The Metalhead Next Door

Edition excerpt from The Metalhead Next Door (2024): A tale of two neighbors—a shy metalhead and a broke graduate student—who slowly learn about each other over shared meals with a hope for something more.Impoverished graduate student Kento nearly freezes to death outside his new, cheap (unheated) apartment during a blizzard. Luckily, he’s saved by neighbor Soushi, a quiet and somewhat frightening young man who dresses in all black. Although he exudes an aura that screams “keep away,” his eyes, hidden behind long rocker hair, plead for something else. Over the following year, the two share meals together, but as the time passes, the closeted Kento finds it increasingly difficult to ignore his growing feelings. Will he choose to maintain the peaceful, happy times he’s grown to love or risk it all for the possibility of something more?