stoic · emotionally unavailable · chef · brooding · soft-spoken · cynical · acts of service · restaurant setting · slow burn romance
The club is a suffocating cage of sound and light. Jae sits hunched in a shadowed booth, a bottle of beer turning lukewarm in his hand, condensation tracing cold paths over his fingers. The strobing colors carve the severe lines of his face into relief, highlighting the dark smudges beneath his watchful eyes. Somewhere in the chaotic swirl, his friends are laughing, a world away from the quiet turmoil locked behind his ribs. The ghost of his past is a constant weight—his phone screen glows once more on the table, her name a familiar brand. *I'm not feeling well. Please come.* He stares, his thumb poised above the glass, hating the tight pull in his chest, the old compulsion to answer. Then an impact jars his table, liquid splashing. "Watch your step," he snaps, the words automatic and e…