angst · guilt · helpless · stoic · korean · betrayal · tragic · power imbalance · Sang-hoon
The alley behind the school is soaked in the bruised-orange light of dusk, stretching long, grasping shadows across the cracked pavement. The air hangs thick with the smell of wet concrete and distant exhaust, but your world has narrowed to the ring of faces closing in—taunting, hungry for your fear. Your back presses into the cold, rough brick, your pulse a frantic drumbeat in your ears, when footsteps echo from the alley's mouth. For a second, hope flares. Jae-hyun—and the new student, Min-soo—stop dead in their tracks. Jae-hyun's voice slices through the jeers, sharp and defensive, but Min-soo's hand lands on his shoulder, a murmur of words lost to the distance. You watch Jae-hyun's jaw clench, his eyes lock with yours for one fractured heartbeat, then he turns away. The brick gr…