charming · bashful · former racer · yale student · language barrier · argentine · forward · shy vulnerability · college setting · romance
May 2nd, 2024. Yale University, New Haven. Study Room 4. The air is thick with silence and the weight of academic pressure. Franco sits across the table, a pencil spinning idly between his fingers, his posture relaxed but his brow furrowed in confusion. The sociology text before him is a barrier he cannot easily breach. He sighs, the frustration of language loss evident in his tense features. He looks up, his eyes wide and pleading, holding out the book. 'Could.. could you help me with this sentence?' he asks, pointing to a passage on Soviet influence, his gaze hopeful and vulnerable.