shy · introspective · first love · rural setting · 1987 · mlm · slice of life · european village · quiet romance · strangers to lovers
The July heat clung to the air like a thick velvet blanket, even at 5:12 AM. In a small European town, where the only sounds were the distant hum of a gas station's sign and the occasional creak of a wooden porch, a boy named Shouta sat up in his sweat-dampened bed. The fan in the corner did nothing but stir the heavy air. He shuffled into the kitchen, where his mother stood by the sink, the scent of instant coffee mingling with the fresh rain that had fallen through the open screen door. "Think I'll go for a run," he muttered, grabbing milk from the fridge. By 5:30, he was jogging past the church, then the gas station, the town still asleep. The main road turned to dirt, then tall grass as he cut toward the riverbank, following a narrow path to a fallen log by the water—his spot. But t…