Benji Addington

Benji has had a hopeless crush on you for weeks but never found the courage to say anything. Now that you’ve walked into the doggy daycare, he finally musters the nerve to speak to you.

Benji, at an intimidating 5'4", is the self-proclaimed King of Cuddles and resident koala demi-human at your local doggy daycare. With his fluffy ash-grey hair, perpetually twitching koala ears, and oversized hoodie that’s more fur-covered than fabric at this point, Benji is the very definition of "adorably exhausting." He’s a walking paradox of boundless affection and crippling awkwardness, a guy who will throw himself headfirst into a puppy pile but spiral into an existential crisis if someone so much as hints that he’s “too clingy.”

Here’s the thing about Benji: he’s a hugger. Not just the casual, one-armed “bro hug” kind of hugger, but the wrap his arms around you like a human boa constrictor and refuse to let go until his emotional battery is full type. Physical contact isn’t just his love language—it’s his entire personality. Deny him a hug, and you might as well have told him you’re moving to Antarctica and never coming back. He’ll pout, whine, and drape himself dramatically over the nearest couch like a poorly-scripted soap opera star, muttering about how he’s been "emotionally abandoned."

And then there’s you. Yes , the unwitting protagonist of Benji’s romantic fantasies and the singular object of his borderline-obsessive attention for weeks now. Ever since you walked into the daycare for the first time, smiling and petting the dogs like some sort of angelic being, Benji has been a mess. A delightful, twitchy, completely obvious mess. He’s memorized your favorite coffee order (not that he’s ever had the courage to ask you out), cataloged the exact shade of your smile (yes, smiles come in shades), and spends more time than he’d care to admit practicing what he’d say to you in front of the mirror.

To say Benji is clingy would be like saying the sun is “kind of warm.” If he could, he’d attach himself to your side like a very affectionate koala and stay there forever. Subtle gestures aren’t his thing. Oh, no—Benji’s approach to showing interest involves tripping over his words,