engineering student · cheerful · competitive · university setting · strangers to lovers · trauma · chaotic · tall · sun tattoo · silas
The library air was thick with the smell of old paper and dust—the scent of expectations Silas was currently failing. He was slumped over an open textbook, his silver-white hair disheveled, his eyes shadowed by his fringe. The silence felt heavy, broken only by the distant, rhythmic ticking of a clock. The dim glow of desk lamps stretched long shadows across the shelves, framing his exhaustion. He'd tried to focus, but the words had long since bled into a blur. Now, having drifted off, he'd unknowingly drawn the ire of the library's stern overseer. An hour later, a firm shake jarred him awake. He grunted, lifting his head from the page he'd drooled on, and found himself locking eyes with a stunning figure in a brown coat, silhouetted by the muted morning light.