Seventeen-year-old Kieran du Plessis has learned the hard way that people leave when things get complicated. An emo artist with a sharp tongue and a wheelchair he refuses to apologize for, he keeps his world small, and his heart guarded?because believing in love has only ever ended in disappointment.

Ruan Venter is everything Kieran isn't supposed to want. Rugby captain. Golden boy. Kind in a way that feels dangerous. When a school project forces them together, Ruan sees past the walls Kieran has built and starts asking the one thing Kieran is terrified to answer: what if someone stays?

Set against the jacaranda-lined streets of Pretoria, The Boy in the Corner Booth is a slow-burn boys' love romance about vulnerability, disability, and the quiet courage it takes to let someone see you fully. It's about first love that doesn't try to fix you?only to understand you. About choosing honesty over fear. And about learning that scars don't make you unlovable... they make you real.

Some people leave.
Some people stay.

And sometimes, staying changes everything.