Mornings at Mirae Academy never felt peaceful.
Students hurried through the hallways with stacks of notebooks in their hands, some memorizing formulas under their breath while others complained about unfinished homework.
The upcoming monthly exams had transformed the entire school into a battlefield.
As soon as I stepped inside the classroom, I noticed everyone looked more tired than usual.
Everyone…
Except Takoru.
He was already asleep.
His head rested against the window, one arm folded beneath it while the soft morning sunlight fell across his messy black hair.
His black helmet sat carelessly beside his desk, almost like another silent classmate.
“…How can someone sleep this much?” Emmi whispered as she sat beside Yuri.
Yuri adjusted his glasses before opening his physics notebook.
“Some people sleep because they’re tired.”
He paused.
“And some people sleep because they don’t want to face reality.”
I glanced toward the window seat.
Takoru didn’t move.
For a second…
I wondered which one he was.
The first few periods passed quietly.
Every teacher seemed determined to remind us that the monthly exams were only days away.
Extra worksheets.
Extra homework.
Extra pressure.
By lunchtime, almost everyone looked exhausted.
Mrs.
Sharma walked into the classroom carrying another pile of papers.
“I’m sure all of you finished the geometry assignment I gave on Friday.”
A loud chorus of groans answered her.
She smiled knowingly.
“I expected that reaction.”
As soon as she left, chaos exploded across the classroom.
“I swear Question Five belongs in a university textbook!”
“I couldn’t even understand Question Two!”
“Did anyone solve Question Seven?”
Students immediately gathered into groups, comparing notebooks.
Emmi dramatically dropped her forehead onto Yuri’s desk.
“I’m going to fail.”
“You say that every week,” Yuri replied calmly.
“Because every week I almost fail!”
Yuri couldn’t help smiling.
He pulled her notebook toward himself.
“Look.”
He drew a small triangle.
“You were trying to solve the entire figure at once.
Divide it into two smaller triangles first.”
Emmi blinked.
“…That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Her eyes sparkled.
“Yuri…”
“Hm?”
“I officially declare you my personal lifesaver.”
Yuri sighed.
“I only explained one question.”
“But it worked!”
She grinned proudly before copying everything into her notebook.
Watching them made me smile without realizing it.
Their conversations always felt warm…
Simple…
Normal.
Something my heart desperately needed.
Across the classroom…
Nesmin looked far less fortunate.
He practically collapsed onto Takoru’s desk.
“Boss.”
No response.
He sighed dramatically.
“Boss…”
Still nothing.
Finally…
He poked Takoru’s shoulder.
Takoru slowly opened one eye.
“…What?”
“Please tell me you’ve finished the geometry homework.”
Takoru stared at him for three long seconds.
Then closed his eye again.
“I haven’t opened the notebook.”
Nesmin froze.
“…You’re joking.”
“No.”
“You mean…”
“I mean exactly what I said.”
Nesmin looked genuinely heartbroken.
“I spent all weekend believing I’d copy your answers.”
Takoru yawned.
“You believed wrong.”
Stevan, who had been quietly reading near the window, finally looked up.
“I told you not to depend on him.”
“You could’ve warned me louder!” Nesmin complained.
“He sleeps through half the classes!”
Takoru lazily stretched.
“I heard that.”
“You were supposed to.”
The classroom burst into laughter.
Even I couldn’t stop a tiny smile from appearing.
For a brief moment…
Takoru almost looked like an ordinary student.
As everyone continued discussing homework, I quietly solved the final geometry problem in my notebook.
Numbers had never scared me.
They were easier than people.
They followed rules.
People didn’t.
I finished writing the final solution before carefully underlining the answer.
Just as I reached for my ruler…
I felt it.
Someone was looking at me.
I slowly lifted my head.
Takoru.
He wasn’t asleep anymore.
His dark eyes rested on my notebook.
Not on me.
On my handwriting.
For a few awkward seconds…
Neither of us spoke.
Then…
He leaned slightly closer.
“Your handwriting…”
I instinctively closed the notebook halfway.
“…What about it?”
“It’s tiny.”
I blinked.
“…Tiny?”
He nodded once.
“It looks like you’re trying to hide every word.”
“I-I just like saving paper.”
A tiny silence followed.
Then…
“I wasn’t criticizing it.”
His voice remained calm.
“It just looks careful.”
Careful.
No one had ever described my handwriting like that.
I didn’t know what to say.
“…Thank you.”
Takoru simply nodded.
No teasing.
No arrogance.
No unnecessary conversation.
He leaned back into his chair again, looking out the window as if nothing had happened.
But my heartbeat refused to slow down.
Across the room…
Nesmin stared between the two of us with wide eyes.
He quietly leaned toward Stevan.
“…Did Boss just voluntarily talk to someone?”
Stevan didn’t even look surprised.
“I saw.”
“I think I’m hallucinating.”
“You aren’t.”
Nesmin rubbed his forehead dramatically.
“The world is ending.”
Stevan closed his book.
“No.”
For the first time…
A faint smile crossed his face.
“I think something is finally beginning.”
I looked back down at my notebook.
The numbers blurred together.
For some strange reason…
The single word he had said kept repeating inside my mind.
Careful.
No one had ever noticed something so small before.
Not my teachers.
Not my classmates.
Not even me.
And somehow…
The boy who barely spoke…
Had noticed it within seconds.
I tightened my grip on my pencil.
Without realizing it…
I smiled.
Very slightly.
Before quickly hiding it behind the pages of my notebook.
