Chap 1

In the darkness of the night,

when only moonlight touched his face, Tae stood alone in his room,

a phone pressed tightly against his ear.

The silence of the house felt heavier than usual, as if even the walls were listening.

"Rian," he said softly, his voice already strained.

"I'm trying... I'm really trying to talk to them, but they still need time. They aren't agreeing. I-I just don't know what to do now."

A long pause followed before Adrian's voice came through-calm, but tired in a way only Tae could recognize.

"How long, Tae? How long?" he asked quietly.

"It's already been two years... and my family is still pushing me toward someone they've already chosen."

Tae's grip on the phone tightened.

"God..."

His breath broke first, then his voice followed.

The anger he never knew how to control, and the fear he never knew how to express, collided inside him

turning into something painful and messy.

"Every time I try to talk about you in front of them, they change the topic," he said shakily.

"Like... like they already know what I'm going to say, and they're avoiding it."

Silence followed again.

Then Adrian spoke, softer this time.

"Tae..."

His voice carried warmth, but also exhaustion.

"One more time. Just try again.

I know it's hard, but for us try again."

Tae shook his head even though Adrian couldn't see him.

"I am fighting alone, Rian..." His voice cracked.

"I don't know how to make them understand anymore.

They've already decided everything without even asking me"

Adrian exhaled quietly from the other side.

"If they agree, then we're okay.

If they don't... we still choose each other,"

he said gently. "But I can't lose you, Tae. I just... can't."

That sentence hit deeper than anything else.

Tae closed his eyes tightly.

"Okay... okay," he whispered, almost breaking under his own words"

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll try again."

Beep

The call ended.

"Rian... Rian," Tae called instinctively, staring at the screen like it had betrayed him.

But there was no response.

Only the cold confirmation that the call had already disconnected.

Slowly, he lowered the phone.

His body gave up before his emotions did.

He slid down to the floor, back resting against the bed, head tilted upward as silent tears escaped without permission.

It had already been more than two years.

And still, nothing felt settled.

More than two years ago...

Tae still remembered the first time he saw Adrian West at university.

A foreign student.

Recently transferred.

Quiet presence-but impossible to ignore.

Despite being younger, there was something about him that made people look twice.

Not loud dominance, not arrogance... just a calm maturity that naturally pulled attention toward him.

Tae remembered how it started as something small.

A glance.

Then another.

At first, he told himself it was nothing serious.

Just a passing attraction. Something harmless.

But Adrian didn't feel temporary.

It grew quietly instead.

The way he spoke with that effortless accent.

The way he carried himself like he didn't need validation from anyone.

The way his presence somehow made silence feel less empty.

And then... those eyes.

Those eyes caught Tae completely off guard.

Tae was never someone who knew how to control emotions.

He didn't wait for the right timing or think things through carefully.

Within just one week, he found himself standing outside Adrian's class, waiting for him to come out.

He asked him out to lunch

And Adrian looked at him like he already knew it was meant to happen.

At first,Tae thought it was just a crush.

Something that would disappear with time.

But it didn't disappear.

Because Adrian never treated him like something temporary.

And Tae-someone who had never learned how to handle emotions properly-started falling harder than he ever intended to.

Adrian became the calm in his chaos.

The warmth in his anger.

The only place where Tae never felt like he was "too much, or too little."

And for Adrian...

Tae became the light he never thought he needed.

Now, sitting lifelessly on the floor, countless thoughts ran through Tae's mind.

His parents knew what he wanted.

They knew it was Adrian he needed.

But every time he brought him up, they didn't just avoid the conversation-they lashed out.

Not because they didn't know Adrian.

But because Adrian wasn't someone who met their standard.

"The man who owns the ground his son wants someone who can't even afford to stand there"

his father would say every single time.

"But he is still standing there"

Tae had once argued back, trying desperately to defend him.

"Standing there because I allowed it," his father replied coldly.

"Standing because of the scholarship I provide to people who are not financially stable"

his father said,emphasizing the last words like he wanted him to finally give up on all of this.

And that was how every conversation started and ended.

His Father being the main provider of the University where Adrian studying makes things somehow worse.

Now how could he tell all this to Rian?

How could he tell him that it wasn't just this, his parents plotting for something also...

For the past month, they had been forcing him toward an engagement he never agreed to.

The son of his father's business partner.

A man Tae privately described as having a "shitty face with a "shittier personality."

Maybe He was so shallow for caring about appearances.

He knew he had always been someone drawn to looks first.

But God-this man had absolutely nothing working in his favor.

Not his face.

Not his attitude.

Not even the way he spoke.

There was no way He would ever agree to someone like that.

And why would he?

He loved Adrian.

And tomorrow... tomorrow he would make his parents understand.

No matter how badly the conversation ended, this time they were going to listen.

As thousands of thoughts crowded his mind at once, He didn't even realize when exhaustion finally pulled him into an uneasy sleep.

________________________

Words : 1000+

I tried my best, Hope you enjoy!💓

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