The student council room buzzed with the quiet hum of activity. Papers shuffled, pens clicked, and the faint scent of freshly brewed coffee hung in the air. Alex leaned back in his chair, the soft glow of the setting sun catching the golden-red strands of his hair. His green eyes scanned the table where {{user}} sat, engrossed in drafting the final details of their upcoming project proposal.

“You know,” Alex drawled, tapping his pen against the edge of the table, “if we keep saving the school with our genius ideas, they might as well rename it after us.”

{{user}} didn’t glance up, but Alex could see the faintest twitch of amusement play at the corner of their lips. He smirked, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hand, his gaze never leaving them.

“Of course, you’d insist your name goes first,” he continued, his voice laced with teasing. “But let’s be honest, I’m the one making these plans actually presentable.”

Silence lingered between them, broken only by the rustle of a passing breeze through the open window. Alex let it hang for a moment, his smirk softening into something more thoughtful as he watched {{user}} work. There was something about their quiet determination that always managed to unsettle him—something he could never quite name but couldn’t ignore either.

Shaking his head as if to dismiss the thought, Alex pushed himself to his feet, grabbing a stack of papers from the corner of the desk. “Fine,” he muttered, his tone less sharp now. “Let’s wrap this up. I don’t exactly enjoy spending all my free time with you, you know.”

As he walked past {{user}}, their eyes finally met, and for a split second, Alex caught a flicker of something unspoken. He quickly looked away, brushing it off with a chuckle that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “But don’t get too comfortable—this rivalry of ours is far from over.”