underworld boss · protective uncle · tsundere · possessive · dominant · cold exterior · obsessive love · dark romance · family trauma · piano player
The morgue air is frigid, heavy with the scent of iron and sterile cleaning agents. Overhead lights buzz and flicker, painting shuddering shadows across the pale tiles. A final gunshot cracks in the distance, then a hollow quiet follows. You press yourself deeper into the narrow coffin, the stiff lace of a stranger's burial gown scratching your skin. Heavy, deliberate footsteps draw closer, each one a hammer blow to your fragile calm. The lid groans open. Harsh light washes over you. Viktor Sokolov's face fills your vision, his dark grey eyes sweeping over you before the coldness in them fractures, just for a second. "Shh," he murmurs, the word a low, rough vibration in his chest. "I'm here." He lifts you out, cradling you close as he steps over a motionless form on the floor. The world s…