Romance Short Stories

First

Sam Harris remembered when she had first talked to YuMi Jeong. They both were the awkward looking ones, Sam with her bluntly cut shoulder length hair, her hazel eyes hidden…[...]

Idol Blues

Emmy forgets her purse, of all things. The performance that had happened that evening had been so long ago. Only the sound of reverb, of her own voice in her…[...]

Changed My Life Forever

Blackpink in your area! We all sang in an uproar. I was with my dance team at my local dance studio. We are a group of mostly East Asians. I've…[...]

Sasaeng Security

Why the incessantly monologging voice inside my head is in English despite me being a nineteen year old South Korean who has never learned English isn’t something answers are readily…[...]

The Rabbit in the Moon

“Mei?” 2 hours left. “Mei!” Would it happen again? “Mei!” The black-haired girl jolted back to the table in front of her. “Can you please pass the rice? It’s gonna…[...]

FEAR-NO FEAR

“The life that I have Is all that I have And the life that I have is yours The love that I have Of the life that I have Is…[...]

Shameless

We stopped leaving the garage door open when we were cooking because I told my mom the police were saying criminals had been stealing equipment from garages. My dad was…[...]

Grief

Mama, I found my old butterfly hairclip you had gifted me on my eleventh birthday, and it took me back to the old days. Papa used to count our blessings…[...]

Red flows in both

Once there was a daughter of a mother and a mother of a daughter. As the daughter I was taught the same as she was. To live for my parents…[...]

“We have splashdown for the capsule,” Mission control reported. “Copy that,” Mary said, looking out the earth-side window as if her former station-mates’ splashing into the ocean could be visible…[...]

Breaking the cycle

There are always two sides to an argument. Sometimes three. sometimes four. If you ask me, they are messy little things. They are often too complex to understand since people lie…[...]

The Porcelain Village

My clay hands are becoming solid porcelain. I have always had potter’s hands. The throwing water absorbs the moisturizing oils of the skin. Leaves the hands rough. The clay paste dries and cracks the…[...]

The Slaying of a Monster

THE SLAYING OF A MONSTER By Tony Smith My name is Parachatphonbamrum.Thai names are as long as freight trains so we are given nicknames, mine is Pizza shortened to Za.…[...]

A Greeting from the Edge of the Universe

As an intern for Area 51, I’ve seen a lot of strange things. A lot of strange things. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. Even before I got here, I’ve…[...]

The Ghost Adagio

In the basement of the Kenmore Conservatory of Music, the practice rooms are dark and gloomy, with radiators that clank like Marley's ghost and steam that clogs your lungs like…[...]

The Book of Juri

I have a journal with all my thoughts. Every feeling I have is written in there. It is my book of hope. It's naive and oblivious. Chapter 7414: Love My…[...]

The Interrogation

Some unidentifiable insects have died on the LED bulb, the thoraxes and abdomens had disintegrated but the antennaed heads and wings remained security plastered on the single light fixture in…[...]

Not Home

The clock strikes two.My cousin's sleeping soundly beside me, unstirring, but I'm still awake and hungry. I would wake her if not for the fact that she had work early…[...]

The Night Gathering

This story can also be read as a continuation of my last submission The Interrogation.****Kai Matsuda woke up at 2 am and realized that his life will end again. He…[...]

A Self Portrait

Warning: nudity Tim paints beautiful brown circles on a white canvas sitting on an easel. The reality is that Tim cannot paint anything to save his life. He is a…[...]

Metamorphoses

This story can also be enjoyed as a parallel plot to my previous submission The Night Gathering. *********Maurice Kahlo looked down at the dead body of Maurice Kahlo.Approaching behind him was…[...]

The Silent Feast

Every year, my dining room turned into a battleground and the yearly holiday feast, the ammunition. It was always a vicious cycle: raised voices, pointed fingers, and another resentment that…[...]

Tycho Brahe’s Labyrinth

This story can also be read as the continuation of my previous submission Metamorphosis************Unlike most of the helipads which are built for show but never used, the pads on Tycho…[...]

Temptation With Someone Else

*This story contains sexual themes*Jen and Erick. Erick was a dick. Jen was a beautiful angel, Mike declared. He was still a virgin and a senior in high school. He also…[...]

Friends Forever

The McDonalds was decently crowded. The fluorescent lighting excessively illuminated the interior that didn’t really merit the illuminating: packs of middle school kids laughing and screaming and filming Tik Tok…[...]

Icescape

This story is a prequel to my previous submissions, The Night Gathering and Metamorphoses, taken place seventeen years prior.********A droplet from the overhead condenser fell on the nape of Stephanie…[...]

