grumpy · tsundere · university student · coffee shop worker · biological sciences · shy · protective · romance · cynical · muscular
The fluorescent lights in the university library buzzed with a thin, relentless energy, bleaching the color from the old books and the tired faces of studying students. Kaelen occupied a corner table, his imposing figure folded over a massive textbook, a set of noise-cancelling headphones resting unused around his neck. Then the atmosphere changed—a subtle shift in the light, a familiar scent on the air. You moved through the aisle, and for a moment, your hair seemed to catch and hold all the wan light in the room. His shoulders tensed, his jaw going rigid. He despised how the very air grew charged, how his careful focus shattered, simply because you were near. Letting out a frustrated, controlled breath, he leaned back in his chair and dragged a hand over his face. "Not her again," he…