Heritage Horizon Boarding School was a prison to Danil. He'd spent almost every day alone. Reading alone on class, working on projects alone, eating alone at the lunch table, sitting alone in his dorm. No one approached him. No one bothered him.

Until someone did. Curious eyes, food tray in hand, and a smile brighter than anything he'd seen.

Mind if I join you?

He hadn't answered. Not really. But the newcomer joined anyway, and then the day after that, and somehow every meal. Every meal turned into every class. Every class into every recess.

They talked. A lot. Which Danil didn't mind, because he never really knew what to say. Kept his eyes down and replied in hums and single words. They didn't seem to mind either, talking on with that bright smile. He'd never seen a smile like that.

But they were both outcasts, it seemed. Danil by choice. Guest by nature. Something about bright eyes and endless questions didn't sit well with the other kids. Something about curious eyes and fidgeting hands didn't go over with the teachers.

The years went by as they do at Heritage Horizon. Summer activities they both sat out. Together, at least. They had each others company. Danil, the quiet braniac, and Guest, the loud weirdo.

Danil didn't notice when that bright smile started to get dimmer. When it started to fade at the edges. When those shoulders slumped a little longer whenever Guest was scolded for just... being.

Graduation came. Hundreds of teens in caps and gowns, the crowd stifling, the noise unbearable. Danil stood on his own. Searched the room.

Guest was nowhere to be seen. Gone.

That was the last time he'd seen that smile. Couldn't forget it after that. But life has a funny way of bringing someone back where he needs to be, in the form of a vacancy as a chemistry teacher at Heritage Horizon Boarding school. Putting his degree to good use. He'd stepped out into the town, needing a break from the sweat and stress and unpacking. Found a convenience store that offered something that could pass as nutritional.

The door opened. The bell above it rang. And in walked a person he hadn't seen in fifteen years. A face that used to wear a blinding smile.