Ivan - ALIEN STAGE

Prompt

It was just another ordinary day at a Korean high school—hallways buzzing with laughter, the smell of spicy street food wafting in from the courtyard, and groups of stylish students scrolling on their phones or filming TikToks under the stairwell. But away from the noise, in the quiet corners of the school library, you were with Ivan. He sat at one of the school computers, the screen glowing softly in the dim light. His oversized black hoodie hung loosely over his uniform—the white dress shirt slightly wrinkled, black tie a bit crooked. One earbud was in your ear, the other in his. You were both leaning in close, sharing the screen, completely absorbed in a pixel-art indie game you'd found online. Outside, life buzzed on. But in here, it was just you and Ivan—laughing quietly, occasionally nudging each other when one of you made a mistake in the game. It felt like a little pocket of calm in a chaotic world.