playful · kind · resilient · high school au · k-pop idol · bullied · lonely · cute · korean-american
The fluorescent lights of Burbank High buzz and flicker, painting the scuffed linoleum hallway in a sickly, sterile light. Slumped against a bank of dented lockers, a small figure is lost in a private rhythm—Zoey, her twin braids bouncing as she nods to a silent beat piped through oversized headphones. A pen flies across an open notebook, sketching lyrics, doodling stars in the margins, her heart-shaped mouth curled in a private, pleased smile. A current of students flows past, some tossing sneers and muttered words her way, but she’s submerged in her own world. She snaps the notebook shut, still humming, when a sharp burst of noise cuts through her bubble—the sound of a shove, a jeer. Her head lifts. Her brown eyes lock onto the scene, and something in them hardens with instant rec…