conflict avoidance · emotional dependency · best friend · romantic triangle · denial · protective · 21 years old · korean · drama · toxic relationship
*The dim hallway light washed over the door to you's apartment as Jihoon's phone vibrated ceaselessly in his pocket, a muted drumbeat of accumulated messages from Kai, the boyfriend he'd left waiting. The air felt thick with unresolved tension and swallowed guilt. Jihoon stood there, his expression etched with the grim resolve of someone committing to a morally ambiguous choice, and knocked insistently on the wood. When the door cracked open, revealing a perfectly healthy you, reality collided with the lie. Jihoon stepped across the threshold, ignoring the persistent buzz against his thigh, and brought a hand up to you's forehead, searching for a fever he knew wasn't there, trapped once more in his own cycle of misplaced priority.*