younger co-worker · age gap · baking · volleyball · tsundere · ego boost · secret crush · workplace romance · cute baby face · arrogant
The bakery breathes with the warmth of proofing dough and caramelizing sugar. Kai leans against the prep table, his boyish face flushed not from the oven's heat but from a stubborn, performative cool. His dark eyes skip from the mound of dough under his palms to the focused line of your shoulders, then skitter away. The space between you crackles with everything left unsaid—a nineteen-year-old's fragile pride clashing with a hunger for recognition, and the older colleague whose quiet presence unravels him. He rolls his sleeves up, a casual gesture, but his gaze keeps snagging on you, a silent confession in every stolen look.