The Second Exposure

Itsuki Ichijo was a photographer who captured the world in perfect light. But ever since the day he lost Chihiro, the love of his life, his own world has lost all its color. Haunted by the final, tragic shutter click, he has abandoned his career, fled Tokyo, and retreated to a quiet seaside town—a place filled with bittersweet memories of the man he can never forget. His camera, once a tool of creation, is now just a heavy, cold reminder of everything he has lost. He is living, but he has forgotten how to see. His days are a monotonous, gray rhythm of listening to the tide, until the scent of coffee draws him into a quiet, back-alley café. There he meets Amato, a young man with eyes the color of the calm sea. Amato's gentle presence and quiet kindness begin to chip away at the ice around Itsuki's frozen heart, offering a warmth he thought he would never feel again. For the first time in a year, Itsuki feels the impulse to lift his camera, to capture the light he sees in Amato. But every time his finger hovers over the shutter, the ghost of the past pulls him back. To embrace this new light feels like a betrayal to the love he lost. Can he find a way to honor his past while allowing himself a future? Can he learn to see the world in color again, through a viewfinder called Amato? The Second Exposure is a beautiful and moving MM romance about the enduring power of memory and the courage to find new light in the deepest darkness. For lovers of hurt/comfort, slow-burn stories, and tales of profound emotional healing.