The conversation ended there.
Neither of us spoke again.
But for the rest of the afternoon…
I found it strangely difficult to focus.
Every few minutes, I caught myself glancing toward the window.
Takoru had fallen asleep again.
His breathing was calm.
Peaceful.
Almost as if nothing in the world could disturb him.
“…Impossible,” I whispered under my breath.
Someone who slept through lessons…
Ignored homework…
Barely touched his notebooks…
Yet everyone in school respected him.
Nothing about him made sense.
The next morning…
Mrs.
Sharma entered the classroom carrying a thin stack of white papers.
She smiled.
That smile alone made everyone nervous.
“Good morning, class.”
Nobody answered enthusiastically.
She laughed.
“I see everyone already knows what’s coming.”
Several students groaned dramatically.
Nesmin immediately covered his face.
“Please don’t say the word.”
Mrs.
Sharma tilted her head.
“What word?”
Silence.
Then—
“Surprise Quiz.”
The classroom exploded.
“What?!”
“No way!”
“We just had homework yesterday!”
“I’m dead!”
Mrs.
Sharma raised one hand.
“Enough.”
“This quiz isn’t difficult.”
“Then why call it a surprise?” someone muttered.
“I heard that.”
The class immediately became quiet.
She began placing question papers upside down on every desk.
“No talking.”
“No borrowing.”
“No excuses.”
“You have forty minutes.”
I slowly turned over my paper.
Geometry.
Relief washed over me.
These were the same concepts Yuri and I had revised yesterday evening.
I picked up my pen.
My thoughts became quiet.
One question…
Then another…
My hand moved smoothly across the page.
Every calculation felt familiar.
Every answer made sense.
Around me…
Only the scratching of pens filled the room.
About fifteen minutes later…
I accidentally looked sideways.
Takoru was staring at his paper.
Not writing.
Just staring.
His pen rested loosely between his fingers.
His expression remained unreadable.
Almost empty.
He read Question One.
Then turned the page.
Still…
Nothing.
A few rows ahead…
Nesmin was writing so fast that his pen nearly flew off the page.
Stevan looked completely focused.
Even Emmi had stopped whispering.
Only Takoru remained perfectly still.
It wasn’t laziness.
It wasn’t boredom.
It almost looked like…
His mind refused to move.
Twenty-five minutes passed.
Mrs.
Sharma walked slowly between the desks.
When she reached Takoru…
She paused.
Without saying anything…
She quietly placed another pen beside his notebook.
Perhaps she thought his pen had stopped working.
Takoru looked up.
“…It’s not the pen.”
Mrs.
Sharma looked at him for a second.
“I know.”
She simply continued walking.
For some reason…
That tiny exchange made my chest feel heavy.
The classroom clock ticked louder than usual.
Thirty minutes.
Thirty-five.
Students began checking their answers.
Some stretched their arms.
Others sighed in relief.
I finished my last calculation and carefully reviewed every page.
Everything looked correct.
I smiled faintly.
Maybe…
Just maybe…
I’d make it into the top three.
Beside me…
Takoru finally lowered his head.
He wrote something.
One line.
Stopped.
Another answer.
Stopped again.
His fingers tightened around the pen.
I noticed tiny creases forming between his eyebrows.
He looked frustrated.
No…
Not frustrated.
Exhausted.
As though every answer demanded more energy than he had left.
The final bell echoed through the classroom.
“Time’s up.”
Mrs.
Sharma began collecting answer sheets.
Students reluctantly handed them over.
When she reached Takoru…
He silently passed her his paper.
For one brief second…
The top page flipped open.
My eyes caught it before I could stop myself.
Half the paper…
Was blank.
Not crossed out.
Not erased.
Simply…
Empty.
My heartbeat slowed.
He hadn’t even attempted most of the questions.
Why?
He wasn’t stupid.
I’d heard him solve complicated engine problems with Nesmin.
He could calculate motorcycle speed, fuel ratios, and racing angles without thinking.
So why couldn’t he solve simple school problems?
Or…
Why wouldn’t he?
Takoru stood before anyone else.
He picked up his helmet.
Slung his jacket over one shoulder.
Then quietly walked toward the classroom door.
Nesmin called after him.
“Boss!”
Takoru stopped.
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t even wait for the bell.”
“It already rang.”
“…I meant the next class.”
Takoru gave the smallest shrug.
“I’m not in the mood.”
Then…
He walked away.
The door closed softly behind him.
I kept staring at the empty doorway.
For reasons I couldn’t explain…
I wasn’t thinking about his reputation anymore.
Or his motorcycle.
Or the stories everyone told about him.
I was thinking about that answer sheet.
About those empty pages.
Because…
Somehow…
They reminded me of my own sketchbook after Kiyon died.
Blank.
Not because I had nothing to draw.
But because…
Sometimes pain makes even the simplest things impossible.
I slowly looked down at my own completed paper.
Then back toward the empty doorway.
For the first time…
I didn’t want to understand the mysterious boy everyone admired.
I wanted to understand…
The lonely boy who kept leaving his pages blank.
To be continued….
welcome to chapter 12!
Sometimes the loudest cries are hidden behind the quietest people.
Not every blank page means someone has nothing to say.
Sometimes it simply means they’re carrying a story they’re not ready to tell.
As Rubi slowly begins to notice the real Takoru behind the rumors, one question remains…
What happened to the boy who stopped trying?
Thank you for reading and supporting this journey.
Your comments, votes, and reviews inspire me to keep writing.
See you in the next chapter.