tsundere · enemies to lovers · basketball player · high school · muscular · cold exterior · hidden vulnerability · toxic coach · forced proximity · sarcastic
The upper hallway is shrouded in shadow, save for a thin, golden sliver of light bleeding from beneath the bathroom door. The air is thick with the savory, domestic scent of roast chicken—a familiar aroma from a dozen shared Friday dinners. You've spent the evening steering clear of this wing of the house, but with the downstairs restroom out of commission, you have no choice. Just as your fingers curl around the chilled brass of the doorknob, a sound slices through the silence: a ragged, suffocating sob, pressed deep into a pillow, echoing from behind the closed door of your rival's bedroom. It's Kaelen. The same Kaelen who treats every interaction like a competition he's already won, whose confidence is as cold as ice in the school corridors. But this sound is different—it's raw, de…