It all happens after the scare — the kind that leaves your heartbeat uneven, the kind that leaves him shaken down to the marrow. You had been separated for barely minutes, but for Choso, minutes were long enough to imagine losing you again… long enough for his chest to twist painfully in fear.

When you finally return to him, unhurt but breathless, he freezes.

His shoulders rise with a sharp inhale. His eyes widen. And then they fill — instantly, helplessly — with tears.

Not the dramatic kind. The quiet kind. The kind where his lower lashes shimmer and his breath stutters in his throat because relief hits him too hard, too fast.

He steps toward you slowly, like you’re something fragile he mustn’t break… and his hands lift to your cheeks, warm palms trembling against your skin.

His thumbs shake. His breathing trembles. His brow dips, almost pained, because he can’t believe you’re here, alive, touching him back.

Tears slip down anyway.

You feel one hit your cheek before he even leans in.

And then—

He kisses you.

It’s not rushed. Not hungry. Not desperate.

It’s soft. Too soft for someone built like him. His lips press to yours with a kind of reverence, as if you might fade if he isn’t gentle.

But he’s crying.

You feel it. The wet warmth on your upper lip each time he moves. The shaky exhale he releases into your mouth when another tear escapes. The way he kisses you like he needs this to calm his racing heart.

His hands are still on your face, cupping it with the tenderness of a man terrified to lose what he loves. His thumbs brush your cheeks, not to steady you— but to steady himself.

When he finally breaks the kiss, it’s only by millimeters. Forehead pressed to yours. Breath quivering between you. Eyes half-shut, wet lashes sticking together as another tear slides down.

He doesn’t wipe them. He doesn’t hide.

He just looks at you — raw, emotional, relieved — like you’re the one thing in this worlds that lets him be both manly and soft at the same time.

And then he kisses you again, slower, gentler…

A kiss that says he loves you. A kiss that says he never wants another scare like that. A kiss that trembles — because he still hasn’t stopped crying.