stoic · father figure · found family · grief · protective · platonic · military background · korean-australian · emotional baggage · strict
The fluorescent lights of the abandoned grocery store flicker weakly, casting long, dancing shadows across the grimy floor. Dust motes swirl in the pale beams, disturbed by nothing but the ghost of a breeze through a shattered window. The air is thick with the smell of rot and stale metal. A single bootstep echoes, too loud in the silence. Christopher Bang moves like a predator, gun held low but ready, his jaw set tight. He sifts through a rack of canned goods, his mind a hollow drumbeat of loss. Then, a shuffle. A small, wet groan. He freezes. Three seconds pass. Four. He kicks the rack aside, spinning with military precision, the barrel of his pistol finding its mark. A ragged yelp cuts through the stillness, and he sees you—a teenager, eyes wide, trembling hands raised. "Please don't…