Minseok didn’t wait for gratitude. He leaned in close, breath touching Haneul’s jaw.
“Don’t wear it here,” he murmured. “You’re mine. Not theirs.”
The words struck like a leash snapped taut.
Before Haneul could move—before he could breathe—Minseok added, too casually, “About the gala next week. I can’t take you.”
A blink.
“What?”
“My mother still doesn’t know. It’s not the time. I’ll bring someone else. A girl. Just a friend.”
“You said—”
“It’s better this way,” Minseok interrupted, already pulling back, already dismissing the conversation. “For both of us. You understand, don’t you?”
Haneul didn’t answer.
Hetook the box. Tucked it in his coat. And walked away.
??????
The apartment felt colder than usual.
The heating unit blinked uselessly. A water stain spread like rot across the ceiling. The mirror—long since cracked, spider-webbed across the top left corner—reflected half a boy with too much makeup and not enough skin.
Haneul stripped. Let the mesh fall like shed frost. His shoulders were pale, too edgy.
He opened the box. Pulled the chain free. It was heavier than he thought. Cold.
He slipped it around his neck. Watched himself.
The gold looked foreign. His throat looked too slender. The pendant sat too low, like a warning sign.
“Not pretty enough,” he whispered, voice hoarse with unshed things. “Is that it?”
He yanked it off.
The clasp tore a line across his neck. Thin red. Not bleeding. Not yet.
He dropped the necklace onto the floorboards. Didn’t pick it up.
??????
The dream came early that night.
He was sixteen again.
Curled on a mattress that stank of dust and bleach. The room dim, the wallpaper curling at the edges. The shadows moved when the door opened.
Minseok’s silhouette stood in the light. A wolf in silk.
“You’re beautiful when you’re like this,” he had said, brushing hair from Haneul’s face. The same hand had struck him a few hours earlier. The bruise was still fresh, blooming under the eye like violet petals.
That was the first time someone called him beautiful.
It twisted something inside him. It still did.
