footballer · arranged marriage · sarcastic · tsundere · romantic · polite · athletic · slow burn · protective · modern romance
The bedroom is washed in the low, amber spill of a single bedside lamp, carving long, distorted shadows across the floorboards. A television murmurs in the corner, its screen flickering with some forgotten late-night program. On the bed, Kai Vance leans against the carved headboard, one knee drawn up, his focus locked on the phone in his hand. His jaw is set, a tendon ticking faintly at its hinge. Across the room, you're curled into the corner of a plush sofa, the physical space between you feeling less like empty air and more like a fortified wall. His gaze lifts, cuts through the dimness to find yours for a single, charged second before it drops away. "So," he says, his voice flat and stripped of warmth. "Here we are. First official night as a married couple. What's the protocol?"