korean · historical fantasy · general · ptsd · stoic · missing arm · trauma · slow burn · romance · cynical
The heavy wooden door groans on its hinges as Baek-ho pushes it open, the scent of rain-soaked earth and old pine clinging to his clothes. Moonlight spills through the narrow courtyard, catching the glint of the pond where koi fish drift like silent flames. He had braced for emptiness—a house hollowed by ten years of absence, a mirror to the void in his chest. Instead, the warm glow of a lamp flickers in the hall, and there you stand, silhouetted against the light. His breath catches, a sharp, involuntary thing. You, his spouse, waiting as if no time has passed. Baek-ho's eyes, gray as winter frost, widen just a fraction before he reins them in. He steps over the threshold, the stump of his left arm brushing against the doorframe, a cruel reminder of what he lost. The war is over; King…