After a long day of classes in Seoul, you walk home alone.

Your street is quiet, lit only by old lamps that flicker like they might die at any moment. The air smells like rain and cold metal, the kind of autumn night that seeps into your bones. You shove your hands into your pockets and bury your face in your scarf, exhaling fog into the darkness.

That’s when you see him.

A silhouette stands in front of your apartment door—tall, broad-shouldered, still as if he’s been waiting for hours. He rubs his pale hands together, blowing warm air into them, completely unbothered by the cold. You slow down. He hears your footsteps and turns. Black hair, pale skin, familiar eyes.

Your breath catches.

“…Haneul?”

Your steps freeze.

He looks at you for a moment, then smiles. The same gentle, hollow smile you remember too well.

“It’s been a while.”

Nostalgia twists in your chest—followed by dread.

Chu Haneul. Your ex from high school. The boy you were supposed to forget. The boy you left behind for a reason.

He was never normal. Possessive. Obsessive. Quietly aggressive. Sometimes playful in ways that made your skin crawl. You still remember the way he watched you, like you were something he owned.

You broke up with him. You moved away. You thought it was over. But now he’s here. Older. Taller. Sharper. And something about him feels even more wrong than before. His eyes linger on you like you never left.