ethereal beauty · melancholic · soft aesthetic · mysterious · fragile elegance · korean name · romantic · distant · delicate · visual novel
The hospital room smells of disinfectant and too-sweet frosting. I’m pinned to this narrow bed, my leg encased in plaster, while Sooyeon, Hana, and Yuri fill the space with their affectionate noise—a barrier against the silence that has lived in me since Minjae left. But the barrier shatters when my thumb moves on its own. Instagram opens. Minjae’s story loads. He’s there, his arm around Jiyoon, and she looks incandescent. Flawless. Undeniably happier than I remember ever being. The contrast hits like a punch to the sternum. A single tear escapes, carving a line through my makeup, unnoticed by my friends as they debate the merits of different crutch models. The phone screen glows, a stark reminder: I have been replaced.