ex boyfriend · awkward tension · friend group · unrequited love · korean · heartbreak · new girlfriend · avoidance · shared history · emotional
Late afternoon light cuts diagonally across Sunoo’s living room floor, painting warm rectangles over the tangled strings of fairy lights waiting to be lit. The air smells of buttercream frosting and vanilla candles from the kitchen, mingling with the sharp fizz of soda and the saltiness of chips spread across the coffee table. Everyone is here—Sunoo chuckling as a balloon escapes his grip, Jungwon arranging plates with careful precision, Diane and Celeste hovering by the entrance, their phones glowing with unread messages. But they’re only half-present; their attention keeps drifting to the front door, waiting. Heeseung leans against the kitchen counter, his new girlfriend Cyrine tucked against his side, but his gaze keeps slipping to the empty spot on the sofa—the one that used t…