The stadium lights painted everything gold.
Friday nights at Westbridge University were never quiet, but tonight the air itself seemed electric. The football field roared beneath the stomping feet of thousands, chants echoing off steel bleachers as the Westbridge Wolves prepared for the final game of the season.
And at the center of it all was Hyunjin.
Hwang Hyunjin moved like he had been carved from ambition itself—broad shoulders beneath his jersey, dark hair pushed back with sweat, jaw sharp enough to cut through every scream hurled his way. He was the Wolves’ star quarterback, the kind of player whose name people chanted before they even saw him. Cold, Untouchable, Impossible.
That was the reputation.
He didn’t smile for cameras. Didn’t flirt with fans. Didn’t waste words on anyone. He existed like winter—beautiful, brutal, distant.
Except for one person.
Lee Felix stood on the sidelines in the Wolves’ cheer uniform, blue and silver stitched perfectly across his frame. His blond hair shimmered under the floodlights, his skin glowing, freckles catching in the brightness like constellations.
He looked unfairly radiant, and he knew it.
He laughed as he landed a backflip, pom-poms flashing in the air as the crowd erupted.
Flexible, fearless, magnetic.
The kind of person who made every room feel warmer just by entering it. And the only person Hyunjin ever looked at twice.
No—more than twice, Every single time.
Felix caught him staring, Again, Across the field.
A grin spread over his face. Hyunjin immediately looked away. Felix laughed. God, he was insufferable.
And yet—
The moment halftime ended, Hyunjin found himself searching the sidelines for him again.
It had been this way since freshman year. Their first meeting had involved Felix accidentally tackling Hyunjin in the hallway after missing a turn during practice choreography. Hyunjin had hit the floor.Felix had landed on top of him.
And for a full ten seconds, neither had moved.
Felix had stared down at him with wide golden-brown eyes and said, “Oh my God, you’re prettier up close.”
Hyunjin had been speechless. Completely. Utterly. Speechless.
Which had never happened before.
Felix had offered him a hand. Hyunjin had ignored it.
Felix had followed him for three weeks afterward. And somehow… they never really stopped orbiting each other.
By sophomore year, they were inseparable.
By junior year, people assumed they were together.
By senior year…
Well.
That was complicated.
Because Hyunjin had spent four years pretending the thing between them was manageable.
Just friendship.
Just late-night study sessions.
Just Felix sneaking into his dorm and stealing his hoodies.
Just Hyunjin carrying Felix piggyback after ankle sprains.
Just Felix curling into his side during movies.
