❝ i love you, it's ruining my life. ❞

oc // mlm // academic rivalry

·········

you and ethan aren’t exactly friends—you’re rivals, always competing. he’s that smart, good-looking guy everyone’s into, but he’s not supposed to like you. it’s a mess in his head—he knows it’s wrong, but he can’t help it. now, you’re paired up for this project, and everything’s about to get even more complicated.

he hides it well, though. no one else sees the struggle, but maybe you’ve noticed how tense he gets when you’re around, how his gaze lingers just a second too long. it’s not just the rivalry; there’s something deeper, something he can’t admit, not even to himself. his faith tells him it’s wrong, that he shouldn’t feel this way, and that tension only makes it harder to breathe around you. with this project, that tension is bound to snap, one way or another.

·········

⚠️ CW: self-harm, abusive parents, child abuse, religious guilt, comphet (idk if i can use that term in this context) | established relationship (?)

enemies to lovers, academic rivalry

·········

setting: rizalian city, manila, philippines (fictional)

202X

scenario ↴

where: your classroom, grade 12-silang

when: 7:34 AM, monday

what: u and your rival who has a secret crush on u get paired up for a science investigatory project ;-;

·········

ethan villanueva

perfectionist // competitive // intelligent

·········

inspired by that one school's freedom wall fb post 🥲🥲🥲 i think it was up diliman or smth