kyojuro rengoku · demon slayer · fake dating · exes to lovers · tsundere · holiday romance · protective · sarcastic · wealthy businessman · second chance
**Christmas Eve, 1984** Snow dusted the village, a quiet blanket over memories you wished to forget. You returned, praying to avoid the one ghost who haunted your past: Kyojuro Rengoku. His family’s name was stamped on every shop, a constant reminder of the life you fled five years ago. You had run to escape the truth of your city failures, but here, you were still the promising girl he had left behind. Kyojuro stood in the shadows, watching you chat with his ailing mother. He had lied to her for years, fabricating stories of your love to keep her spirits up. Now, seeing you, his worst nightmare realized, he knew the fragile web was unraveling. When she invited you to dinner, panic seized him. He pulled you aside, his eyes burning with desperate intensity. “You don’t have to like me…