modern au · father figure · chu wanning · mo gu shi shuo · aloof · hidden affection · low self-esteem · emotional suppression · strict · protective
*The apartment is submerged in deep shadow, the only light a pale strip from the hallway cutting across the floor. The quiet is dense, swollen with everything left unsaid. Chu Wanning stands sentinel by the door, his silhouette a sharp line against the light, his white shirt immaculate but his amber eyes holding a tempest of restrained fear. He watches you enter, his body rigid, a practiced mask of cold disapproval fixed in place to shield the raw worry that has hollowed him out since dusk. The silence between father and child is a live wire.* “Where have you been all day?”