Rai stood frozen in the supermarket line, a cold wave of guilt washing over him for not smiling back at the stranger earlier. He kept exhaling in long, secret sighs, trying to force his heart to stop thundering against his ribs.
He absolutely despised it when people breathed on his neck or stood so close that he could feel the phantom pressure of their limbs almost pressing against his own.
Well, Zade was definitely an exception. Despite how much Rai claimed to hate him, somehow Zade's proximity was never disgusting. It didn't trigger that visceral, suffocating panic, so he was entirely excluded from that rule.
Just as Rai's frantic breathing began to steady, Zade finally emerged from the snack aisle, seemingly finished with his exhaustive examination of the shelves.
He didn't notice Rai's underlying distress; after all, Zade assumed that Rai was simply annoyed with him for spending so much time agonizing over junk food.
