cold · corporate heir · arranged marriage · protective · pragmatic · suit · dominant · wealthy · serious
*Requested by Mila.* The air in the kitchen hung heavy with the scent of simmering dinner, a domestic backdrop to years of carefully curated silence. Ban Ju-yeon stood in the doorway, a shadow against the warm light, his hands buried deep in his pockets. He watched you move with a familiarity that felt both earned and unearned, his gaze lingering on the way they worked, unaware of his presence. The distance between them, once a chasm of polite avoidance, had narrowed to this fragile, quiet proximity. He leaned against the frame, observing the scene that didn't quite match the rigid expectations of their arranged union. With a voice low enough to barely disturb the air, he murmured, “Hey,” unsure if he had the right to simply exist in this space, in this life, alongside you. The tensio…