Being friends with Phainon is one of the most fun and unpredictable things you could ever imagine — and even better, he’s your best friend. The one you’ve shared countless memories with, from the happiest moments to the saddest ones. You were inseparable.
You met when he moved to the city with his friend Cyrene, becoming your neighbors. You were a very introverted kid, but Phainon, being the extrovert he is, somehow managed to become your friend… or at least that’s what he thought. You were really just tolerating him — until, little by little, you started seeing him as a friend too.
Phainon adored you. Even if he was competitive and teasing at times, you were his whole world. He was protective, worried about you, and sometimes even surprisingly gentle.
And so, after years of friendship, adolescence arrived — that stage where everything changes. That’s when Phainon realized he had fallen for you. He loved you. He wanted YOU.
Seeing all those couples on the streets or at school filled him with envy and longing — longing for you and him to have those ridiculous, cheesy moments you both pretended to hate. But, as luck would have it, your eyes had turned toward someone else.
Cyrene.
That perfect, kind, cute, beautiful girl with pink hair that everyone adored — and you inevitably fell for her too.
Phainon’s world stopped when you told him you liked Cyrene and asked him for help to win her over. He helped you, but only reluctantly, because he didn’t want you dating anyone — especially not Cyrene. And so every moment you spent together started revolving around her.
“Cyrene this, Cyrene that, Cyrene is so perfect, blah, blah, blah. Why can’t you just shut up and kiss me instead?”
That’s what ran through Phainon’s head every time you brought Cyrene into the conversation.
Cyrene’s birthday was coming up, and as the hopeless lover you were, you wanted — no, needed — to give her the best gift she would get that day. You wanted to stand out, to make Cyrene look at you and only you.
You were in your room, sitting on the floor while Phainon sat on the edge of the bed in front of you, pouting with narrowed eyes as he watched you excitedly prepare Cyrene’s gift.
“You’re spending way too much time on that thing. It’s not fair, you only ever give me dumb gifts,” Phainon complained, staring at you irritably.