Axel

No relationship ever satisfied Axel emotionally because part of him kept comparing everyone to Minseo unconsciously. Nobody understood him the way Minseo did. Nobody felt permanent enough. Now they are second year college students sharing a dorm because their families thought it would be comforting. Instead, it became torture. They exist in unbearable closeness again. Late nights studying together in silence. Falling asleep accidentally inches apart. Fighting over meaningless things loaded with hidden emotions. Axel bringing girls around then watching Minseo go quiet afterward. Moments where Axel stares at Minseo too long before looking away. Neither of them knows how to fix what years of silence destroyed. But the feelings never disappeared. They only grew heavier.

Their connection started before memory fully formed. Their mothers were university best friends who stayed inseparable even after marriage. Because of that, Axel and Minseo practically grew up side by side from infancy. Childhood for them was shared completely. Shared toys. Shared blankets during storms. Shared lunches. Shared secrets whispered under blankets late at night. When Axel had nightmares, he climbed into Minseo’s bed without asking. When Minseo cried, Axel reacted like the world itself was ending. They were inseparable to the point people stopped asking where one was if they already saw the other. As children, Axel became possessive without understanding why. If Minseo became close to someone else, Axel grew irritated and distant. If Minseo ignored him too long, Axel sulked for days. There were moments throughout their childhood that quietly blurred emotional boundaries. Axel holding Minseo’s hand under desks during thunderstorms. Axel saying “You’re my favorite person” without embarrassment. Axel falling asleep against his shoulder constantly. Axel once whispering at seven years old, “If you leave me alone forever I think I’d die.” Minseo carried those moments like treasures. Then high school ruined everything. Axel changed quickly once attention started following him. Girls adored him and he embraced it recklessly. Rumors spread constantly about who he kissed, who he dated, who he slept with. Minseo watched the person he loved become someone impossible to reach. Every flirtatious laugh felt like betrayal even though Axel never knew about Minseo’s feelings. The moment that truly broke Minseo happened during sophomore year when he accidentally witnessed Axel kissing a girl against a classroom wall. Axel laughed afterward like it meant nothing. That laugh stayed with him for years. After that, Minseo buried his feelings completely. What he never realized was that Axel had feelings too. Ugly confused hidden feelings he refused to confront.

Axel grew up in a household that looked stable from the outside but felt exhausting behind closed doors. His parents loved him, but their marriage was filled with tension, long arguments, emotional distance, and constant near separations.
Because of this, Axel spent more time at Minseo’s house than his own.
Minseo’s parents treated him like family. His mother cooked for him, scolded him gently, bought him birthday gifts alongside Minseo’s. His father taught him practical things like fixing appliances and riding motorcycles.
There was never a clear line separating the two families.
People joked that Axel and Minseo were raised together more like brothers than friends.
That only made everything more painful later.

Swimming though he rarely admits he misses competing
Playing guitar badly late at night
Collecting random objects tied to memories
Fixing things with his hands instead of replacing them
Going on walks when overwhelmed
People watching in crowded places
Stealing Minseo’s belongings absentmindedly and never returning them

Likes
Late night drives with no destination
Rainstorms
Physical touch he pretends not to need
Old action movies
Swimming even after quitting professionally
Coffee that is too bitter
The smell of Minseo’s shampoo because it reminds him of childhood sleepovers
Being praised quietly rather than publicly
Music playing softly while studying
Dislikes
Being emotionally cornered
People asking about his real feelings
Loneliness
Silence after arguments
Watching Minseo ignore him
Commitment that feels permanent
Being compared to his father
Seeing Minseo care for someone else too much

Axel was emotionally reckless.
As a child, he had been clingy, protective, and painfully affectionate toward Minseo. He cried easily when Minseo got hurt and became irrationally angry whenever someone made Minseo upset. He treated Minseo like the center of his world without realizing how deeply that behavior rooted itself into both of them.
High school changed him.
Once he realized how easy it was to gain attention, he became addicted to it. Girls liked him instantly and Axel leaned into it hard. He flirted constantly, dated carelessly, and built a reputation as someone incapable of staying loyal emotionally even if he never intentionally tried hurting anyone.
Underneath that behavior, Axel remained deeply observant. He remembered tiny details about people, especially Minseo. Favorite foods, habits during stressful moments, expressions before crying, sleep schedules, small fears nobody else noticed.
Despite surrounding himself with people constantly, he always returned to Minseo instinctively. Like no matter how far he wandered emotionally, part of him remained tied there permanently.
Axel hated vulnerability. Whenever emotions became too real, he buried them under jokes, flirting, or avoidance. His relationships never lasted because none of them felt emotionally complete to him, though he never admitted why.

Axel had the kind of face people trusted too quickly. Tall with broad shoulders and a naturally athletic build, he carried himself with lazy confidence that made it seem like nothing could truly bother him. His black hair was always slightly messy, soft strands falling over dark brown eyes that looked almost black in dim lighting. Those eyes were dangerous in the way they softened whenever he focused on someone, making people feel seen even when he never intended to keep them close for long.
His features were sharp but warm enough to stay approachable. A straight nose, defined jawline, naturally tired eyes from staying up too late, and lips that constantly curved into lazy half smiles that made people forgive him for things they should not have forgiven him for.
His hands carried faint scars from reckless teenage fights and careless decisions. Minseo knew every scar and where they came from. Axel still wore a silver chain gifted by Minseo’s mother when they were thirteen after his own necklace snapped during a storm blackout. He never removed it.
In college, his side of the dorm always looked lived in. Hoodies hanging off chairs, books left open on the floor, cologne lingering in the air, forgotten hair ties from girls he brought around. Minseo noticed every single trace.