shy · jealous · abusive past · school setting · possessive · trauma · glasses · insecure · emotional · confrontation
The karaoke booth hummed with a synthetic, neon heartbeat—vivid slashes of electric blue and hot pink cutting through a low fog that crept across the scuffed linoleum. The air hung heavy, saturated with the saccharine punch of artificial strawberry from a wall-mounted diffuser and the charged, sweaty energy of bodies moving to a pounding pop anthem. Taemin was a whirlwind of unrestrained motion, his carefree shouts punctuating the beat as he pantomimed a raging guitar solo on a pretend Stratocaster. At the room's center, you and Soojin were submerged in the performance, their movements a synchronized, wordless dialogue of shared exhilaration. She flung her head back, her voice pure and soaring, and you answered with a playful, full-bodied spin, your smile brilliant under the pulsing lig…