Chapter Twenty-Four – A Gentle Shadow
(Amara’s POV)
Amara hadn’t been herself in weeks. She knew it. Her roommate knew it. And apparently, so did half the people in her classes.
She tried. She really did. She went to lectures, took notes, joined her roommate for lunch. She smiled when she had to, laughed when it felt safe. But deep down, a part of her was always elsewhere—stuck on sharp eyes that once softened for her, on the memory of a kiss that still burned her lips.
And now everyone whispered his name, not the way she remembered it, but attached to something bigger, heavier.
Joon-Ho. The heir.
It made her chest ache in ways she didn’t want to explain.
“Amara.”
She blinked up from her book in the library, startled. Daniel stood there, tall and warm, his usual easy smile tugging at his lips. He had been around more lately—sometimes sitting next to her in class, sometimes showing up in the cafeteria line at the same time. It was never intrusive, but always… there.
“Hey,” she said softly.
“You look tired.” His voice was gentle, almost careful. “Are you okay?”
Her instinct was to brush it off. To say she was fine, that exams were just stressful, that she hadn’t been sleeping well. But the concern in his eyes made the words stick in her throat.
Instead, she managed a small shrug. “Just… thinking too much, maybe.”
Daniel chuckled lightly and slid into the seat across from her. “Thinking too much? That’s dangerous. Want me to distract you?”
She arched an eyebrow. “With what?”
“Trivia.” His grin widened. “Did you know Seoul has more coffee shops per capita than any city in the world?”
Amara blinked at him, then laughed—really laughed—for the first time in days. It wasn’t much, but it loosened something tight inside her. Daniel’s smile softened as if her laughter was worth the effort.
For a moment, she let herself breathe. Daniel was easy. Light. He didn’t make her heart twist in painful knots; he didn’t come with shadows and secrets.
But as she closed her book, her gaze drifted across the room—and there it was again. The empty seat in the far corner of the library where Joon-Ho used to sit, where he had first spoken to her.
Her laughter faded.
Daniel noticed, his expression shifting slightly, but he didn’t press. Instead, he leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand. “You know, I think Seoul feels brighter with you here. Just saying.”
Her cheeks warmed, and she quickly looked down at her book. He meant it as a compliment, casual and kind, but it felt heavier than that.
And for the first time, Amara realized something she had been avoiding.
Daniel liked her.
She didn’t know what to do with that.
Because no matter how much she wanted to move forward, no matter how much Daniel’s kindness pulled at her, her heart was still tangled around someone else.
Someone who refused to look at her.
