The tears were heavy, right on the edge of spilling over but Albert grit his teeth and quickly looked down.
He adjusted his glasses, tilting the frames just enough so the overhead lights hit the lenses.
It created a solid white glare, a simple hiding spot. As long as the light blocked his eyes, no one could see the wetness glossing over them.
To his left, the scratching sound of a pen stopped. Albert felt a pair of eyes on him. He took a tiny, quick glance to the side. Himuro Leina.
She was not looking at the blackboard or her textbook. Her head was turned slightly, and her dark, quiet eyes were fixed right on the side of Albert's face.
She did not look pitying or curious. She looked... aware. Her gaze moved from Albert's hand, which was shaking as it gripped the pen, to the group of classmates laughing as they walked back to their seats.
Finally, she looked at the doorway where Leo and Maya were standing, looking bright and happy.
She put it all together in a second. She did not need to be a genius to understand. She saw the classmates corner him and heard the lie he told. And now, she saw him falling apart while his friends were smiling.
For a moment, her eyes met his, behind the white glare of his glasses. She did not try to offer empty comfort or scold him for being weak.
Instead, she let out a short, soft breath through her nose—not a sigh of annoyance, but the heavy breath of someone who understood how unfair things could be.
Then, she deliberately turned back to her book. She knew he was crying. And she chose to give him the only gift he wanted right now: she pretended she did not see a thing.
---
Near the front whiteboard, a sudden burst of laughter erupted.
"Are you serious? You actually paid for that?" a boy yelled.
"Shut up, the price dropped yesterday," another voice shot back, and a chair scraped loudly against the floor tiles.
Beside the windows, two girls whispered loudly enough for half the room to hear.
"I bet they go to the summer festival together."
"The track star? Obviously."
With a dry swallow, I tried to clear the tightness in my throat. The casual chatter washed over the classroom in a messy, loud wave of teenagers planning their weekends and laughing at pointless jokes.
The ache in my chest was not a metaphor. It was real, dull agony making it difficult to breathe. I just stared at the scratches on my wooden desk. It hurts. It really hurts. I... I just want to...
"Hey, did you copy the math notes?" a girl from middle row asked. Albert could hear the noise but all he felt was the pain piercing his heart.
"Yeah, I'll send them later."
Behind the glare of my glasses, I squeezed my eyes shut. I just needed to vanish completely.
---
"Albert?" Maya tilted her head, looking at him with concern. She leaned in close. "You look pale. Did something happen? Are you okay?"
Her eyes were filled with genuine worry. She reached out, almost touching his forehead to check his temperature.
Albert flinched and pulled back.
Don't look at me like that. Please. Don't look at me with that pity. The class is watching. They are looking at the Princess checking on the Goblin. They are thinking, 'Wow, she's so nice, even to him.'
Your kindness is just highlighting how pathetic I am. It proves them right that you are the goddess of mercy, and I'm just a charity case.
"I'm fine," Albert said. He forced his voice to be steady. He did not look at her. He couldn't. If he looked at her now, he would shatter. "Just... tired. Low blood sugar."
"Here!" Maya immediately dug into her pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped chocolate. "I saved this from lunch! Eat it!"
She placed it on his desk. Albert looked at the chocolate. Then he looked at the backs of Classmates A, B, and C. They were whispering, probably sharing the "intel" he had just given them.
For the rest of the day, Albert did not speak. He sank into a deep, logical gloom, calculating the probability of his own irrelevance.
The result, as always, approached 100%.
---
Time: 5:36 PM | Location: Hallway
The 'trio' walked toward the shoe lockers. The hallway was crowded with students heading to clubs or going home.
"Coach just messaged," Leo said as he checked his phone. "The Sports Stadium is fully booked by the football team until 6:10 PM. We have thirty minutes to kill before practice starts."
"Thirty minutes?" Maya hummed while tapping her chin. "We could go to the convenience store?"
"Yeah, I need to stretch, though," Leo said. "Maybe we just hang out by the—"
Thump.
Albert stopped walking. A sharp, squeezing sensation seized his chest. It was not a heart attack. It was the accumulated pressure of the last three hours. The interrogation by the classmates. The forced smile. The chocolate he could not eat. The "Third Wheel" suffocation. His lungs felt like they were filled with concrete.
Limit reached. System overheating. I can't do this for another thirty minutes. If I stand next to them, watching them be perfect while I try to breathe, I'm going to hyperventilate. I need to eject.
"Albert?" Leo stopped as he looked back.
"I..." Albert gasped as he grabbed his chest. He quickly straightened up, forcing a neutral expression.
"I left something. On the roof."
"The roof?" Maya blinked. "We haven't been to the roof today."
"Lunch," Albert lied. It was a clumsy lie, but he delivered it with desperate speed.
"I went up there to read during the last ten minutes of lunch. I think I dropped my student ID. If I don't find it, the administration fee is expensive."
"Oh no!" Maya gasped. "We'll help you look!"
She started to turn back.
"No," Albert said, too loudly. He flinched at his own volume, then lowered his voice. "No. It's inefficient. The Oval is on the other side of campus. If you guys come all the way up to the roof and back, Leo will lose his warm-up window. And Maya, didn't you say the parfait sells out by 6:00 PM?"
He pointed at the clock on the wall. 5:37 PM.
"You go secure the parfait. Leo goes to the locker room to change. I'll run up, grab the ID, and meet you at the main gate in ten minutes. It's the most logical distribution of labor."
Leo looked at Albert. He narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing something off.
"You sure? We don't mind waiting."
"I mind," Albert said as he gripped his bag strap. "If I make you late, I'll feel guilty. Just go. Please."
Leo sighed and slapped Albert on the shoulder. "Fine. 15 minutes. If you're not down, we're sending a search party."
"Deal," Albert said.
He watched them walk away. He watched until they turned the corner. Then, he ran. He didn't run toward the roof to find an ID card that wasn't lost. He ran to escape the suffocation.
---
Time: 5:39 PM | The Rooftop
The heavy metal door slammed shut behind him.
Bang.
Then, Silence.
Albert stumbled toward the chain-link fence and gripped the cold metal mesh with shaking fingers. He opened his mouth and inhaled.
The air was cold, smelling of rain and city dust, but it was oxygen. It rushed into his lungs, loosening the knot in his chest.
"Hah... Hah..."
He stood there for a long time, just letting his heart rate drop.
The wind ruffled his hair and dried the sweat on his forehead.
Slowly, inevitably, he looked down.
From the top floor, the courtyard was a miniature world.
And there they were. Leo and Maya.
They had not gone to the Oval or the cafe yet. They were standing near the bike racks, waiting.
Leo was leaning against a pillar, laughing. Maya was saying something, using her hands expressively, hopping a little in her step.
They looked happy. They looked complete.
Look at them. That's the reality. When I'm there, there's always a filter of caution. Maya worries about me. Leo checks on me.
But when I'm gone... they just shine. The atmosphere around them is lighter. It hurts and it burns right in the center of my stomach. Is this jealousy? No. Jealousy implies I want to take his place. I don't. I just... I wish my absence didn't make them look so much better."
Clank.
The sound of the heavy door opening behind him made him jump. Albert wiped his face quickly and turned around. He expected a teacher on patrol.
Instead, a girl with long, black hime-cut hair stepped onto the concrete.
Himuro Leina.
She did not see him at first. She was looking at the ground, her fists clenched at her sides.
She walked to the railing—far to the left of where Albert stood—and kicked the concrete base of the fence.
Thud.