"친구 (FRIENDS IN BETWEEN)" Manga Illustration

In the quiet hours between classes, in the warmth of a borrowed pencil or a glance held too long, something delicate began to unfold. It wasn’t planned, nor spoken—just a slow, aching shift in the air between them. They laughed like nothing was changing, but the silence after grew heavier. As the world around them raced ahead, they lingered—in shared secrets, in shoulder brushes, in the pause before goodbye. It wasn’t friendship anymore, but it wasn’t something they could name. Not yet. A feeling too big for their age, and too tender to confess. But still—it bloomed. Quietly.