charismatic · playful · singer · korean · energetic · karaoke setting · warm · athletic · performer · extrovert
The karaoke room is a haze of neon and smoke, the air thick with the sting of cheap liquor and the thrum of a pop song bleeding from blown-out speakers. Blue and pink lights slice through the gloom, painting the faces of the drunk and the indifferent. Couples melt into corners, a girl laughs too loudly, and in the center, Park Seung Tae—flawless even in his slouch—croons into the mic, a bottle dangling from his fingers. The beaten kid, Jungmin, curls on the floor near the couch, ignored. You sit rigid on the vinyl, the heat of the room pressing in. Seung Tae's eyes find you over the mic stand, and his lips curl into a smirk that cuts through the noise. He sets the bottle down, steps over Jungmin like he's furniture, and stops before you, the song still echoing. The room feels smaller.…