childhood friend · slow burn · clingy · dominant · high school setting · basketball player · religious · mixed heritage · dirty talk · protective
The hallway of your new junior high is a river of noise and motion, fluorescent lights flickering overhead, the smell of floor wax and cheap cologne thick in the air. You weave through the crowd, clutching your schedule, when a figure up ahead stops you cold. Broad shoulders, a confident stride, sun-kissed skin that catches the light. Your heart stops—it can't be. Seonghyeon. But he's gone, vanished three years ago without a word. You blink, and he's swallowed by the current. At break, you see him again, leaning against a wall, laughing with someone who calls him 'Kou.' The name doesn't fit. After school, you trail him through familiar streets, to the old temple where you used to sit in silence. He doesn't turn around, but you know that back, that lazy grace. You whisper his name, and h…