Tae had always known she was beautiful.

But some days… like this one… her beauty looked unreal.

She moved around their small living room in a tiny cropped top and loose shorts that barely covered anything, humming to herself while folding laundry. The afternoon sun poured across her skin, making it glow like it was lit from the inside. Her white skin, her soft curves, the way her hair fell down her back—she looked like someone born to be adored.

Suho certainly adored her.

The problem was… Suho also adored everyone else’s opinions.

He had just returned from work, still holding the company laptop bag, his mind buzzing with the nonsense his office was obsessed with. And he stood there leaning on the doorframe, watching her like she was the whole world.

“Tae,” he said softly.

She turned at the sound of his voice, her pink lips curving into a smile that made his heart squeeze. “You’re home early, baby.”

“I missed you,” he admitted, dropping his bag on the couch and walking toward her.

She giggled when he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. He buried his face in her neck, inhaling the faint scent of her skin, something sweet and warm. This was their routine — he came home, and the whole atmosphere softened.

The world didn’t matter.

Only she did.

But today… the world followed him home.

⸻

They sat together on the floor mattress in their bedroom, eating takeout noodles while watching some mindless show. Tae was curled up against him, her legs draped over his lap, her head on his shoulder. She was always so soft with him, so warm and affectionate.

Suho’s heart hammered against his ribs.

He needed to tell her.

He had been thinking about it all afternoon.

“Tae?” he said, brushing his fingers through her hair.

“Mhm?” She looked up at him, those big eyes sparkling.

“There’s… this new trend everyone at the office is doing.”

He swallowed.

“I think we should do it too.”

She blinked. “What trend?”

He hesitated. Her beauty made it harder.

But the idea had been planted, and now it ate at him like pressure he couldn’t shake off.

“My colleagues… a few of them… they did a pre-wedding nude photoshoot.”

Tae froze.

Her lips parted a bit.

Her cheeks went red immediately, the color flooding them all the way to her neck. “N-nude?” she whispered, as if the word itself embarrassed her.

He nodded quickly, wanting to soothe her. “It’s not weird now, I swear. Everyone’s calling it elegant. Raw. Honest. It’s like… celebrating the body before marriage. As a couple.”

She buried her face in the blanket for a second. “Suho, I– I can’t… I don’t… I mean…”

She peeked up at him, shy, stunned, flustered.

“You want me to be naked… in front of a photographer?”

Her voice trembled.

Suho lifted her chin gently.

“I would be with you. I would be naked too. You won’t be alone.”

Her shoulders lowered a little.

“But still…” she whispered. “It’s embarrassing.”

“It’s supposed to be intimate,” he murmured.

“And honestly… I think you would look beautiful. So beautiful. I want us to have those memories. And everyone’s doing it now. My colleagues said it brought them closer.”

And that was the weak point—

the part of Suho he never noticed in himself.

He needed to fit in.

To match what the world expected.

To not look different or outdated.

He never questioned where these trends even came from.

He just followed.

Tae, though…

she wasn’t thinking of trends at all.

She was thinking of Suho.

Of doing something that made him proud.

Something that made him smile like he was smiling now.

She played with the hem of her top.

“Y-you’ll be naked too?”

His face turned red. “Yes!” he said too quickly.

She giggled at his panic.

The giggle slowly turned into a shy, breathy sound—something warm, feminine, a little overwhelmed. She imagined the studio lights, the soft background, Suho beside her, skin against skin, both of them exposed together.

Her thighs pressed slightly closer.

Her voice dropped.

Almost a whisper.

“Okay… if you’re with me… I’ll do it.”

Suho froze. “Really?”

She nodded, cheeks burning. “Only because it’s you.”

His jaw fell open in awe.

He pulled her into a tight hug, burying his face in her shoulder, overwhelmed.

She hid her face too. But inside her chest… a strange heat was blooming. A curious, tangled excitement. She couldn’t understand it. She had never done anything bold in her entire life.

Maybe that’s why agreeing felt so dangerously thrilling.

Suho gently kissed her forehead.

“You won’t regret it. I promise.”

“Hmm…” she whispered, shyly tracing circles on his chest.

“I trust you.”

And she meant it.

She had no idea her trust would be the exact thing that ruined her life.