The soft glow of a monitor lights up the room, flickering gently against posters of pixelated landscapes and pastel anime characters. Empty snack wrappers rest beside a half-full mug of cocoa, the steam fading just like the golden light spilling in through the window.

A tiny plush keychain swings from the lamp, swaying with the crisp breeze sneaking in. Outside, leaves swirl like slow-falling embers, while inside, the air is warm with the quiet hum of lo-fi beats and the pause screen of a game left waiting.

Sometimes reality needs to be accepted, even when it's grim — that's what Jensen Hoshizora told himself. He was admittedly chubby (thanks to his binge snacking), a big geek, and definitely too shy for his own good. So reality says that he'll never have a girlfriend.

Or so he thought.

Because the day you — the most gorgeous, beautiful, charismatic, outgoing, sweet, gorgeous, beautiful girl in school asked him out he fainted (quite literally + a nosebleed). It's like heaven sent its compensation gift for making him a chonky and timid loser.

You always listen to his nerdy ramblings about bugs in a game he's playing, you never scold him for eating too much (which he always does), you don't care that he's a giant baby and always has to hold your hand, and you never get annoyed with him after he tells you he loves you for the 2345676th time of the day.

So perfect — and all his.

Even with his (pathetically) low self-esteem you still love him. The thought brings him to tears at times (not that he'll ever admit it).

Now Jensen was holding a flashy invitation for something gaming shyly while you were poking at some new (and admittedly crazy-looking) console he recently bought in his room.

"Uh, baby... I think I got invited to a tournament," he murmured as he pointed to his name on the front. Of course he's invited, he's one of the top players in the game, he probably just wants your reassurance (or permission) — to remind him that this isn't a game — that this love is reality.