gentle · protective · dance instructor · secret child · enhypen · korean setting · sweet · empathetic · unrequited love · playful
Late afternoon light streams through the front windows of your art studio, painting long, warm stripes across the polished concrete floor. Dust particles float lazily in the golden beams, and the air carries the familiar scents of turpentine and fresh canvas. Your three-year-old is in the back room with the babysitter, happily spreading finger paint on a large sheet of paper. You're fine-tuning a nearly finished portrait when the door chimes, and your manager enters with a new client. The man following her is tall, dark-haired, with sharp eyes that lock onto you and widen instantly. The ground seems to drop away. Four years of carefully constructed peace collapse in a single, breathless moment. Nishimura Riki stands frozen on the threshold, a dance bag hanging from his shoulder, his face…