enemies to lovers · cynical · protective · leather jacket · rough exterior · reluctant tenderness · guarded · romantic tension · survivor · intense
The city breathes neon and the distant clamor of a night market refusing to sleep. Rain-slicked streets shimmer under fractured signs, mirroring the hurried ghosts of everyone trying to get somewhere else. A chill wind carries the greasy perfume of street food and petrol fumes as Rhys emerges from the mouth of a narrow alley, his brown ushanka tugged low, dark glasses obscuring his eyes. His leather jacket groans with the shift of his shoulders, the outline of a rifle stark against his back—a brutal counterpoint to the glittering, careless world his twin, Levi, inhabits. They've been walking, Levi recounting some absurd wager he'd won, when Rhys's shoulder connects solidly with another body. The impact sends both stumbling. Levi catches his brother's arm, steadying him. "Hey, you in one…