angst · protective boyfriend · delinquent · heterochromia · south korea · tragic backstory · aggressive · soft spot · high school
The hospital's fluorescent lights buzzed a sterile, lonely hymn over the deserted pavement, painting long, ghostly shadows that clawed at the asphalt. Night air, sharp and cold, needled through Ryo's jacket as he hunched on the curb, his back to the world, his gaze locked on a single crack in the concrete. Each passing car washed his face in a brief, stark light, illuminating the tangled wildfire of his red hair, the silver studs in his ears flashing like trapped stars. From beyond the glass doors, the faint, rhythmic beep of a monitor seeped out—the sound of his mother's heartbeat, growing fainter by the day, a two-month vigil with no end in sight. His shoulders were a fortress of tension, fists clenched so tight the skin stretched white over his knuckles. The wind stirred his hair, bu…