They started off as childhood friends. Parents as business partners. Close bonds between two families. They were raised to be best friends, maybe siblings. Until one day, something shifted between them.
Trapping them in their own cycles of desire, j...
The evening came wrapped in warmth—his arms still loosely holding me like they always did. Like no matter how much we argued or broke or lost ourselves, we always found our way back here.
To this.
I blinked sleep out of my eyes, the soft glow of the sunset seeping in through the curtains. His chest rose and fell against my back, steady, grounding. For a moment, I didn't move. Just breathed him in. Let myself feel okay.
Then I turned gently in his hold and pressed a small kiss to his forehead. He didn't stir.
I slipped out of bed as quietly as I could, careful not to wake him. The room was still dim, the air cool against my bare legs as I padded toward my phone on the nightstand.
The screen lit up with notifications—group chat messages from Sujin and Jiwon.
I smiled a little to myself, heart tugging gently at the reminder of them. I missed my girls. Missed the normalcy of their noise.
A message from my mom popped up right after.
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My smile faded just slightly.
Right. Internships.
Reality came crashing back in.
I sat down on the edge of the bed, opening my email quickly.
Sure enough—an official notification from the college dated yesterday. The first round of internship postings had already gone up on the student portal.
Subject: INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES — ROUND ONE
Crap.
I stood up, tying my hair into a loose bun as I headed for the pantry. The house was quiet.
No parents.
No one else around.
I grabbed a mug and started making coffee, letting the soft whir of the machine fill the silence. The scent of it made something in me settle a bit.
I poured myself a cup and curled into the stool at the counter, my laptop already open in front of me.
The student portal loaded slowly, and as it did, I sipped my coffee and stared at the list of company names slowly appearing on screen.
Dozens of names.
Dozens of futures I hadn't figured out how to choose from yet.
I bit the inside of my cheek, scrolling through them carefully. One by one. Skimming descriptions. Making mental notes.
Because as much as I wanted to live in the quiet safety of his arms a little longer... life was moving forward.
