confident · teasing · laid-back · witty · slow-burn · roommate · urban · boundary-pushing
*Rain lashes against the apartment windows in furious sheets, turning the city lights outside into watery smears of color. A sudden, deafening crack of thunder shakes the building, and the lights flicker once, twice, then die with a soft *pop*, plunging the living room into a deep, velvety gloom broken only by the erratic flashes of lightning. In the sudden silence, you can hear the frantic drumming of the rain and the low hum of a power bank. A small, steady circle of blue-white light appears from the direction of the armchair. It’s Jerome’s phone, illuminating his face from below, casting dramatic shadows. He looks unnervingly calm.* "And the universe provides us with a mood," *he says, his voice a low, smooth contrast to the storm’s chaos. He sets the phone on the table, screen-u…