At that exaent, the surrounding students, who had been watg the intense exge with growing fasation, finally reacted. Oudent whispered loudly to their friend, “Wait… is she… his mom?” Another chimed in, equally bewildered, “Dude, she just called him ‘boy’! What is happening here? I thought they barely knew each other!” A third student, trying to make sense of the bizarre se, offered, “Maybe… maybe it’s a cultural thing? Some kind of weird greeting?” The whispers spread like wildfire, creating a ripple of fused murmurs and suppressed ughter.

  Jiko, catg the bewildered expressions and overhearing the whispered ents, felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him, “What do you mean by cultural thing! You bastard!”

  After that day, Julie starts seeking Jiko out at such to the quiet amusement of his cssmates. It starts with small things—asking him for help with an assig, approag him during lunch with questions about their homework, and slowly transitioning into walking with him between csses. At first, it feels harmless, like a simple friendship f. But as the days go on, it bees clearer to everyone—Julie is seeking out Jiko deliberately, in ways that seem more personal than just mutual venience.

  The buzz among their cssmates is swift and noticeable now. Whispers ripple through the halls whehey’re together, soft and guarded, but loud enough for Jiko to catch.

  “Hey, did you see Julie talking to Jiko today?”

  “Yeah, like, alohat’s so weird, right?”

  “Are they dating? What’s going on?”

  Jiko overhears it all—his name exged like gossip between students, his presehe subject of specution. And with each versation, the whispers grow bolder, more pointed.

  “Jiko and Julie? No way!” one girl mutters to her friends as they pass by. Her voice carries, loud enough for him to hear. “She could have anyone—why is she hanging around him?”

  Audent shakes their head, eyes wide with disbelief. “Nah, she wouldn’t go for him. Not a guy like Jiko. She’s way out of his league.”

  “You think they’re friends? I bet he’s helping her with something. But still… Jiko? Seriously?”

  There are even those who g Jiko with open amusement—smiling desdingly, nudging each other as they talk behind his back. Their eyes flicker with barely cealed judgment.

  “Isn’t that… Jiko? The guy with the extra weight?”

  “Yeah, the one who’s kind of awkward and ands out in anything? Why would Julie—?”

  “e on, look at her. She’s way out of his league. He’s lucky she even talks to him.”

  The words sting, though Jiko does his best to pretend they don’t. He forces himself to keep walking, to ighe looks and the snickers. But it’s impossible to tu entirely. He feels their eyes on him—appraising, mog, sizing him up.

  Julie, seemingly unaware of the growing attention, tinues her friendly pursuit. She cheers for him during gym practice, g and words of encement wheruggles to keep up with the rest of the css. Her voice is loud and clear, positive—something Jiko isn’t used to.

  “e on, Jiko! You’ve got this!” she cheers, waving from the sidelihe other students g her, surprised—none of them expect Julie to be so openly supportive of someone like Jiko.

  And that’s when the whispers turn even sharper.

  “Did you hear that? Julie’s cheering for Jiko? What’s going on?”

  “Yeah, I thought she was just being friendly, but this… this is different.”

  “Man, Jiko’s lucky. He actually has Julie paying attention to him.”

  “They’re probably w on something together. But dating? No way.”

  The snide ents, though delivered under breath, cut deeper than Jiko wants to admit. He feels like they’re seeing things he ’t hide—his awkwardness, his weight, the fact that he doesn’t fit the mold of who Julie should be spending time with.

  Even when he walks with her, students’ eyes follow. They wattently—some curious, others amused, a few openly skeptical. And the questions keep ing, unspoken but loud enough to be heard: “Why her? Why Jiko?”

  At first, Jiko tries to brush it off, fog on Julie instead of the chatter around him. But it’s hard to ighe looks, the subtle disdain in some of their gazes. It doesn’t help that Julie seems so naturally at ease around him—ughing easily, engaging in versations that are light, teasing even.

  “Do you always walk this slow?” Julie teases him one day as they move between csses, a pyful smile on her face. “We could get there faster if you picked up the pace.”

  Jiko chuckles, though there’s a faint awkwardness in his response. “I wasn’t in a hurry,” he mutters, hoping his tone sounds light enough to defley suspi.

  Julie grins. “Well, you’re lucky you have me around to make sure you don’t miss anything. You’re kind of… slow sometimes.”

  Her teasing makes him feel momentarily at ease, but it doesn’t take long for the nagging thoughts to creep ba. His cssmates—those who are watg, the ones who are talking—make him feel like an outsider, like he doesn’t belong in a space Julie so easily fills.

  He catches one girl, in particur, gng at him with a mix of pity and disbelief as they pass by. She whispers something to her friend, and he hears the words clearly enough:

  “Look at him—Jiko’s with Julie. It’s almost funny. She’s too good for someone like him.”

  He'd been judged before, sure, but this felt different. It stung more, a sharper, more pointed kind of sting. He wasn't used to being looked at like this—all eyes on him, whispering. It really bothered him, this feeling of being out of pce, like he didn't belong iory everyone else was making up about him. He felt like an actor who'd wandered onto the wro.

  Julie saw Jiko’s face tighten up a little—the small wince he made every time he overheard one of the whispers or ents. She looked at him, her eyebrows drawn together in a worried frown.

  “Hey,” she says softly one day, pulling him aside during lunch. “You okay? You’ve been kind of quiet.”

  Jiko offers a half-smile, hoping she doesn’t cat to the weight of what he’s feeling. “Yeah, just thinking.”

  But Julie doesn’t let it go. “You don’t have to pretend with me, Jiko. I tell something’s b you. What’s going on?”

  Jiko hesitated, unsure if he should tell this kind of things or not But finally, the words just came spilling out—words,