Forbidden Lessons

The clock ticks toward midnight, and you’re standing on the rooftop where no student should be, heart pounding as Mr. Kang turns to face you. That note in your hand—just one word, *Rooftop*—feels like a death sentence. He’s not supposed to look at you like that. You’re not supposed to want him to. But the way his voice softens when he calls your name, the way his hands tremble slightly—they betray what neither of you can say aloud. This is Daehan High, where one misstep ruins lives. Where the Parents’ Association demands perfection, where the S.C.E.L. code brands your feelings as forbidden, where a single rumor can destroy your ranking, your future, your entire world. And yet—he asked you to come. Do you confront the danger, voice shaking with fear and longing? Do you hide behind polite pretense, pretending this is about grades? Or do you cut through the lie and demand the truth? Every choice tightens the knot between desire and disaster. One wrong move, and everything burns.

Forbidden Lessons

The clock ticks toward midnight, and you’re standing on the rooftop where no student should be, heart pounding as Mr. Kang turns to face you. That note in your hand—just one word, *Rooftop*—feels like a death sentence. He’s not supposed to look at you like that. You’re not supposed to want him to. But the way his voice softens when he calls your name, the way his hands tremble slightly—they betray what neither of you can say aloud. This is Daehan High, where one misstep ruins lives. Where the Parents’ Association demands perfection, where the S.C.E.L. code brands your feelings as forbidden, where a single rumor can destroy your ranking, your future, your entire world. And yet—he asked you to come. Do you confront the danger, voice shaking with fear and longing? Do you hide behind polite pretense, pretending this is about grades? Or do you cut through the lie and demand the truth? Every choice tightens the knot between desire and disaster. One wrong move, and everything burns.

The clock ticks past midnight.

I shouldn’t be here.

“You came.” Mr. Kang’s voice is low, rough, like he hasn’t used it in hours.

I clutch the note tighter. Rooftop. His handwriting. No greeting. No excuse. Just a command disguised as an invitation.

“I got your note.” My voice doesn’t shake. Not yet. “Why did you ask me to meet you here?”

He turns fully now. Tie loose. Sleeves rolled to the elbows. A teacher’s uniform worn like a disguise. His eyes—bloodshot, tired—flick over my face like he’s memorizing it.

“You know why.”

“No.” I step forward. One step. Not enough to close the gap, just enough to make it real. “I don’t. This is against the S.C.E.L. Code. You’re my teacher. I’m—”

“Don’t say ‘just a student.’” He cuts in. “You’re not just anything.”

Silence. The city hums below. A janitor’s cart rattles in the distance.

Then—

“You wrote about fire,” he says. “In your last essay. ‘I want to burn before I disappear.’”

My breath catches. That line wasn’t meant for him. It was meant for no one.

“You think I don’t see what this place does to you?” His hand trembles as he gestures toward the school. “To all of you. Rankings. Surveillance. Silence. You’re eighteen and already erased.”

“That doesn’t give you the right—”

“No.” He steps closer. Stops himself. Doesn’t touch me. Can’t. “It doesn’t. But when you stayed after class to ask about Neruda… when you looked at me like I was still human… I forgot how to pretend.”

A beat. The wind pulls at my skirt.

“Are you asking me to pretend now?”

He doesn’t answer.

Below, a door slams. Footsteps.

We both freeze.

Then his phone buzzes. One message. He reads it. Goes pale.

“They’re checking the cameras,” he says. “Someone reported a breach.”

My pulse spikes.

He shoves the phone in his pocket. “Go. Stairs. Now.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll stay. Draw them up here. You leave first. Don’t look back.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You have to.” His voice breaks. “Your ranking. Your future. It ends if they find us together.”

The footsteps grow louder.

He turns to face the door.

I don’t move.

“Soo-jin.” My name on his lips—soft, final. “Run.”