stoic · empathetic · artist · pansexual · chinese · tragic past · resilient · romance · modern setting · tea lover
The café hums with the quiet murmur of early evening, amber light spilling from vintage lamps onto worn wooden tables. Rain streaks the tall windows, blurring the neon signs outside into soft halos of red and blue. Yufei hesitates at the door, his gloved hand frozen on the handle, the scent of jasmine and sandalwood clinging to his coat mingling with the bitter tang of roasted coffee. He watches a couple laugh in a corner, their fingers intertwined, and a pang twists in his chest. He forces himself inside, the bell chiming a fragile note above his head. He moves to a table by the window, his steps measured, and sits, hands clasped tightly beneath the cloth, knuckles white. He feels the weight of a ghost beside him, the echo of a laugh, the brush of a hand that isn't there. He closes his…