
Behind us—
Niran's voice appeared out of nowhere.
Calm.
Almost amused.
"Careful."
I stiffened slightly.
"…don't do that."
He leaned closer—only I could see him.
Watching the group.
Watching her.
"Two of them are lying," he murmured.
I frowned.
"…which two?"
He smiled faintly.
"That's the fun part."
And just like that—
the pencil stopped moving on my sketch.
Lalita lifted it slightly.
And said quietly—
"…done."
I looked down.
At the drawing.
And felt something in my stomach drop.
Because she hadn't drawn just my face.
She had drawn me—
looking at something behind me.
Something I couldn't see.
And smiling.
The teacher clapped once.
"Alright. Stop sketching. Present your work."
A collective groan went through the class.
Jea-Hyun stretched like he had been personally betrayed by education.
Lalita closed her sketchbook with a calm snap.
Seo-Yeon sat still.
Too still.
Haneul adjusted his glasses once, already prepared.
And me—
I just stared at my drawing like it was going to explain itself.
The teacher walked between desks.
"Each group explains: emotion, subject, and meaning."
He stopped at ours.
"Jea-Hyun. Start."
Jea-Hyun immediately sat up straighter.
His paper was turned around.
And—
it was… soft.
Too soft.
The sketch showed me from a slightly tilted angle, sitting by a window.
Not how I usually look.
Not tired.
Not irritated.
Just—
quiet.
Eyes distant.
Almost gentle.
Even the lines were light, like the pencil was afraid to press too hard.
The teacher blinked.
"This is… very soft."
Jea-Hyun rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah, well… that's how I met him."
I turned slightly.
"…what."
He pointed at the drawing casually.
"I saw him for the first time like that. He looked… fragile."
"Fragile?"
"Yeah."
He shrugged.
"Like if you said something too loud, he'd break."
I stared at him.
"…I don't break."
"You do a little."
"I don't."
"You flinch when chairs move too fast."
"That's called survival instinct."
The class laughed softly.
Jea-Hyun smiled too.
Not teasing this time.
More… warm.
"He's actually like that," he added quietly. "Soft in a weird way. Just hides it under being annoying."
"HEY—"
The teacher moved on before I could defend myself.
"Lalita."
She stood.
Calm.
Collected.
Her sketch was turned around.
And I immediately felt something off.
Because the drawing—
wasn't just me.
It was me sitting in the classroom.
But the background had faint distortions.
Like something behind me had been erased and redrawn too many times.
My face was there.
Clear.
But my eyes—
were looking slightly to the side.
At something invisible.
The teacher leaned closer.
"This is detailed. What is the emotion?"
Lalita didn't hesitate.
"Awareness."
"…awareness?"
She nodded once.
"Like he knows something is behind him."
My stomach tightened slightly.
Jea-Hyun frowned.
"…that's creepy."
Lalita glanced briefly at me.
Just for a second.
Then—
her eyes shifted.
Not to my face.
Not to my hands.
To the empty space beside me.
Where Niran stood.
She paused.
Just a fraction too long.
Then smiled faintly.
"Some people are not alone even when they are alone."
Silence.
My head snapped slightly toward her.
"…what does that mean?"
She tilted her head.
"Nothing."
But she was still looking.
Not at me.
Not at the teacher.
At that space again.
Like she could almost see him.
Niran shifted slightly beside me.
Quiet.
For once not joking.
The teacher cleared his throat.
"…moving on."
Seo-Yeon stood next.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Her sketch was turned around.
At first glance—
it looked normal.
A classroom scene.
But only me.
Sitting.
Head slightly lowered.
Hands clenched.
And around me—
dark shading.
Too heavy for a school drawing.
Like pressure.
Like suffocation.
The teacher frowned.
"What is this meant to represent?"
Seo-Yeon's voice was steady.
"Isolation."
"…from what?"
She paused.
Then—
"From things he refuses to see."
My fingers tightened slightly.
Jea-Hyun muttered under his breath.
"…okay that's vague and aggressive."
Seo-Yeon didn't look at him.
Her eyes stayed on the drawing.
Then flicked—
just briefly—
to Lalita.
And then away.
Fast.
Like she didn't want that exchange to exist.
The teacher sighed.
"Haneul."
Haneul stepped forward.
And for the first time—
the energy shifted.
His paper was turned.
And it was different immediately.
Because he had drawn me exactly as I am.
No exaggeration.
No emotion filter.
Just—
me.
Slouched slightly.
One hand on the desk.
Eyes tired.
Hair messy.
Expression neutral but not empty.
Like someone observing life instead of participating in it.
Even the folds of my uniform were accurate.
The classroom quieted a little.
The teacher nodded slowly.
"This is… very realistic."
Haneul adjusted his glasses.
"It's the first time I've met him."
I blinked.
"…you drew me like that from one meeting?"
He nodded.
"I observe people quickly."
Jea-Hyun leaned over.
"Bro, you're like a scanner."
Haneul continued calmly.
"He doesn't perform much. That's why it's easy to draw him honestly."
I frowned slightly.
"…I perform."
"You avoid eye contact with authority figures."
"That's survival again."
"You tense your shoulders when someone stands behind you."
"…stop analyzing me in public."
The class laughed again.
But Haneul wasn't smiling much.
He added quietly,
"He also looks like he's always listening to something no one else hears."
That made the room shift slightly.
My hand twitched.
Just once.
Jea-Hyun noticed.
"Okay that got deep for no reason."
The teacher clapped once.
"Good work. All of you showed different perspectives."
He started moving away—
but I didn't relax.
Because I felt it.
Three sets of eyes.
Lalita.
Seo-Yeon.
Haneul.
And none of them were looking at the same thing.
Lalita was still glancing at the empty space beside me.
Seo-Yeon was watching me like I might confirm something.
And Haneul—
was just observing everything like data.
Niran leaned slightly closer.
Quiet.
Only I could hear him.
"…this is getting interesting."
I whispered back.
"…no it's not."
He smiled faintly.
"Yes it is."
And for the first time that day—
I didn't have an answer.