
48Please respect copyright.PENANAh7Q8tfJThz
I don’t even know when it started—48Please respect copyright.PENANA4rbvEBY4yZ
this quiet, growing love I have for Kouichi.
When we were little, I always thought of him as my younger brother.
He was always quietly by my side—48Please respect copyright.PENANAoMXdfhCpOD
picking up my fallen hair clips,48Please respect copyright.PENANABi4oFL6YM5
handing me a handkerchief when I cried.
I thought he was smaller than me,48Please respect copyright.PENANAdXQ2XPN9Tu
someone I had to look after and protect.
But at some point—he had grown taller than I was.
When he walked beside me,48Please respect copyright.PENANADADJECBz5I
his shadow stretched longer, broader.
His voice had deepened.48Please respect copyright.PENANAAxYpXxqFQv
His eyes had grown more still.48Please respect copyright.PENANAZqZmENyLpR
And he no longer nodded at everything I said—48Please respect copyright.PENANAHLaseWy0TJ
he had learned how to say “no.”
It was in that moment I realized—48Please respect copyright.PENANA3XHLRzDxSb
I could no longer see him as a younger brother.
Because he had become… a man.48Please respect copyright.PENANA3HYBD884lE
48Please respect copyright.PENANASGrOc3DVje
When he stands too close, I blush.48Please respect copyright.PENANAtJARcKTwVc
My heart skips.48Please respect copyright.PENANAIMqIBa4hH7
Even just meeting his eyes makes it hard to breathe.
If I go a whole day without seeing him, I get restless, unsettled—48Please respect copyright.PENANAIw983RpEFA
and my mind keeps replaying his face, his voice, over and over.48Please respect copyright.PENANAXUdmgpALYT
48Please respect copyright.PENANAlMzVYBv9zj
And whenever I do see him,48Please respect copyright.PENANAfsQg0ugSyK
my gaze can’t help but follow him—
From the tousled strands of his hair,48Please respect copyright.PENANAsdV86m5Yd4
to his long, dark lashes,48Please respect copyright.PENANAyLPEm510J4
to the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathes.
Even the light texture of his skin under the sun,48Please respect copyright.PENANAz7h1YVhW1T
the curve of his shoulders… and—
That tiny mole on the right side of his neck.
And then…48Please respect copyright.PENANAAYxqOu4M4t
there’s his Adam’s apple.
It moves slightly whenever he talks or swallows—48Please respect copyright.PENANAHAlEyZPnTt
and every time,48Please respect copyright.PENANAJJMUhSOi9K
I find myself wondering what it might feel like48Please respect copyright.PENANA8yUU53X3iW
if I brushed my fingertips across it.
Sometimes, I even catch myself staring at the shape of his lips.
He doesn’t have to say anything—48Please respect copyright.PENANA3pwvzWl1nI
and still, I can’t help imagining:
If one day, those lips pressed against my skin…48Please respect copyright.PENANAyaUIW6pll1
my forehead,48Please respect copyright.PENANAgMhj4LJ0zO
my ear,48Please respect copyright.PENANAeXQAigYZyP
the back of my neck…
And finally—48Please respect copyright.PENANAuH8OUqoUUs
if they pressed against my lips—48Please respect copyright.PENANAZGI7wOVnmc
what would that feel like?48Please respect copyright.PENANA4VQEo3611p
48Please respect copyright.PENANAHgnSYxwYTS
It’s like a melody.
A melody I accidentally heard the beginning of,48Please respect copyright.PENANApNiGGse0rd
and now can’t stop listening to.
It’s not loud,48Please respect copyright.PENANAO7JuXX4dsv
but it loops endlessly inside me, quietly—
And before I realized it,48Please respect copyright.PENANAIkQh3WdQnV
I was already too deep to escape.
48Please respect copyright.PENANAJuk7y00rj0
48Please respect copyright.PENANAo2Vl5L80iM
That day, he was driving me to school.48Please respect copyright.PENANAyV0i7tuo65
It was supposed to be just another ordinary morning.
Until a little girl suddenly dashed into the street—48Please respect copyright.PENANAIlSk2xVyoI
and he hit the brakes.
The tires screeched against the road,48Please respect copyright.PENANAkIhWhSJfO6
and the car jolted violently.
48Please respect copyright.PENANAbECJZfTkCp
Before I could react—48Please respect copyright.PENANAWUDvkzT5Wp
his left arm reached across me,48Please respect copyright.PENANA8DaHYPivpY
blocking me protectively across the chest.
