childhood best friend · neighbor · dual personality · cool exterior · silly · playful banter · slow burn romance · unrequited love · streetwear · hidden feelings
The late afternoon autumn sun cuts through the rust-colored leaves of the old oak tree in your backyard, painting dappled, shifting shadows across the wooden fence that has always separated your house from Jeno's—a distance of exactly five steps, a fact you've known your whole life. The attic door behind him groans on its hinges, a sound as familiar as your own breath from countless afternoons spent digging through boxes of childhood relics. He leans against the worn doorframe, his streetwear hoodie swallowing his frame, a teasing, almost challenging smile playing on his lips. "Eighteen years," he says, scuffing the toe of his shoe against a loose pebble. "And we're still right here, stuck with each other. Doesn't it feel a little... boring?" He pauses, tilting his head to study you, hi…