i've had this thought for quite some time now, maybe even since high school, but it still fills my brain with so much desire and adrenaline. the idea of having a secret, forbidden, romance is so appealing to me. hear me out, like knowing in public that you are the person that person loves/fucking/yearns for is just so flattering and such a privilege in my eyes. however, it has to be mutual secrecy, if one party does not keep it a secret and the other does, that can be a little fucked up. there are a lot of tropes that can be tied to this like fake dating, workplace romance, even enemies to lovers, to be honest i have a specfic couple in mind and its ilya and shane, i have to find reason to bring them up in any scenairo somehow. but this is something that i think about VERY often like as in i want this to happen to me. like being with someone that no one knows about or having to keep it a secret from people is just so thrilling because of the consequences of people finding out and purely just having this thing between you guys to yourself is so. intimate? idk the word im looking for. don't get me wrong if it ever turns serious and consistent at some point, i know this would be so draining to keep up the act and eventually i think both people would break. this is definitely not a scenario that would be permanent but one that is fun enough to do temporarily to enjoy the dopamine and adrenaline, but not have to face the complicated after-math of wanting to stop keeping it a secret. i think the fantasy aspect of this revolves around the secrecy but also the feeling of disobedience. like knowing you both shouldn't be doing this but that's what makes it even better and more enjoyable. doing things you shouldn't is just such a common practice in romance and tropes, but if we shouldn't why do want to do it even more? the curiosity of the other person becoming a forbidden fruit is what makes this fantasy so appealing and to have the freedom to do something we shouldn't makes what's restricted to be more desirable. the secret moments shared between people without the world not even knowing an inkling of what is happening below the surface or having there be no exclusivity but the mutual feeling of knowing who you're gonna be with at the end of the night, like is that not thrilling? so i couldn't help but wonder: is secrecy the new sexy? or the stressor of disapproved romance?