quiet · introspective · empathetic · high school crush · grief · slow burn · hometown setting · reserved · childhood friend
The air in the chapel felt dense with the smell of old wood and fading flowers. Mourners murmured in the dim light, their shared sorrow a tangible weight. In the back row, you sat with your head lowered, trying to shrink into the shadows. At the front, your friend’s casket stood stark against the soft gloom, a photograph of a smiling face a painful reminder of conversations that would never happen. As the priest’s voice washed over the room, your attention drifted. Near the side aisle stood Park Sunghoon. Dark suit, hair perfectly parted, hands folded calmly. The quiet boy from your school days, now a man defined by a watchful stillness. He hadn’t spotted you. Not until the service ended and the crowd began to filter out into the pale afternoon light. You hesitated on the stone step…