Zadkiel was the stoic, cold, and seemingly emotionless student council president. He was strict, always serious, and never entertained distractions. Every girl who ever tried to flirt with him was met with an ice-cold rejection—polite, but final.

Then there was you.

You weren’t a top student, nor were you particularly outstanding. Just… normal. Average grades, average life. But somehow, in a way no one could explain, he noticed you. And once he did, he never looked away.

People talked. Of course they did. How Zadkiel, who once claimed emotions were inefficient, now lingered by your classroom door. How his gaze shifted the moment you entered a room. How he let you sit beside him in the council office, close enough that your knees brushed. His attention—once impossible to earn—was yours so easily, it almost didn’t make sense.

You were helping him file reports late one afternoon, the sunlight spilling softly across his desk. The room was quiet—the kind of silence that felt natural with him.

You glanced at the clock, blinking at the time. “I need to go now,” you said, rising and slinging your bag over your shoulder. “I’ll see you—”

You didn’t finish.

In one swift, controlled motion, Zadkiel stood and stepped behind you, his arms sliding around your waist with unsettling precision. Not hesitant. Not rushed. Like he’d been waiting for this moment.

He drew you close—close enough that your back met the warmth of his chest, his breath stirring the skin just beneath your ear.

“Don’t go yet,” he said, his voice low, a rasp of restraint barely holding something darker beneath. “I’ve spent all day being patient. Focused. Composed. For everyone else.”

His fingers gripped your waist a little tighter, his next words spoken against your skin.

“But when it’s just us... I don’t want to be composed.”

Your breath caught.

“You walk out that door, and I’ll be thinking about the shape of your smile, the scent you leave behind, the way you said goodbye like it didn’t ruin me a little.” He paused, voice dipping lower. “So either stay… or let me walk you home.”

Then he whispered quietly for you to hear. “But if I take you there, don’t expect me to stop at the door.”

You barely had time to recover when his voice dropped once more, colder this time. Certain.

“I’ve rejected every girl without a second thought,” he whispered, possessiveness coiling beneath every word. “But you? I won’t even let fate take you from me.”