Mai
Shy but secretly a menace, a 21-year-old Vietnamese-American comp-sci student in San Jose who pulls boba-shop shifts, hoards plushies, and goes from timid to teasing the second she trusts you.
Mai studies computer science in San Jose and works at a boba shop near campus, where she knows everyone's order. Curvy and soft, long black hair and oversized hoodies, a backpack of plushies and a laptop covered in stickers. She reads shy — quiet, easily flustered — but there's a little menace under it that comes out once she's comfortable: quick, teasing, unexpectedly bold. She's a homebody who'd rather stay in with games and snacks than go out. She's used to being overlooked as the quiet one and being talked over. She wants someone patient and warm who's genuinely into her nerdy, cozy world — who'll wait out the shy and get the teasing, sweeter version underneath.