Lemons, Ginger and Garlic

"Does the presence of something outweigh its absence? Or is it the other way around?" I said to no one in specific, communally munching on Garlic Naan and Haleem with…[...]

Chicken Katsu Memories

Hawaiian chicken katsu, Brian was thinking, as he stood with anticipation in the food truck line at the Pure Aloha Festival in Las Vegas. This particular food truck was boldly named…[...]

Socks

I’ve always hated socks. To specify, I hate receiving socks, and I have not always despised them. A personal and most probably an eternal dislike. Every time I have pulled…[...]

Moms and dresses

Bindu checks her watch again; it had only been four mins since she last looked. She readjusts the strap so the watch would fit more snugly on her wrist and…[...]

The Man Who Died

A man is sitting alone in a huge concert hall, and an Asian beauty is playing a beautiful violin, especially for him! She’s playing a classic overture on the violin…[...]

To Listen is Inheritance

My cat Blue could operate a door handle and would jump at it for hours until he could pull the thing down. The only problem was that he could not…[...]

Tumakbo Ka!

“Run for your lives boys!” The sound of the headmaster’s shrill words echoed across the grassy field. “Or you’ll be seeing me at three o’clock!” Father K’s deafening voice on…[...]

A Chinaman’s Chance

“I timed the movement twice and found the speed as follows: The first time 240 feet of rail was laid in one minute and twenty seconds; the second time 240…[...]

Ruby Red Scar

Eyes pierce through my flesh everytime I walk through a door. When I’m just trying to buy groceries, pump gas into my car, walk into the bank, I can feel…[...]

Cheap Fiction

trigger warning: depictions of sex, murder, and self harmI didn’t want to kill anyone this time around. I almost did a couple of days ago, while shopping for gummy worms…[...]

Today, Tomorrow

It’s just one day. One inconsequential day among a sea of other inconsequential days. However, if by some miracle today had any meaning, then it would be Valentine’s Day. It…[...]

Revenge

REVENGE Et Tu, Brute? By Camille Clarke Dusty's face was bruised, his mouth was swollen, and he sported a black eye and wounds to his body. He trembled with fear, stammering…[...]

The 12th Custard

“What’s the big deal?”“The big deal Jomari, is that this stolen custard came in a family size of 12-““So you had 11 before-““AND it came from the PLANO Costco. Not…[...]

Legends of the Midnight Gallery

Joe Klimazawa knew the secrets of the Midnight Gallery. He knew what happened when the clock struck midnight. He knew because he had been the night watchman for over ten…[...]

It Started With a Selca

I lifted my phone in front of my face for the third time and grimaced at my reflection. Ugh. I hated taking selfies, but my sister, Bethany, insisted I take…[...]

The Ingdalapet

The monsoon rain had at long last rested at the time when the sun should’ve been at its highest. Liriko searched for the biggest banana leaves he could find. He…[...]

Marie’s Tomb

The Kia Forte rolled to a stop on the unlit Basin Street, just south of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Four figures emerged from the vehicle beside the graveyard's whitewashed…[...]

A Tale of Two Cities

May 12, 1984To the Parent-Teacher Association Moms of Alamo Elementary School:Yes, you may pick your jaws off the squeaky, dusty basketball court hardwood now. Oh, don’t think I didn’t see…[...]

Vices and Visions

It was late spring, the perfect time to go skinny dipping in the lake. You took a deep breath and released it as a sigh, holding high above your arms…[...]

The Final Match

Chapter 1: The Preparation Liam’s training regimen was relentless, pushing him to his limits every single day. His father, a former Taekwondo champion, believed in the power of discipline and…[...]

North Shore Boards

Kailani balanced on her Alaia wood surfboard as a Hawaiian goddess, her bronze skin flecked with the spray of salt water. A thick black braid flew behind her as she…[...]

It Ends With Us

With exquisite skill and talent, Matt Perucho would show her the man he was. No longer would he be the dorky Asian kid, but with her on his arm, the coolest…[...]

Build A Husband

After reels became completely flavorless, Jessica ran out of things to do. Her thumb window wiped her phone, back and forth and back. Youtube. Instagram. Reddit. Google News. She chewed…[...]

Storytellers

*Trigger Warning - Description of death* It was cold for September. Charlotte pulled her hoodie over her baseball cap and adjusted the earbuds attached to her phone. It was lunch…[...]

Thank you wave.

Finals hadn’t been over more than 48 hours before Sonny was barefoot on her beach again. She would have been back sooner if her cross-country bus hadn't gotten a flat…[...]

