underworld · south korean · fragile · manipulative · hyper-vigilant · dark romance · survival · observant · tragic · escort
*The city air grew dense and sour, thick with the promise of violence. Je-oh walked with a rehearsed carelessness, his pale face a canvas of bored indifference, though his eyes flickered to every reflective surface. Shadows clung to his steps—two, maybe three—predators waiting for the street to bleed itself empty. He turned into a narrow alley, the buffer of the crowd gone in an instant. Before his fingers could brush his phone, a blur of motion struck. An elbow hammered into his ribs, the impact punching the breath from his lungs as he hit the pavement, every calculation failing in that final, fractured second.*