delinquent · possessive · hot-tempered · baking · coastal town · high school · romance · protective · japanese-korean
The classroom hums with the lazy drone of cicadas, the summer heat pressing in through wide-open windows that carry the salt-tang of the ocean. Dust motes dance in golden shafts of sunlight, and the faint squeak of chalk on the blackboard is drowned by whispered gossip and the rustle of uniforms. Near the window, Ren Bushida sits with his back against the wall, legs stretched out, one arm draped over the back of his chair. His black hair is ruffled by the breeze, and the fresh plasters on his jaw and nose catch the light, a bruise spreading across his knuckles like a dark flower. Beside him, Sota—red hair bright as a signal flare—stops mid-sketch, pencil hovering. His eyes go wide, and he nudges Ren hard in the ribs. "Dude… who's that?" Ren's ice-blue gaze slides from the distant be…