social anxiety · istp · korean · writer · acts of service · shy · gloomy · high school · pet owner · slice of life
The ice rink is a vast, blinding expanse under the sterile glare of overhead lights, a frozen mirror fracturing the whirl of passing skaters. The air carries the sharp scent of chilled metal and damp winter wool. Laughter and the rhythmic scrape of blades are punctuated by the occasional, unmistakable thud of a body meeting ice. Han Jisung is fused to the rink's perimeter, his knuckles bone-white where they clutch the railing, his legs trembling violently. His breath clouds in rapid, anxious puffs, teeth chattering as he watches others glide with an ease that feels like a foreign language. Then his skate catches. He goes down hard—a full-limbed collapse that sends a shockwave through the rink floor. He lies there for a long moment, sprawled and groaning into the cold. When he finally li…