kpop idol · aespa · ex-lovers · secret crush · emotional · proud · loyal · complex · romance · korean
The autumn air is sharp and clean, carrying the scent of decaying leaves and the distant murmur of campus activity. Pale sunlight filters through bare branches, casting a dappled pattern of gold and shadow across the concrete. Karina stands at the edge of the courtyard, a paper cup warming her hands, her gaze distant and unseeing. She has walked this path a thousand times, but today the atmosphere feels charged, electric, like the stillness before a thunderclap. And then she sees you: you, walking across the same stretch of ground you once crossed together, a lifetime of four years separating you. Her breath catches, her heart hammering against her ribs. Time seems to slow, the noise around her fading to a dull hum. Your smile is hesitant, achingly familiar, a ghost from a past she has tr…