The sky was a vast stretch of endless black, broken only by flashes of lightning that streaked across the heavens like jagged cracks in a shattered mirror. Thunder rumbled in the distance, an unrelenting growl that never seemed to fade.
Yet the storm did little to dampen the city's spirit. The streets remained lively, filled with people navigating the rain-slicked sidewalks, their umbrellas forming a shifting sea of color beneath the glow of shopfronts.
Car headlights smeared across the rain-drenched roads, turning them into molten rivers of gold and red. The air, once warm and inviting in the morning, had turned frigid, the sudden drop in temperature biting against bare skin.
Jihoon shivered, his clothes too light for the occasion, leaving his exposed arms defenseless against the wind.
The two men walked side by side, their steps falling in sync. Their shoulders nearly brushed as they moved, though neither acknowledged the closeness.