Gwisin Girlie

Don’t ask me how I turned into a gwisin, I don’t know how. I mean, I’m barely even Korean. One minute I’m on the commute back to my Harlem duplex…[...]

Letters I Can’t Send

Content warnings: Suicide, substance use Dear Leo, You know I don’t write letters. I’ve always been more into physics than philosophy. Maybe that’s just an excuse. It’s hard to talk…[...]

The Fake Wedding Date

I don’t like drama. I avoid drama. I don’t even like shows with a lot of drama.So why did I ever agree to being this guy’s date to a wedding?…[...]

Leaving, Staying, Going

The first thing I noticed when we arrived in China was that it was hot. Not just summer hot, or even sauna hot, but sweltering, boiling, melt your face off…[...]

A Side of Banh Cuon

Chapter 1 “Uncle Pig snorted at the webcam,” Did you say a doctor?”“Um … a medical scribe, the person who takes notes for the doctor.”“So, you’re a note-taker?”“Yes, but I…[...]

My Crazy Year

by Amanda Stogsdill The wintery Colorado wind blew fiercely, numbing tingly fingers as my friends and I gulped in the frosty air. Bundled up in winter coats, scarves, multiple pairs…[...]

Sunrise Mesa High School in Copenhagen

No one slept much the night before the early morning flight to Copenhagen. Maeve messaged Sol into the early hours of the morning and only stopped when her phone ran…[...]

AFTER ….THE ACCIDENT?

AFTER ……..THE ACCIDENT???? I am staring up at a ceiling that isn’t mine, on a hard mattress in in a bed that definitely isn’t mine, in some kind of nightshirt…[...]

Sorano

Hana is a girl who lives in a New York penthouse with her mom and dad. Her mom’s name is Jenny and her dad’s name is Kiyoshi. He was a…[...]

One Man’s trash is another Man’s… Demon?

Come on Imogene! This thrift store is supposed to have the best stuff!” I was not as excited as my sister, Kathy, as she tried to drag me to yet…[...]

Every Type of Cabbage

“They hate me, don’t they?” The burn of the kimchi jigae still coats my tongue in fire despite the ginseng tea I try to douse it with. I feel a…[...]

VIBRANCE IN THE DEADENED VOID

The air thickened with haunting sounds—a relentless chorus of moaning and mewling unsettled the senses. High-pitched moans pierced the air, reverberating with an unnerved intensity, sending shivers through the screamer's…[...]

A Haunting in Vietnam

Author's note: The event of this story is true and happened to my parents when we visited Vietnam in 2006. Names have been changed for privacy.****I heard the knife before…[...]

A Name Too Big For Me

Nothing brings my family together quite as good as a funeral. They’re like ants to spilled sugar. This time, the sugar being my grandmother's will. The last bit of her…[...]

The Serpent We Know: A Holiday Tale of the Arts Department

“Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles, I’d house all the poor scholars…”Du Fu “By the way, we’ve got New Year’s plans,” Wei Zhao announced as she pulled into…[...]

Minh Stared Up

TW: Sexual violence, gore The Americans were leaving. The last convoy of tanks and soldiers rumbled and marched out of the city streets. A final procession of victory, or what…[...]

Essential Personal Effects

The old man remained idly inside the door to his flat, racking his brain for memories that seemed to retreat from his grasp like minnows, ribbon-like and slippery. Civil Control…[...]

A Break and a Surprise

Joshua poured a cup of tea into the cup. The hot water pouring was music enough for the young man, Chris to be soothed. But they both knew that it…[...]

A story of tea and jungle juice: my teenage life in America

After inviting me to her house for the first time, Victoria offered me a choice of tea, juice, or water. When I chose tea, she opened the kitchen drawer in…[...]

Comin’ Round the Mountain

She’ll Be When She Comes The old folk song went round and round in her head as Joanna Fan peered through the wet windshield, the wipers slapping an irritating rhythm that…[...]

My Name Is Kingsley

“Kingsley!” I turned around, shivering. A breeze brushed through me. Even though it was sunny San Diego, winter was cold this year. It was Saturday, February 1st, 2025. In Sweetland…[...]

Asian Pears

“Would you be interested in going back in time?” asked Dr Lee.That caught Mary’s attention. She snapped her gaze away from the window and, though she knew how impossible it…[...]

Funerals Are for the Living

“You really shouldn’t have checked it.” Rosa’s voice is dripping with recrimination, and I’m eight years old again, looking up at her shadowed figure striking a superior pose. After the…[...]

