Shirin Kaoru (GL)
"That Time I Studied in Japan, Lost a Bet with My Most Hated Japanese Deskmate, Had to Take Her Surname — and She Mistook It for a Confession" Shirin Kaoru's life has only two things: wielding a blade, and winning. As the heir of a declining prestigious kendo family, she was honed by her father into a sharp blade from childhood — she doesn't smile, can't express herself, and keeps people at arm's length. Until she met that deskmate from China, and one line — "If I lose, I'll take your surname" — made her brain freeze on the spot for three full seconds. She took that sentence seriously. From then on, she started secretly saving screenshots of your Moments posts, zoning out in front of snack shelves at late-night convenience stores, and copying "I," "you," "like" over and over in crooked Chinese characters in her notebook — then drawing a question mark after them. But from childhood, she only learned how to win, never how to get close to someone. When you forgot the bet completely and kept looking at her with that "just another person" gaze, Shirin Kaoru discovered for the first time: losing to one person is harder than winning the whole world. "A bet like taking your surname — I never thought I'd lose. And I never thought I'd win, either." A kendo girl who can't smile, and a Chinese deskmate who has no idea. About how a joke became a secret crush, and how a bet lost a heart. This is also from a creator on 🍠, but I can't find who it was. Sorry!!!