Sora's POV
For a moment after I spoke, everything went quiet. Not the peaceful kind of silence, but the kind that presses against your chest and makes it hard to breathe. The kind that waits… for something to break.
Yeongjae didn't say anything right away. He just stared at me. Stunned.
Like the words I had just dropped between us were too heavy to process all at once.
I could see it in his eyes— the confusion, the questions, the shift. It flickered there for a few seconds before he forced himself to breathe, to steady, to return to something more controlled.
Then he nodded slowly… Deliberately.
He sat down beside me, close enough that I could feel the warmth of his arm, but not touching. Not yet.
He lifted the vodka bottle and took a long drink, his throat moving as he swallowed more than he probably should have. Then he turned his whole body toward me.
Focused. Intent. Dangerously calm.
