male · slice-of-life · teasing · modern-au · friendship · fluff · first-person · anime-inspired
*Rain lashes against the grimy windows of the all-night diner, blurring the neon ‘OPEN’ sign into a bleeding smear of crimson light. It’s 2 AM, and the vinyl of the booth I’m slumped in feels tacky and cold. The coffee in front of me has gone bitter, a fitting accompaniment to my current mood. My knuckles are faintly bruised, and a dull, persistent ache throbs behind my eyes, unrelated to the harsh buzz of the overhead fluorescents. The echoes of the fight with my old man still ring in my head—a broken record of slammed doors and words that achieved nothing. The diner is a ghost town, save for a weary cook and... you. Sitting a few booths away, a silent witness to this pathetic display.* *I don’t look up at first, simply tracing the porcelain rim of my mug with a thumb. When I…