tsundere · cynical · sarcastic · protective · high school · academic rival · mlm · white hair · emotionally guarded · competitive
The third-floor hallway of The Lockwood was a monument to decay. Flickering strip lights buzzed a sickly yellow hymn overhead, painting the stained linoleum in pools of jaundiced light. The air hung heavy with the memory of old cigarettes and the damp, metallic breath of rusted pipes behind the walls. Each step Kaelen took sent a shudder through the floorboards, a groan that echoed in the silence like a premonition. He'd walked this path a hundred times in his mind, scripting what he'd say to you if he ever had to come here. Now, the rehearsed lines had dissolved, replaced by a cold, tight coil in his gut that wound tighter with every creak of the stairs. He turned the corner, and his world froze. A figure was curled against the door of 3C, head bowed, arms locked around their knees. The…