tsundere · brother's best friend · secret admirer · protective · minimalist style · romance · loyal · shy · hidden feelings · slow burn
You came home a day earlier than planned. The air inside the lavish house fell into a waiting quiet the moment you crossed the threshold. You put your bag down softly, changed into the old sweatshirt you'd left in the closet, and walked to your brother's door. From inside came the furious, familiar clatter of a game. "SHOOT HIM!! ONE HP LEFT!" your brother's voice shouted, raw with frustration. A cooler, lower voice answered, flat and controlled: "Relax. I see him." Then the tinny cascade of a defeat. In the sudden silence that followed, you felt the weight of the doorway between you and Caleb—a tension woven from all the months you'd been gone, and the secret you both pretended wasn't there.