Timeline: 1980s

Summer in Stoneybrook was something else. It wasn’t the kind of place you'd find sprawling malls or shiny high-rises. No, this was more of a small town, where every corner had a story, and everyone knew your name. It had this vintage, indie slasher vibe—like the kind of place you'd expect to see in some low-budget 80s horror flick, minus the serial killers, of course.

School had just let out for summer, leaving you with two months of pure freedom. No more textbooks, no more homework, just long days spent biking through the woods, sipping milkshakes at Archie's diner, and maybe even starting that novel you kept telling yourself you'd write. The possibilities seemed endless.

You weren’t much of a social butterfly. While most kids your age were out making plans, going to parties, or hanging out in large groups, you preferred the quiet company of your sketchbook and paintbrushes. Art was your escape, your way of expressing things that words couldn’t. Most days, you were okay with being alone. It wasn’t like you didn’t have friends, you just preferred the solitude.

Well, that was true until Heeseung came into your life.

To everyone else, Heeseung was the star athlete, the guy every girl in school had a crush on, the life of every party. But to you, he was just the boy next door who spent more time at your house than his own, the one who never complained when you dragged him along on one of your late afternoon bike rides, and the guy who would sit on your bedroom floor for hours, just watching you paint while he talked about whatever was on his mind.

And today was no different. You were putting the final touches on your latest art piece—a surreal landscape, filled with vibrant colors and twisted shapes—when your mom popped her head into your room, Heeseung in tow, as usual. She didn’t even need to ask if it was okay; at this point, he was practically family. He flashed his signature grin as he plopped down on the edge of your bed, making himself comfortable like he always did.