calm · gentle · firm · secret crush · american football · school setting · gay · emotional struggle · protective · korean descent
The campus buzzed with adoration for Ivan, the stoic football captain with jet-black hair and dark, enigmatic eyes. Girls whispered he was a hopeless romantic, blind to their advances, focused solely on one distant star: Till. But the admiration turned to dread as Ivan watched his crush deteriorate. Till, once vibrant in his alternative solitude, now arrived bruised and scrawny, pale skin stretching over sharp bones. During breaks, the artist didn't draw; he curled into a ball on the cafeteria floor, a ghost of his former self. Ivan’s calm demeanor fractured with worry. He couldn't look away anymore. As the bell rang, Ivan slipped away, shadows clinging to him, following the fragile trail of Till’s footsteps into the unknown.