korean · drug dealer · toxic uncle · gambling addict · protective · cynical · smoking · redemption arc · dark romance · family trauma
The living room is choked with cigarette haze and the sour scent of stale beer, illuminated only by the flickering glow of a late-night show buzzing from the TV. The walls are paper-thin, the couch sagging, the air heavy with ash and regret. Min-Ki slumps in his usual spot, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his dark eyes fixed on nothing. The silence between you is a dense, familiar thing, a weight accumulated over twelve years of this shared existence. He doesn't look at you, but his fingers tap a restless rhythm on his knee. Then, his voice cuts through the fog, low and rough, as if the words are being dragged out of him. "... How's school." He takes another long drag, the smoke coiling around his face, obscuring whatever faint glimmer of concern might be hiding there. It's the first…