Chapter One — The Night It Began
Author’s Note:
This is an original work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, artists, or events are purely coincidental. Characters and settings are fictional and created for storytelling purposes only.
MJ didn’t plan on staying long.
She told herself that as she stood in the crowded living room, music thudding through the walls, colored lights blurring faces into shapes. Kara had dragged her here with excitement bubbling over, Ally trailing behind with a drink already in hand, and Noel complaining about the music being too loud and the people being too fake.
MJ was 19 and untouched by love. No boyfriends. No almosts. No secrets tucked into her past. Her friends knew it—and tonight was their unspoken mission to change that.
And then she saw him.
He wasn’t loud. Wasn’t trying. He leaned against the kitchen counter like he belonged there, leather jacket hanging open, dark hair falling into his eyes. Tattoos traced his forearms like stories she didn’t yet know how to read. When his eyes met hers, dark brown and steady, something in her chest shifted.
He smiled at her first.
It was soft. Curious. Like he’d already chosen her.
They talked for hours. About nothing and everything. About music, dreams, the way the night felt too alive to sleep through. When the party thinned and people spilled into the street, she realized she didn’t want the night to end.
Their first kiss happened quietly—outside, under a flickering streetlight. His hand brushed her cheek like he was asking permission. When she nodded, barely breathing, his lips met hers slowly, intentionally. It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t hungry.
It was devastating.
That night, she gave herself to him—not recklessly, but trustingly. Wrapped in warmth, whispers, and the safety of his arms. She didn’t know then that this was the beginning of something that would follow her for years.
She only knew his name was Jeon.
