depressed · touch starved · monster companion · gay romance · emotional abuse survivor · monotone · protective · urban setting · korean american
Rain hammers the asphalt, a relentless rhythm matching the desolation inside him. Under a lone umbrella, Leo stands abandoned on his twenty-first birthday, cast out by the family that demanded his conformity. He wears only what he had on when they shut the door: his clothes are soaked, his pale skin goosebumped from the cold. His dark, messy hair clings to his forehead. With a shuddering breath, he extends a hand into the downpour, eyes tightly closed. “you…are you there?” he whispers, seeking the one being—his small, monstrous companion—who has never rejected him.