sori moves to seoul for dance quiet, focused, alone.
then she meets ni-ki. distant, unreadable, and far too captivating.
in a story of late-night practices, silent glances, and slow steps toward something unknown, sori begins to realize that maybe d...
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the morning felt heavier than usual.
sori kept replaying the moment in ni-ki's bathroom, her fingers brushing over the cold edge of the polaroid, that small square of paper that suddenly felt like a secret she wasn't supposed to touch.
she had slipped it behind her phone case before she could think about what she was doing.
it wasn't planned.
it wasn't logical.
it just... happened.
now it was there, pressed flat against her phone, warm from the heat of her hand. she could almost feel it through the plastic, like it was breathing with her.
she tried not to take it out again.
she tried not to imagine the girl's face.
tried not to picture ni-ki's arm around her in that photo, how casual, comfortable, familiar in a way that twisted something inside sori's chest.
maybe it was someone important.
and maybe, this was the thought that stung the most, maybe after she left his apartment yesterday, ni-ki had opened that cabinet again, looking for that little memory he keeps hidden behind random things only to find it gone.
would he know immediately that she took it?
would he think she was jealous?
or worse, nosy?
she hated the idea of him thinking anything bad about her.
but she also hated the idea of him still holding onto someone else.
she walked through the hallway of the college, her phone tucked deep in her pocket as if hiding the polaroid deeper somehow made it less real.
when she reached their classroom, ni-ki was already there sitting by the window, the morning sun catching the edge of his hair.
he had his sketchbook open, pencil in hand, but he wasn't drawing. he was just staring at the page like he was waiting for something to appear on its own.
he looked up the moment she stepped in.
"hey," he said softly, voice warm in a way that usually made her relax immediately.
but today, something inside her tightened.
"hey," she murmured back, setting her things down carefully. she didn't look him fully in the eyes. she didn't trust herself to.
he watched her for a second longer, the corner of his mouth twitching like he was about to say something else, but then he let it go.
he sat up straighter instead, flipping the page in his sketchbook.
