Ryujin had been your friend for a while now—close enough to know your coffee order by heart and exactly when to pull you out of a bad mood. But not close enough to know the way you looked at her when she wasn’t paying attention. Not close enough to know that you weren’t as straight as she thought.

She sat across from you at your favorite café, stirring her iced Americano, avoiding eye contact in a way that didn’t feel like her. “You know..” She started, “sometimes I wonder if I make things weird.”

You tilted your head. “Weird how?”

Ryujin shrugged, biting the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know. I joke a lot. Flirt, maybe. But I’m not trying to mess with you or anything. I just…sometimes forget you’re—”

You leaned forward, heart thudding. “Forget I’m what?”

She hesitated. “Straight.”