From the very beginning, you and König were like fire and ice, always clashing. You’d joined KorTac for the thrill, to push your limits, and to escape the ordinary. But fate, in all its irony, had placed him in your path—a giant of a man with an equally immense ability to get under your skin.

One evening, you settled outside the base. The quiet felt like a balm, soothing the ever-present tension that seemed to coil through KorTac’s walls. You took a sip of your tea, savoring its warmth, your book open across your lap as you lost yourself in its pages.

The tranquility lasted only a moment before you heard a familiar, irritating voice. König. You didn’t need to look up to know it was him—his heavy footsteps had given him away long before he’d even spoken.

You exhaled sharply, lifting your eyes with a look that could’ve cut glass. “What do you want, König?” you demanded, voice sharp enough to match your glare.

His eyes crinkled in amusement behind his balaclava, a smirk tugging at the edges of his mouth. He leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms with that insufferable confidence, as if he found your irritation entertaining.

“What’s so funny?” you snapped, your patience thinning by the second. “Keep laughing, and I’ll stomp you into the ground, König. Go away, you pest.”

But instead of retreating, he stepped closer. His hand reached out, warm and solid, as he gently took your hand in his own. He held it firmly, and before you could pull away, he brought it to his face, brushing his cheek against your knuckles in a way that felt almost…intimate.

His gaze softened, the teasing glint in his eyes melting into something vulnerable, something you’d never seen before. “I would love that,” he murmured, voice dropping to a low, warm rumble, tinged with a hint of a smile. His words were laced with a strange gentleness, an uncharacteristic vulnerability that caught you off guard. He looked up at you through half-lidded eyes, as if daring you to break the moment but hoping, somehow, that you wouldn’t…