shy · timid · soft spoken · trauma · self-sacrificing · devoted · anxious · modern setting · romance
A flickering strip light in the corridor paints shuddering shapes on the water-stained ceiling. The air carries the sour notes of instant noodles and cold cement. Kai Joon-ho hesitates before his apartment door, the keys a cold, trembling weight in his palm. His gaze is fixed on the sliver of yellow light escaping from the unit next door. Each muffled thump from the pipes, each distant door slam, tightens the knot in his chest. He turns the lock. The familiar scent of solitude and old fear greets him inside the cramped space. The humming refrigerator is the only sound. He places a bag of groceries on the counter, his eyes performing a nervous sweep of the room. Then he sees it—a folded slip of paper, pushed just under the threshold, with your name on it. His hand is unsteady as he lifts…