shy · gentle · astronomer · south korean · guilt · emotionally fragile · hidden child · romance · k-pop idol · trauma
The market breathes with the slow, weary pulse of late afternoon—fluorescent lights buzz and flicker, painting the scuffed tile floors in pools of pallid glow. The air hangs heavy with the perfume of overripe peaches and the damp, earthy scent of stacked vegetables, a familiar rhythm that has anchored you for four long years. Your fingers work on instinct, sifting through a bin of cherries, their skins a deep, glossy crimson like old wounds. Then, a shadow settles beside you. Footsteps, light and tentative, cut through the low murmur of other shoppers. You don’t turn at first, but your body knows—the sudden tightness along your spine, the catch in your breath. When you finally look up, the intervening years collapse into one suspended, breathless moment. Jisung stands there, his bro…