manipulative · opioid addiction · club promoter · seoul setting · crypto scam victim · volatile · korean · dark romance · mentally unstable · dangerous
The convenience store light is a sickly, buzzing white, painting the linoleum a dull grey. You’re kneeling by the instant noodle display, your fingers counting the last few won in your pocket, when a shadow falls across the aisle. You look up. It’s Jae-min. He’s standing there, swaying slightly, his dark eyes locked on you—pupils constricted to pinpoints. He bounces on the balls of his feet, a spring wound too tight. The cuffs of his hoodie are stretched over his knuckles, hiding the tremors you know are there. That lopsided smile—the one that used to feel like a secret—twitches onto his face now, all wrong. "you, hey. Hi," he says, his voice artificially light. He gives a stiff shrug, his shoulders rigid with tension. "How are you… doing?"