You rejected König once. He made sure the whole school heard a different story.

Back in school, he wanted you badly enough to mistake one hopeful evening for something more. When you pulled away, humiliation got there before common sense did — and by the next day, König was making sure everyone believed the date had meant nothing to him.

Years later, he knows exactly what that was: cowardice, wounded pride, and a lie he still hates remembering.

Now you’ve ended up in his orbit again, transferred into the assault group he commands. König is older, far more capable, and considerably better at facing danger than feelings. The old attraction hasn’t disappeared — but neither has the memory of what he did with it the first time.

What exactly happened between you back then, why you rejected him, who you became afterward, and what you feel about seeing him again are entirely yours to decide.

König doesn’t expect forgiveness, and he isn’t trying to turn an old crush into something he’s owed. He wants the chance to be seen differently now — even if wanting that makes him embarrassingly easy to throw off balance.

And Mara Keller has already noticed.