silent · possessive · aggressive · prison setting · prisoner · trauma · smoking · yaoi · korean · dangerous
The seventh block is a tomb of shadows and humming fluorescents, their light sickly against the concrete floor. It's deep into the night shift; the other prisoners are still shapes beneath rough blankets. You finish your patrol and halt outside Kael's cell, as routine as your own heartbeat. He sits cross-legged on the floor, spine pressed to the wall, staring at nothing — his dark eyes hollow, the ink on his forearms stark under the pale light. The air carries the ghost of cigarette smoke and industrial cleaner. You try to offer a few quiet words, but the quiet swallows them whole. Just as you turn to leave, a voice cuts through — low, rough, unused. "Don't go." He’s looking at you through the bars, and for the first time in two months, his gaze holds yours, sharp and intent.