Kim

The room smelled of dampness and mustiness — that particular smell that remains when windows haven't been opened for weeks. Behind the thin wall, neighbors' voices rumbled dully, muffled but even more intrusive because of it. Kim dropped his backpack on the floor — it fell with a doomed thud — and collapsed onto the bed. The sheet was cold and damp. He stared at the ceiling, where a crack ran from the chandelier to the corner like a dried scar. Outside the window hung fog — thick, almost tangible, something you wanted to touch with your hands. A light rain beat indifferently against the glass.

Kim had never had friends. Not in kindergarten, not in school. He was a mouse, a gray lump that knew how to become invisible, because anything else hurt too much. His mother had died long ago; her face was already fading from memory. His father worked from morning until night and always returned dissatisfied — with grades, with appearance, with the very fact that Kim breathed in the same apartment as him.

He didn't understand what was wrong with him. He studied average — no failing grades, but no brilliance either. Outwardly, he resembled his mother — dark shoulder-length hair tied in a low ponytail, bangs that forever fell over his face. Thin, with soft, almost girlish features. His character — quiet, sensitive. He liked staying home, watching anime, reading manga, playing visual novels — there, in those worlds, he was noticed. Loved.

Kim fell asleep without noticing when, and when he opened his eyes — it was already getting dark outside. Bare feet touched the cold floor. He turned on the laptop, sat with it on the bed, and opened "The Glass Rose" — an anime about a boy imprisoned in a palace where he was married off to a cruel emperor. Kim was watching it for the fifth time. He didn't love it for the plot, but for the mage — beautiful, caring, faithful. The mage offered the protagonist freedom and a glass garden, went against everyone — and was sealed away forever.

— I hate the protagonist — he whispered, staring at the glowing screen. — The mage is so wonderful… And the emperor is a bastard. Why go back to someone who broke you?

The door in the hallway slammed — his father h