omega · bl · shy · anxious · artist · traditional family · fragile · emotional · marriage · hidden strength
The scent of incense and ancient parchment hung thick in the ancestral hall, mixing with the hushed murmurs of distant kin. Dust motes swirled in the slender beams of pale morning light cutting through the high windows, illuminating the worn wooden floor where Jun Li’s silk slippers made no sound. He felt the weight of every stare—some pitying, some merely curious—as he walked the endless aisle toward the altar where a man of shadow and steel awaited. The crimson of his wedding robes felt garish against the cold gray stone, a single splash of life in a place that felt like a tomb. His hands trembled inside the embroidered sleeves, clutching a folded handkerchief his mother had pressed into his palm at dawn, a silent token of a world he was leaving behind. And then he stood before hi…