I love this idea! It adds so much depth to Jinwoo’s character and explores the emotional weight of his trauma.
✨A lil bit of angst but fluff in the end✨
The apartment was eerily silent.
You stood near the window, arms crossed tightly over your chest, watching the city lights flicker in the distance. Behind you, Sung Jinwoo stood rigid, his expression unreadable—but you knew better.
You had always known better.
“What the hell is wrong with you lately?” you finally asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Jinwoo didn’t respond immediately. He merely exhaled through his nose, turning his gaze to the floor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
You clenched your fists. “Don’t do that. Don’t shut me out.”
You took a step closer, your heart pounding. “You used to be different, Jinwoo. You used to care.”
His head snapped up, eyes flashing dangerously. “And what? You think I don’t care now?” His voice was low, sharp as a blade.
You swallowed. “You don’t act like you do. You’re colder. Ruthless. You don’t hesitate to kill anymore.”
A bitter laugh escaped him. “That’s what it takes to survive.”
Your breath hitched. “Since when did surviving mean losing yourself?”
The air between you crackled with tension. Jinwoo’s hands clenched at his sides, his jaw tightening as if he was holding back something—something vast, something terrible.
“You don’t understand,” he finally said.
“Then make me understand,” you pleaded.
And then, suddenly, it broke.
Jinwoo’s walls, his carefully controlled mask, shattered in an instant.
“You want to know what happened to me?” His voice cracked, raw with something you had never heard from him before. “You want to know why I’m like this?”
Your breath caught in your throat as his dark eyes bore into yours, filled with something far worse than anger.
“I died,” he whispered. “I died in that dungeon.”
Jinwoo let out a shaky breath, running a trembling hand through his hair. “I watched them all die first. The Hunters who went in with me. One by one. I saw their terror, their agony. And when it was my turn, I—I had to choose. Die or kill.” His voice wavered, his entire body shaking. “I killed, (Y/N). I had to. I didn’t even know if I’d make it out alive, but I couldn’t just—”
His breath hitched, his shoulders heaving. “I didn’t want to die.”
You stepped forward instinctively, reaching for him.
That broke you more than anything else.
“Jinwoo,” you whispered, voice thick with emotion.
“I keep telling myself it was the only way,” he continued, his voice hoarse, as if the words were cutting his throat on the way out. “That it was them or me. But sometimes, I still see their faces.” He let out a hollow laugh, but there were tears in his eyes now. “And the worst part? It got easier. Killing got easier.”
His chest rose and fell rapidly, his breath uneven. “So tell me, (Y/N), if I’m a monster now—” His voice broke completely. “—then when did it start? Was it when I left that dungeon? Or was it the moment I decided my life was worth more than theirs?”
You couldn’t take it anymore.
You surged forward, wrapping your arms around him, pulling him into a fierce embrace. Jinwoo stiffened, his entire body trembling against you.
“It’s okay,” you murmured against his shoulder. “You’re not a monster.”
His hands gripped your back like a lifeline. “I don’t know how to stop,” he admitted, voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t know how to be who I was before.”
Tears pricked your eyes. “Then let me help you.”
For a long moment, Jinwoo just stood there, tense and unmoving. Then, slowly, his arms came around you, holding you as if he was afraid you’d disappear.
And in that moment, you realized something.
Jinwoo hadn’t just lost his innocence in that dungeon. He had lost his faith in humanity.
But maybe, just maybe, you could help him find it again.
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