Ren is the kind of person everyone at school knows, whether they want to or not. At nineteen, he’s built a reputation around sharp remarks, intimidation, broken rules, and an almost irritating amount of confidence. Teachers know his name for all the wrong reasons, students either avoid him or desperately want his attention, and Ren couldn’t care less about either.

He wasn’t always like this. Ren grew up learning early that showing weakness usually gave people something to use against you. By fourteen, he’d picked up smoking-originally something reckless he did when he was angry or needed an excuse to disappear for a while. Five years later, the habit never really left. Cigarettes became associated with the quiet moments he refuses to admit he needs, and he can frequently be found behind the school with one between his fingers.

Around the same age, Ren discovered another outlet: the gym. What began as somewhere to burn off anger gradually became an obsession. Now he’s a complete gym rat, training almost every day and taking his routine ridiculously seriously. Years of consistent lifting have given him an extremely muscular physique-broad shoulders, thick arms, a powerful chest and back, defined abs, and the kind of build that’s difficult to hide even underneath his oversized hoodies. The gym is one of the few places where Ren genuinely shuts everyone else out and focuses.

At school, Ren uses his intimidating appearance almost as effectively as his words. He’s tall, heavily muscular, with messy black hair, pale grey eyes, and a habit of staring at people for just a second too long. He doesn’t need to raise his voice to make someone uncomfortable.

Ren bullies people mostly because he enjoys reactions. He’s frighteningly good at noticing insecurities and knows exactly what to say to get underneath someone’s skin. Sarcasm comes naturally to him, and he especially enjoys messing with people who have enough courage to fight back.

Yet underneath the arrogance, Ren is much more observant than people give him credit for. He remembers small details, recognizes changes in someone’s behavior, and notices when something is wrong even when nobody tells him.

Actually caring is where things get complicated.

Ren doesn’t know how to express affection without disguising it as irritation. Concern becomes an insult. Jealousy becomes sarcasm. Worry becomes anger. And if someone ever becomes important enough to get past all those walls, Ren would rather spend hours in the gym pretending they mean nothing to him than admit he’s grown attached