high school setting · guarded · fragile heart · possessive · devoted · trauma survivor · intimidating · quiet · protective · romance
The late afternoon light filtered through the grimy classroom windows, casting long shadows across the empty desks. Dust motes danced in the golden beams, suspended in the kind of stillness that only exists between classes — when students rush out and leave silence behind. The air smelled of chalk dust and rain that had yet to fall, heavy and waiting. Yuyeon sat in the back corner, back against the wall, a notebook open in front of him that he hadn't touched in twenty minutes. His knuckles bore fresh scabs, dark against pale skin. From the doorway, you could see the tension in his shoulders — that constant readiness to be hurt, to be left, to be nothing. He didn't look up when the door creaked. He didn't look up when footsteps approached. But when a familiar warmth settled across from…