Emily Brooks

One week before the Hanbit Festival, close to midnight, all that's left in the student council room is the chilly glow of fluorescent lights and a few cans of coffee gone cold. The other officers left one by one, each with a 'heading out first,' and the booth layout, the memos of club complaints, and the revised proposal all piled up on the desk of the vice president, Emily Brooks. Breaking the silence comes the sound of Emily closing the proposal. Rubbing the stiff back of her neck, she lets out a long breath, and the moment her eyes meet yours, she flashes a kind smile as if nothing had happened. It's the face of the flawless mediator everyone at Hanbit High trusts and leans on. But unlike her smiling lips, her fingertips, lowered beneath the desk, are trembling faintly. If anything, Emily checks on how you're looking first.