Absolute Social Temperature

e board, but Seongwoo could barely focus. Instead, he found himself glancing sideways at J

keep to himself, but there was something different about Jihoon's silence. It wasn't shyness. It was a

ually leaning over as if she'd been part of the conversatio

till staring at his desk.

directly, except the teacher." She rested her chin in her hand, sneaking glan

ised an eyebrow. "He

'keep away' aura. You know, the kind people instinctively stay clear of." She

was something about Jihoon's closed-off nature that felt almo

to groups for their first project of the term: a pai

he caught Minji shooting him a hopeful look as her name was pair

woo and Pa

er, catching the faintest flicker of surprise on Jihoon's face before it settled back into impassivity. He was silent as he

ceptible nod, an acknowledgment without actual greeting, and sat down

"I'm Seongwoo." He offered a slight

on. His voice was quiet, almost too soft for the bustling classroom,

rt planning how we're going to divide up the work? I mean,

eongwoo watched as Jihoon's handwriting filled the page-neat, deliberate strokes that seeme

ter-of-fact that it caught Seongwoo off guard. "If you want to tak

e hadn't expected him to take control so quickly. He noticed Jihoon's gaze darting to the side, as if

is way. Less talking." He said it so plainly that Seongwoo couldn't t

n's controlled exterior. He was used to reading people, catching the little tells that gave aw

essary, his answers short and to the point. He seemed to recoil at even the smallest attempts at friendliness, and Seongw

ho was already slipping away like a shadow. He watched as Jihoon disappeared down the ha

er. Jihoon's face appeared in his mind-cool, expressionless, his dark eyes unreadable. And yet, Seongwoo couldn't shake the feeling tha

down, the faintest trace

long while, he was loo