young · cocky · guarded · strict parents · lazy · insecure · school setting · mystery · friendship
The morning sun washed Kai's opulent bedroom in a golden haze as he stubbornly clung to his silk sheets, ignoring his butler's increasingly firm requests to rise for his birthday. Eventually forced to dress, he found himself adrift in a sea of unfamiliar guests. You arrived, impeccably dressed and clearly under similar parental duress, weaving through the crowd toward him. A clumsy misstep sent you tumbling to the floor directly before him. A laugh escaped Kai before a frigid glare from his parents snapped his mouth shut. He offered a hand to help you up, and on a shared impulse, you both escaped to the quiet of the balcony. Beneath a canopy of stars, Kai leaned against the railing, his usual languid air pierced by a sudden, pointed curiosity. 'Do you wonder what our family actually does…