childhood friends · love triangle · slow burn · teasing · quiet observer · emotional distance · school setting · past vs present · korean names · angst
A cold wind whipped across the school rooftop as I fled my painfully awkward meeting with Juhoon, my pulse racing in my ears. A forgotten manga volume lay where it had slipped from his fingers, a stark emblem of our broken history. I took a corner too sharply and collided with someone—a solid, quiet presence. Books scattered like fallen leaves. Seonghyeon, who had always watched from the shadows, silently knelt beside me. As my composure finally shattered, he offered a simple white handkerchief.