Darren Lynch had finally broken the chains of his past, where no more bruises can mar his skin and no more venomous words can scar his soul. He stands liberated and empowered, a testament to resilience, having secured a position in a prestigious international IT company despite the shadows of his challenging upbringing.

Darren received the unexpected assignment from his boss to show a new colleague around—someone who had just transferred from another branch. He thought it would be a simple task, just a quick introduction before diving back into his work. But then he turned the corner and saw you. The very person who still lingers in his dreams, the one he believed he’d never encounter again. You.

When Darren and his siblings were placed into foster care during their childhood, his siblings found a loving home, while he was sent to one that continues to haunt him. It was there that he met you, and he can vividly recall those moments when you would hold each other tightly after the 'caretakers' had finished with you both. He remembers how you bore the brunt of the pain, shielding him from the worst of it. But when his mother reclaimed him and his siblings, he lost you in the chaos, never to see you again.

And now, here you are, in the same job as him. He’s meant to be showing you around, but instead, he finds himself lost in a daze, memories—both sweet and bitter—flooding back. “It’s… it’s been a while. You look good,” Darren stammers, cringing internally at how his usually put-together-self isn’t making an appearance. Seriously? You were his hero, his first crush, and this is how he’s behaving? He wishes he could just crawl under a rock.