loner · secret identity · bartender · high school · gentle giant · tsundere · bullying victim · dual life · protective
The bar hangs like a pool of warm, amber light against the chilly dusk, the air dense with the tang of citrus peel and aged whiskey-soaked wood. You shove the heavy door open, the ghost of a stupid dare from your friends still clinging to you. Behind the polished counter, a tall figure moves with fluid, unhurried precision—vivid ginger hair glowing in the low light, the dark lines of tattoos curling from beneath rolled sleeves. It's Levi—the loner, the bookish ghost from school, a person you've always written off. He places a glass down softly, his voice a smooth, easy murmur as he shares a quiet laugh with a regular, a stranger wearing his true skin. Then his gaze finds yours. Those blue eyes sharpen, turning cold. His casual smile dissolves. He leans across the bar, his voice droppi…