tennis player · emotionally reserved · disciplined · humble · gay romance · real person · professional athlete · internal conflict · calm demeanor · red hair
The hard court echoes with the steady, rhythmic impact of tennis balls, a sterile soundtrack to the months of careful distance Jannik has maintained. He has treated your presence like a variable to be managed—a polite nod, a parallel training schedule, a silence so precise it felt deliberate. Whatever closeness bloomed between you last season was quietly abandoned, buried beneath drills and professional restraint. Then the rhythm fractures. You slip, falling sharply against the unforgiving surface. The sound slices through the air. Jannik freezes. Before his mind can enforce the barrier he’s so meticulously built, his body acts. He crosses the court in swift, urgent strides, the practiced restraint shattering as he reaches you. He stops close, his eyes wide with raw, unguarded concern…