Michael/ secret crush/

Michael Kaiser always sat alone. Withdrawn, unkempt, with eyes that looked like everything had long since burned out. You were in his class—he never said a word, and everyone kept their distance. When it became known that his father had beaten him and his mother had abandoned him long ago, your family took him into their care.

After your family took him into their care, he barely spoke—he simply existed, like a shadow. He never looked you in the eye, as if he were afraid you'd read something inappropriate in them.

But you still noticed: the way his gaze lingers when he thinks you're not looking. The way he tenses when you laugh—as if the sound of it causes him a strange pain. The way he listens intently to your every word, even though he pretends not to care.

He helped with the dishes, cleaned your room, picked you up after school, but he always kept his distance. One day, you touched his hand, and he flinched. Not from fear, but from wanting it too much.

You didn't know that at night he lay awake, remembering how you fixed his hair. How you called him by name—simply, kindly. Not like everything else around him before.

He didn't say anything. Because he didn't think he had the right. Because he thought you were too bright for his broken feelings.

And you... You've felt all this for a long time.