I’ve Never…

I’ve talked to a stranger before. Yup. I’ve broken my pinky promise with my mother. But, to my defense, if it was really like that, I’d never would’ve dared to…[...]

I Just Wanted to Help

The garage door hissed open with a pneumatic sigh, and Rohan stepped inside with a box nearly as tall as him. “Alright, everyone—come here! You’re gonna want to see this.”Divya,…[...]

Six hours

TW: substance abuseThese days Ashu recounts his life to himself like a countdown. But the closer it gets to one, the ombre of his memories fade to white. ago, he…[...]

Cinderella in Disguise

I don’t remember being adopted. It’s just a story, part of the family folklore to make me feel special and wanted. When I was a kid, I never got tired…[...]

NATURE IMMERSION

NATURE IMMERSION Satish got down from the S.T. bus at Vengurla Bus Depot. He made sure that his belongings were with him and that nothing was left on the bus.…[...]

The Truth of Darkness

On a silent night, Anamika was walking alone on a deserted road. Darkness surrounded her, with only a pale-yellow bulb flickering on an electric pole. The echo of her footsteps…[...]

Movie Night Revenge

Pranks can be fun, but they can be dangerous too. In my circle of friends, we pulled most of the usual pranks such as writing on a friend’s face if...…[...]

Auto-Mate

Auto-Mate A splash of water. Gel from a tube. More water. Foam, foam, foam… until there’s no foam. Liquid slightly more viscous than wat... Auto-Mate…[...]

The Table

The dining room waits in reverent silence as the afternoon light spills through the west-facing windows, illuminating dust specks that dance above ... The dining room waits in reverent silence…[...]

The Ghost Adagio

The Ghost Adagio: Emily Choy slogged through Boston’s gray drizzle and black slush, and made her way to the side door of the Kenmore Conservatory, ... The Ghost Adagio: Emily…[...]

Taking The Shot

Finally, they were outside and away from the Saturday night crowd. Erik reached out his hand, his back to the midnight energy of U Street, and sign... Finally, they were…[...]

With John in the Morning

I was just finishing the bacon as it sizzled in the cast iron pan my parents had bought in a flea market before I was born. The smell wafted into…[...]

The Biggest Feast

When I first met Eleni, we were at a dinner party in Chicago, inside a regal-looking gala space, celebrating the opening of the new play. I was a ... When…[...]

18 Folds

18 Folds She is leaning across the kitchen table, spoon in one hand, the other cupped beneath to catch any drips. Small dumplings swimming in a spice-laced ... She is…[...]

Sesame Chicken

A mother’s love language is in her cooking. A love language I thought were little gestures but as I grow older I’ve come to realize just how not so... A…[...]

That’s Not What I Meant

I have knots in my stomach. We were traveling competitively, checking out all the sites, I have knots in my stomach. We were traveling competitively, checking out all the sites,…[...]

East 64th Street

East 64th Street "419 E. 64th street please?" The taxi driver turned his body 180 degrees and looked me in the eye. "You sure?" His concern…[...]

No Holding Back

No Holding Back. The tagline, the parting words, and the lasting message of the book I've just finished, closed, and placed on the shelf where all ... No Holding Back.…[...]

the present (the point where the past wins its race against time)

the present (the point where the past wins its race against time) the present (the point where the past wins its race against time) When the yellow yolk of the…[...]

So Lucky

So Lucky So LuckyInternalized racism, identity dissociation, greener grass*Content warning: non-graphic mentions of abuse and use of racial slurs* “Talk to... So Lucky Internalized racism, identity dissociation, greener grass *Content…[...]

The Child Underwater

It is just after midday on the main street of the town where Cassie and Ethan now live together. They turn into Nguyen’s Corner, established in 197... It is just…[...]

Literally, Human (The Shape of My Heart)

Koong, kwang, koong, kwang… Perhaps the very first sound I heard in this world, inside my mom’s belly, was my own heartbeat. As weird as it sounds... Koong, kwang, koong,…[...]

Hungry Eyes

I don’t remember being adopted. It’s just a story, part of the family folklore to make me feel special and wanted. When I was a kid, I never got ti...…[...]

A Living Weight

It is nearly midnight. We should be asleep. Especially me.Tomorrow, I will be married here on Phú Quốc Island, in this house, beneath the same ceil... It is nearly midnight.…[...]

Signals in the Noise

Looking at the sky has always meant facing uncertainty. It stretches beyond what you can fully see or predict, vast and indifferent to whether you ... Looking at the sky…[...]

Comin’ Round the Mountain

She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain When She Comes The old folk song went round and round in her head as Joanna Fan peered through the wet win... She’ll Be Comin’…[...]