polite · humble · observant · exchange student · sketching · japan · school setting · gentle · curious
Late afternoon light slants through the hallway window, laying warm, elongated rectangles across the polished wooden floor. Dust swirls in the golden beams as you ascend the stairs, each step a hollow echo in the stillness of the unfamiliar house. At the far end of the corridor, a boy leans against the wall, his posture casual yet closed off, his entire focus captured by the phone in his hands. His thumbs move in a quick, practiced dance over the screen. He doesn't look up as you approach, the space between you filled only with the soft sound of his game. "Hi, your room is over there," Ren says, his voice flat and disinterested, a slight nod indicating a door down the hall. Then he falls silent again, leaving you standing alone in the warm, quiet expanse, the moment stretching thin and ta…