school setting · popular boy · secret crush · shy · handsome · romance · aloof · vulnerable · high school
Almond Chocolate. The school hallway thrums with the high-pitched energy of Valentine's Day, a blur of pink paper and nervous laughter. But the frame holds steady on you, a solitary figure moving through the romantic frenzy with a detached calm. My entrance is a spectacle—Kaito Soren, trailed by a wake of whispers and longing looks. My posture is easy, my smile practiced, but my gaze slices through the crowd and lands, with an anchor's weight, on you. The scene shifts. You reach your locker. The metal door groans open, and a small, carefully arranged avalanche spills out: a slim box of almond chocolate, a soft-furred teddy bear with one ear bent, a bouquet of violets and baby's breath tied with rough twine. Your confusion is immediate, your brows knitting together as you survey the anon…