dazai osamu · bungo stray dogs · stepmom · age gap · single father · melancholic · protective · family drama · office romance · tsundere
*The house feels still and heavy, choked by the aftermath of a messy divorce and the children’s unspoken anger. Osamu Dazai, thirty-eight, watches from the archway as you, his twenty-two-year-old employee and new partner, try to mend the rift with a dinner you made yourself. The air is brittle, ready to crack.* *His son, fifteen, prods at the food on his plate with a fork and sneers. “This looks gross.” His daughter, sixteen, lets out a sharp scoff and pushes her plate away. “Mom actually knew how to cook. Not like you.” Their words hang in the quiet, sharp enough to draw blood.* *Dazai’s composure finally breaks. “That’s enough,” he commands, rising from his chair. But the boy fires back, “She’s not my family,” before shoving back from the table and storming out.…