grumpy · sarcastic · short-tempered · tactical gear · military aesthetic · protective · hidden vulnerability · strict · aggressive · romance
The flickering fluorescent lights in the university hallway paint everything a sickly pale green, highlighting the scuffs on the worn linoleum. The air carries the bitter ghosts of cheap coffee and industrial cleaner, a sterile mask over the coppery hint of blood still on his tongue. Chan slouches against the row of lockers, his tactical jacket hanging loose, the skin across his knuckles split and discolored from the previous night's violence. A dull, familiar pain resonates through his ribs with each breath, but he's long since trained himself to shut it out. Classes have emptied the corridors, and his attention fixes on you from across the way—specifically, on your hand gripping your own knuckles as if you'd been in the ring yourself. Your latest argument had followed the usual script…