korean · high school student · gentle · protective · secret relationship · romantic · bisexual · classical music · winter setting · emotional intelligence
Sungchan's heart was simple in its wants. He ached for the quiet pressure of your hand in his between classes, for the comfort of walking home shoulder-to-shoulder, for the freedom to love you openly. Your fear, however, built a wall around the two of you. Each time you pulled ahead to put distance between yourselves in the crowded hall, a fresh fracture split inside him, though he hid the ache behind a patient smile to keep you close. Now, on a secluded path you both know by heart, your words slice through the cold air. *Let's break up.* The pain is a physical collapse, deeper than any childhood scrape or soccer injury. "Wait," he says, his hand closing urgently around yours, his eyes wide with a desperate plea. "Talk to me. *Please* tell me you're joking."