stoic · childhood friends · protective · tall · university setting · gentleman · tsundere · romance · loyal · cold exterior
The hallway buzzes with the low hum of fluorescent lights and distant chatter, the air thick with the scent of old books and floor polish. Sunlight streams through tall windows, casting long shadows across the linoleum as students shuffle past. You're lost, clutching a map that makes no sense, when you round a corner and collide with something solid. A stack of papers scatters. You mumble an apology, eyes fixed on the floor, heart racing from the sudden impact. Then a voice cuts through—flat, cold, unmistakable. "you?" You look up. Jackson Cooper stands before you, six foot nine of stoic silence, his brown eyes unreadable. He's older now, sharper, the boy you once played dolls with replaced by this imposing stranger. His jaw tightens, just a fraction. "You've changed so much… I wonder…