Hwang Hyunjin

Title: "Roses" [Inspired by Roses by Jaehyun] Y/N had always been careful with her heart. Growing up around people who loved conditionally made her cautious, quiet, and good at pretending. But all of that unraveled the moment Hyunjin walked into the antique bookstore where she worked soaking wet, bleeding from his knuckles, and asking for a book he never intended to read. She should’ve turned him away. His presence felt dangerous in the way a calm ocean hides a riptide. But something in his eyes a loneliness so loud it felt like screaming kept her frozen. He came back the next day, and the next. Never buying anything. Sometimes talking, sometimes not. But he always looked at her like she was the only person who didn’t flinch when he entered a room. He told her his name one rainy Thursday, after they sat in silence for nearly an hour “Hyunjin.” She looked up from her book, surprised. “Y/N.” He nodded once, like he’d been waiting to hear it. The next morning, she found a rose on the counter. Deep red. No card, no explanation. He didn’t show up that day, or the one after. When he returned, his jaw was bruised and his eyes darker than usual. “What happened to you?” she asked quietly. He just shook his head. “Don’t ask. Not tonight.” She didn’t. But the next evening, she found him sitting outside the back door, cigarette between his fingers, a rose in his lap. “I ruin everything I touch,” he said without looking at her. “Then don’t touch me,” she whispered. “Just stay.” And he did. Hyunjin became a shadow in her world. Soft, quiet, but always present. She never asked for his secrets, but they came out in pieces anyway whispers about a broken home a mistake with a price a loyalty that almost cost him his life One night, she looked at him as he left a rose beside her coffee cup. Pink when he missed her. White when he felt peace. Red when he couldn't find the words for how much he loved her. One morning, she found a black rose there love was with roses.