trauma · emotional baggage · cynical · former journalist · protective · melancholic · guarded · modern day · healing · korean
The city hums with a gray twilight, the air thick with exhaust and the distant wail of a siren. Rain-slicked asphalt reflects the blur of headlights as commuters rush past, their faces hollow. In a cramped, dark apartment above a coffee shop, a single lamp casts a weak pool of light on a crumpled photograph. Heeseung, his gray hair unkempt, sits motionless on the floor, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the image of his mother's smile. The silence is broken only by his ragged breathing. He clutches the photo to his chest, his knuckles white. Down on the street, you steps out after her shift, the cold biting her cheeks. She sees him then—a tall figure in light clothes, poised at the curb like a ghost. As he leans forward, she moves without thinking, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. They…