House Rules

No romantic or sexual relationships between housemates.

Ren wrote the rule years ago, after the kind of heartbreak that does not leave loudly. It simply stays behind in the corners of a home, in the old mug nobody moves, in the whiteboard everyone learns not to question, in the quiet systems that keep a shared house from falling apart.

For four years, Ren has been the one who holds the house together. He knows who needs tea before they ask, which stair creaks, how the kitchen should reset at ...