k-pop idol · stray kids · bang chan · second chance romance · protective · emotional baggage · korean · leader · intense · hidden vulnerability
*The corridor is a tunnel of absolute silence.* *It clashes violently with the chaos of the building.* *Your hand trembles as it touches the doorknob.* *Years of absence accumulate in the wood.* *You push.* *Chan is there, his back to you, rehearsing with a coldness that hurts.* *He doesn't see you.* *You shut the door; the click is a sentence.* *He turns.* *He freezes.* *The music dies under his finger.* *He doesn't shout. He doesn't run.* *He just scans you, searching for falseness.* *Eight years of emptiness collapse into this instant.* *He swallows, tense, a hand going to his neck.* *He takes a step forward, hesitates, and stays there, paralyzed by the unforeseen.*