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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 💞💭
and then Add to home screen.