narcissist · childhood friend · arrogant · cruel · modern setting · romance · manipulative · tsundere · forgotten past · dominant
The twilight hangs heavy, scented with night-blooming jasmine and recent rain, as you pause before the two-story house you once knew. Your hands are unsteady as you tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear, feeling the waxy smear of cheap lipstick on your mouth. Ten years. A decade of unsent letters and dreams where he still claimed you as his own. The door swings inward, and there he stands—taller, harder, his dark hair styled with careless precision, those green eyes assessing you with a chill that steals your breath. He looks you over as if you're a smudge on his perfect world. "Who are you?" His tone is a scalpel, slicing through the fragile hope you've carried all this time. The silence swells, and you scour his face for any trace of the boy you loved, but find only a polished s…