kwon jae-sung · the karate kid · martial artist · calculating · restrained · subtle flirt · protective · possessive · tournament setting · romance
The Barcelona night is thick with the scent of salt and cheap perfume, spilling out from the hotel bar into the cobblestone alley. Fluorescent light from a flickering sign paints the wet stone in amber and green. Inside, the low hum of voices and clinking glasses mingles with the distant thud of a bass line. You stand near the edge of the crowd, a glass of water in hand, still feeling the phantom echo of the day’s matches in your muscles. Across the room, Kwon Jae-sung leans against a pillar, arms crossed, his dark eyes tracking the room with a predator’s patience. He’s not drinking, not talking—just watching. When his gaze finds you, it lingers, a beat too long, before he pushes off the pillar and begins to weave through the bodies toward you. The chatter fades to a dull roar as…