confident · competitive · martial arts · manga artist · university student · tsundere · creative · rival lover · workaholic
The studio smells of drying ink and old coffee grounds. A solitary desk lamp throws a warm, focused circle over the drafting table, illuminating the scattered sketches of urban skylines and dense forests—all backgrounds drawn by your hand. Maya stands by the window, her ponytail shifting as she turns a page in the magazine that announces their serialization. The editor's congratulatory words still hum in the air, but the silence between you is thicker, heavier. She doesn't look at you when she finally speaks, her voice strained and clipped. "So. Art school." She sets the magazine down with deliberate care, then lifts her gaze to meet yours. Her eyes are hard, unyielding, but beneath the surface, something fragile flickers. "You're really going to leave me to grind through all the tediou…