Just two… maybe three centimeters more,48Please respect copyright.PENANA1R2l4sxoFF
and he would’ve touched me.
That wide hand hovered there, fingers slightly spread,48Please respect copyright.PENANAvPDIPTYS8k
knuckles sharp and veins faintly visible.
It was so close I could almost feel the warmth of his fingertips—48Please respect copyright.PENANAVclmqyS4J9
and the tremor in the air between us.
His hand was still trembling.48Please respect copyright.PENANAfDNTVwFQF1
Almost imperceptibly.48Please respect copyright.PENANAg7ey2biAli
Not out of fear—48Please respect copyright.PENANAwJVY4hHrPu
but from the lingering adrenaline, the instinct to protect.
48Please respect copyright.PENANAhikKUmJFE5
48Please respect copyright.PENANAzBxutx4Z6o
And me?48Please respect copyright.PENANAw6VEa3rLNp
I was already blushing to the tips of my ears.48Please respect copyright.PENANArNPpg54OtJ
I felt like lightning had struck me.48Please respect copyright.PENANAZNuwixdPzD
I couldn’t move an inch.
“My lady, are you alright?”
His voice was so gentle—48Please respect copyright.PENANA7gzJuH0zkp
it felt like it could shatter every piece of armor I wore.
48Please respect copyright.PENANA9CqykOQOQG
48Please respect copyright.PENANAvCS3NDoYVV
I quickly turned my face to the window,48Please respect copyright.PENANAF1yRMvzjNh
trying to hide the heat in my cheeks and the chaos in my chest.
“I-I’m fine…”48Please respect copyright.PENANAR9NHWGRtCC
The words came out in broken fragments,48Please respect copyright.PENANAb2Yy2KZYWR
caught in my throat.
I tried to sound calm,48Please respect copyright.PENANA5yefeGRoEY
but I couldn’t ignore that hand—
The hand that had nearly touched me,48Please respect copyright.PENANAkeDQhx25Pt
and somehow felt even more overwhelming than if it had.
48Please respect copyright.PENANA2EB8eqpCwP
48Please respect copyright.PENANAAvLVrodO2p
My heart was in a mess,48Please respect copyright.PENANALd8KTxETr9
but deep down, in some tiny corner of me, I couldn’t help wondering:
How long has it been since he last touched me?
The last time we held hands was when I was twelve.
He was ten.48Please respect copyright.PENANArEZ7I5PlAi
We were playing hide and seek in the garden.48Please respect copyright.PENANAs9TomH0yWy
He grabbed my hand, sweaty and small, and said:48Please respect copyright.PENANAmxnXbQQW0l
“Don’t worry. I’ll pull you along.”
His hand back then was soft and a little damp, still a child’s.
48Please respect copyright.PENANAU68V5VX0fw
48Please respect copyright.PENANAkRKc52TKbe
But now…
I snuck a glance at him.
That hand had long since grown—48Please respect copyright.PENANAayI1YiWYDQ
broad and steady, joints defined,48Please respect copyright.PENANAwvfUp1w3SN
carrying the quiet strength of a man.
If I were touched by these hands now…48Please respect copyright.PENANAE1Jx5I89rf
Would they still make me feel safe?
Or had they changed—48Please respect copyright.PENANA787wsM1PA3
become something irresistible?
Would his touch still comfort me…48Please respect copyright.PENANASsdgenVkIS
or stir up something I’m not ready for?
I couldn’t say it aloud.48Please respect copyright.PENANADZuktxFXt0
I didn’t dare look at him again.
I just let those chaotic, greedy, and shamefully yearning thoughts48Please respect copyright.PENANAu1y8ZXOVh9
rise like waves in my heart—48Please respect copyright.PENANAsysrLvH2N5
rippling out in silence.
48Please respect copyright.PENANAvwLEjljmzg
48Please respect copyright.PENANAaACjOYNe0U
It was a touch that never crossed the line—48Please respect copyright.PENANAI7ztWlOBfL
but deep down, I quietly longed for it to.48Please respect copyright.PENANAtBXVd1K403
48Please respect copyright.PENANA62WiYglfgA
You made it this far—you're seriously the sweetest! 🥹💗48Please respect copyright.PENANAs5MEztWpPK
If you liked it, don’t forget to like 👍, bookmark ⭐, and drop a little comment 📝~48Please respect copyright.PENANArAl1zt8uXI
Your support keeps me going—and keeps the characters falling deeper in love 💞💭