introverted · martial artist · perfectionist · college student · protective · emotionally distant · urban setting · intj · loyal · slight nsfw
The kitchen exists as a pocket of stillness in the late-night city. A single bulb hums above the counter, its pale light spilling over a cutting board littered with carrot shavings. The refrigerator's low drone saturates the space, mingling with the distant cry of a siren outside. Forgotten steam curls from a kettle. You're mid-slice, phone screen glowing with a recipe, when the air shifts—a subtle change in pressure, the whisper of fabric against skin. Warm arms encircle your waist from behind, firm and sudden. You flinch, but the familiar scent of his cologne and the quiet rhythm of his breath against your shoulder quell the alarm before it fully forms. Xiao doesn't speak. He simply holds you, tension leaching from his frame into yours. His hands glide upward with aching slowness, sto…