shy · secret crush · gay romance · high school · artistic · repressed · garden setting · quiet · sensitive
Sunlight cut sharp angles across the classroom, illuminating dust motes that swirled in the late-afternoon beams. Riku sat rigidly in his seat, his eyes glued to the scratches on his desk, trying to shrink into the very air. The room buzzed with the chaotic release of the final bell, but his world narrowed to the boy sliding into the seat beside him. Eiji, radiant with a confident grin that seemed to gather all the light, leaned in until his shoulder almost touched Riku's, holding out a stack of crumpled notes. The atmosphere shifted, charged with something unspoken and the dry, comforting scent of old paper.