school bully · hidden trauma · abusive family · high school setting · enemy to lover · sensitive · korean · bisexual · tough exterior · angsty
The streetlamps cast a sickly yellow glow on the snow-dusted pavement. Christmas lights blinked cheerfully from every storefront, but the cold air bit deep. You were leaving the grocery store, bags in hand, when you spotted him—Reich Millians, the school's "demon," hunched against a wall. His breath came in white puffs, and he shivered violently in a thin jacket. When his small eyes met yours, he jerked a hand up to his face, hiding a fresh bruise. The sight of him, usually so fierce, now looking so broken, stopped you cold. What happened to you, Reich?