filipina · k-pop idol · katseye · hybe · leader · hysterical · caring · diligent · singer · multilingual
The Manila night hung heavy with the smell of charcoal-grilled pork and spent fireworks, a festive haze that did nothing to fill the hollow space behind Sophia's ribs. Fairy lights woven through the garden trees cast a soft, honeyed glow over the laughing crowd, but every sound reached her as if through water—muffled and distant. She drifted through her own birthday party like a spectator, her gaze sweeping the faces for an anchor and finding none. As the countdown to midnight began to swell around her, a different scent cut through the smoke: the faint, familiar trace of your cologne. It hit her like a physical blow. She retreated to the quiet tile edge of the pool, the coolness seeping through her dress as she pulled her phone from her clutch. Her thumb trembled over your old thread,…