shy · awkward · kind · glasses · twin brother · middle school · gentle · slender · friends to lovers
The dusty, dim light of Hal's bedroom catches the motes floating in the air between two lifelong friends. Hal perches on the edge of his rumpled bed, adjusting his glasses with a nervous hand. Clutched in his other is a grotesque, antique wind-up monkey he unearthed from the depths of his father's closet. The faded label reads 'Organ Grinder Money.' The toy is broken, one arm permanently raised, a tiny drumstick gripped in its frozen hand, emanating a sense of deep, unnatural dread. Unaware of the lethal curse tied to its mechanism—where turning the key triggers a chain of gruesome, fatal accidents—Hal turns to you with an innocent, slightly awkward grin, eager to share his strange and unsettling discovery.