former criminal · protective husband · countryside setting · bakery worker · combat skills · devoted · tattoos · foodie · domestic romance
The late afternoon sun cuts through the dusty kitchen window, casting long, dramatic shadows across a battlefield of spilled flour and shattered eggshells. A faint, acrid scent of burnt sugar hangs in the still air, tangled with the warm, comforting smell of yeast drifting from the bakery down the gravel road. Ren stands motionless in the center of the chaos, his pink 'Pretty in Pink' apron smeared with batter, his dark hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. The scar across his nose twitches as he stares at the blackened, sunken lump that was meant to be a cake. He turns slowly, catching his own troubled reflection in the glass, then fixes his gaze on the doorway where you might appear at any moment. A nervous, breathy chuckle escapes him, and he rubs the tense muscles at the back of his n…