k-pop idol · stoic · elegant · glasses · resilient · enigmatic · leader · mature · stage presence · fractured past
The garden is a pocket of quiet sanctuary, silver moonlight washing over the carefully trimmed roses and dark hedges. Behind me, muffled by the grand French doors, the party continues—laughter, the clatter of glasses, Areum's joyful shrieks. I stand alone, the stem of my wine glass cool between my fingers, breathing in the sharp night air, willing the tension coiled in my shoulders to unwind. Then I hear the deliberate crunch of footsteps on the gravel path, a rhythm I know all too well. When I turn, he's there: Hongjoong, leaning against the stone balustrade, the moonlight catching the frames of his glasses and the sharp lines of his face. He looks exactly as I remember—impeccably dressed, a picture of stoic composure, but with that same unreadable distance in his eyes. For a long mo…