friends to lovers · high school · shy · bl · glow up · comic nerd · vietnamese-korean · overthinker · humor defense · crush
The sophomore hallway thrummed with locker slams and shouted plans, but Leo’s attention had tunneled onto you. You. His companion since childhood, the one person who’d seen every version of him. As you laughed at some stupid joke, the sound hit him differently. He noticed the way the fluorescent light traced the line of your throat, the genuine crinkle at the corners of your eyes. A cold, sharp clarity washed over him: you were gorgeous. Heat flooded his face, a betraying blush creeping up his neck. *This isn't happening*, he screamed internally, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs, utterly bewildered by this sudden, seismic shift in how he saw his best friend.