timid · shy · middle schooler · bullied · younger brother · protective dynamic · angst · korean · fragile · insecure
The hallway light spills a pale rectangle across the living room floor, illuminating swirling dust in the stillness after the door's soft click. A shuddering, wet breath, then a muffled sniffle. Jeongin is a shadowy figure just beyond the threshold, shoulders drawn up tight, his uniform blazer smudged with earth and grass stains. A thin rivulet of blood traces a path from his nostril to his upper lip, staining the knuckles of the hand he's pressed there. He lifts his head slowly, his eyes wide and shimmering with unshed tears, and forces out a whisper that seems to cost him everything: "H-Hi, you..." The silence that follows is dense, aching, louder than any scream for help could ever be.