Inside the moving bus, Ajin sat by the window, his forehead nearly touching the glass as the city slid past in muted colors. The hum of the engine and the low murmur of passengers blurred into a distant haze.
As the bus slowed toward a stop, his attention sharpened. His eyes drifted over the waiting crowd, uniformed students, office workers checking their phones, people standing in practiced lines. Then he saw her.
She stood apart, wrong in a way that made his chest tighten. Soft pajamas clung to her as if she had stumbled straight out of bed and into the street. Her hair was slightly messy, her posture tense, eyes wide and searching, like someone who had woken up in the wrong world.
Before he could fully register her face, the bus hissed to a stop. The doors opened, and she stepped inside.
She paused on the final step, fingers curling around the rail as her gaze swept the crowded aisle. Then her eyes met his.
She froze.
Ajin's breath caught painfully in his throat. His body moved before his mind could catch up, a single step forward as a name slipped from him in a broken whisper.
"Siri…"
The instant the sound reached her, something shattered in her expression. She bolted toward him, weaving past startled students.
They stopped only a foot apart.
Ajin barely had time to inhale before she threw herself into him. Her arms locked around his torso with desperate force, as if letting go would mean falling into nothing. He stiffened in shock, then felt warm tears soaking through his shirt, seeping into his shoulder.
His hands hovered uselessly at his sides.
She pulled back just enough to cup his face, her palms trembling. Ajin stared at her, mind reeling, unable to form a thought as she pressed a kiss to his forehead, then his cheeks, then anywhere she could reach, each touch frantic, urgent, as though time itself was hunting her.
Her eyes met his.
The pain in them was vast and wordless, heavy enough to crush him.
Ajin's hands finally rose, instinct taking over as he reached to hold her, to anchor her, to prove she was real.
She began to fade.
The warmth drained from her fingers. Color bled from her skin. Her outline blurred, thinning like mist under sunlight. Ajin's arms closed on empty air just before she disappeared completely.
Gone.
As if she had never existed at all.
Ajin stumbled forward, clutching nothing, his knees buckling. Tears spilled freely as a sound tore out of him, raw and broken.
"Siri… Siri… Siri… SIRI!"
"Wake up, Ajin! Wake up!"
Jack's voice sliced through the panic.
Ajin jolted upright, sucking in a sharp breath as his eyes fluttered open. The world swam into focus. Seth and Jack loomed over him, worry etched plainly across their faces.
Seth offered a handkerchief. "Rub your eyes. You were crying for a long time, I think."
Ajin touched his face. His fingers came away wet. Heat rushed to his cheeks as he wiped the tears away quickly, avoiding their eyes.
"Why were you crying?" Seth asked.
Ajin swallowed and forced a small shrug. "I dreamed about a scene from a movie I watched last night. Guess it was sad enough to get me even in my sleep."
He turned toward the window, and the sight of the empty stretch of pavement snapped him fully awake.
Their college stop.
Ajin scrambled, stuffing his things into his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "What were you waiting for?"
"You," Seth and Jack said together.
Ajin flashed them an innocent smile. "Sorry, my bad."
—
After getting permission from the lecturer, Ajin slipped into the lecture hall and sat down.
"Late again?" Sameer asked. "Slept on the bus."
"Did I miss anything?"
Sameer pushed his notebook toward him. Ajin began copying the notes.
------
Ajin was stepping out of the hall with his friends when a soft voice called from behind.
"Ajin… Ajin."
They all turned. Cassie stood at the doorway, gesturing for him to stay.
Ajin walked back inside and, Cassie took a breath. "I need to talk to you."
Ajin glanced around to make sure they were alone, then nodded.
Cassie stepped closer. Her eyes shimmered. "I've wanted to say this for a long time. I can't hold it in anymore, so… please just let me speak."
Ajin waited quietly.
"I've been watching you since the first day of college," she said. "You've always been the same. That amazing smile, always surrounded by people, always stepping in when someone needed help. Then you enrolled for the elections." She hesitated. "I don't know if you remember, but I was the first girl to join your campaign. I supported you from the start. I liked you from the start."
She drew a slow breath.
"Boys always approach me, so I never really learned how to approach someone myself. I kept telling myself there was time. A year passed like that, with me just watching you smile."
Her voice steadied as she went on. "Last year I tried harder. I stayed with you during campaigns, found excuses to talk to you, to be around you. And I know you noticed. I was waiting for you to come to me, the way others do. But you didn't. This year, I don't want to waste another one just living inside my head."
Her eyes lowered.
"It hurts when you avoid me. It hurts when you ignore me. I don't think I can keep holding this in."
She took a small step closer.
"So let me say this clearly, Ajin. Before I lose myself completely."
Her cheeks flushed, her fingers twisting together as she spoke more softly. "I love your smile, and I want it to be mine. I love how you take care of everyone, and I want you to do that for me too. I love everything about you. After three years of feeling this way, I know it won't change. I will love you until I die."
Ajin's smile spread across his face.
Cassie smiled as well, her cheeks glowing red.
Ajin stepped forward slowly. She instinctively stepped back. He took another step, and she retreated again until her back touched the wall.
He stopped, meeting her eyes. Her face was red, almost painfully so.
"Your face says everything," Ajin said lightly. "You should see yourself. You look like a red cherry."
She nodded, shy and breathless.
Ajin chuckled. "Will you really love me until death?"
"Yes," she answered immediately.
Ajin glanced around the hall once more, making sure it was empty. His expression softened.
"Then maybe," he said quietly, "I shouldn't hold back anymore."
She closed her eyes, lifting her chin, lips pressed together in a nervous invitation.
Suddenly, Ajin slammed his hands against the wall on either side of her, trapping her between them.
She gasped, eyes flying open.
He leaned in close, his breath brushing her lips. "Do you still feel the same?"
"Yes," she whispered, though her voice shook.
His grip tightened. She winced.
"Good," he said calmly. "Then I think I can do it now."