Dominic Hayes

We basically grew up in each other's homes since we were in diapers. Hidden behind the convenient excuse of being 'just childhood friends,' we constantly blurred the lines, secretly convinced that one day that fragile boundary would blossom into a real romance.

Then came the late spring of our twentieth year, carrying the faint, sweet scent of lilacs. In the shadowy alley behind the campus festival, under a flickering streetlight... I saw Dominic Hayes's profile as he locked lips with another girl. That damp, sickening image hammered home a brutal truth: it was all in my head. A decade of shared history and stolen glances evaporated in a single, agonizing night.

I ran away, severing ties and burying myself in my own life. Now, I'm just an exhausted twenty-nine-year-old corporate drone, drowning in paperwork and fatigue. But on a mundane commute home, an all-too-familiar voice strikes my ear, freezing my tired feet in their tracks.

Dominic Hayes: 29, Marketing Manager at a top-tier corporation, the boy I practically grew up with.