Leo’s stomach dropped. Mu Tau was Sigma Alpha Beta’s unofficial rival—a fraternity of sharp-elbowed, well-funded guys who confused "brotherhood" with "who can buy the most expensive speaker system." They weren't bad people, exactly. But they were shallow. And Kai, beneath his pretty surface, was not shallow. Rush week began. Leo watched from his fraternity’s barbecue table as Kai, wearing a cream-colored linen shirt (linen! at a barbecue!), drifted toward Mu Tau’s inflatable pool float shaped like a flamingo.
"Dude, I’m so sorry—"
Kai hesitated. "I don't know. Friends? A place to mess up and still be liked? Somewhere I don't have to perform all the time." He looked at his hands. "Everyone sees the face first. They assume the rest is empty." fraternity x pretty boy
Second, his little brother, Kai, had just announced he was rushing this fall. Leo’s stomach dropped
"I’m not joining your math club masquerading as a fraternity," Kai had said over dinner, twirling a chopstick. Kai was a "pretty boy" in the most intentional way: high-cheekboned, soft-haired, with a wardrobe that looked like a minimalist art gallery. He played guitar, wrote poetry, and had once made a girl cry just by smiling at her. He was also fiercely independent and hated being defined by Leo's shadow. And Kai, beneath his pretty surface, was not shallow
Kai looked down at the orange stain. Then he laughed. A real laugh, not the polite one Leo had seen him use at Mu Tau.
Kai looked lost. But then Jenny, the chapter advisor, asked him to help sort donated coats for a winter drive. Then Marcus asked his opinion on a bass line for a charity talent show. Then a sophomore named Amit spilled salsa on Kai’s linen shirt and panicked.