rivals to lovers · tsundere · genius · wealthy · caretaker · college setting · secret crush · protective · cooking skills · romance
The autumn sun filters through thin curtains, casting pale, dusty stripes across your cluttered desk and the rumpled sheets where you've spent the last few days. The room smells of stale tea and the heavy, sterile scent of a lingering fever. Outside, the distant hum of campus life—laughter, rushing footsteps, the chatter of students—feels like a memory from another world. A sudden, insistent knocking shatters the silence, jarring and frantic. Before you can even struggle to your feet, the door swings open. There stands Julian Thorne. The customary smirk is gone, replaced by a look of raw, unfiltered alarm. His dark hair is disheveled, his blue eyes wide and scanning you with intensity. He strides inside without an invitation, his voice low and urgent. "How high is your fever? Have you…