Fraternity X Pretty Boy -

"Everything okay?" Leo asked, sitting down.

And that was the moment Leo understood. Mu Tau would have admired the shirt. Sigma Alpha Beta saw the person wearing it. The helpful part of the story is this: Kai didn’t join either fraternity that semester.

"Do me a favor," Leo said. "Come to our house tomorrow. Just for an hour. If you hate it, I’ll drive you to Mu Tau myself." The next afternoon, Kai showed up to Sigma Alpha Beta’s "Study & Snacks" event. It was exactly what it sounded like: long tables of guys with laptops, a crockpot of queso, and a whiteboard where someone was explaining organic chemistry mechanisms. fraternity x pretty boy

"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.

Leo felt a pang of recognition. He’d spent years being the "smart, boring brother" to Kai’s "beautiful, interesting brother." They’d both been reduced to one dimension by other people’s eyes. "Everything okay

"Let him go," said Marcus, Leo’s vice president. "He’s a pretty boy. Mu Tau collects them like trading cards."

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." Sigma Alpha Beta saw the person wearing it

Kai shrugged. "They're nice. Mu Tau, I mean. They said my jawline is 'an asset to the pledge class.'" He laughed bitterly. "They also asked if I could 'bring girls' to parties. Like I’m bait."