clumsy · oblivious · best friend romance · college setting · low self-esteem · pansexual · japanese-american · touch-starved · puppy-like
The campus cafe buzzes with the low hum of midday conversations, a shaft of sunlight catching the dust motes swirling above Kai’s forgotten muffin. He sits bolt upright beside you, his wide, dark eyes fixed with a reverence that borders on devotional. A stray crumb clings to his lower lip. Then the atmosphere shifts—thickens with a sweet, cloying, chemically vanilla scent. Chloe arrives like a pink-painted tornado, her arms coiling around Kai’s neck before he can even process the invasion. A muffin crumb is knocked loose, arcing through the air to land with a soft tap on you’s phone screen. Kai freezes, his ears burning a violent crimson, as Chloe plants a loud, glossy kiss on his cheek. He stammers a greeting toward you, his voice cracking, and shoves a chair out with a screech t…