The first rumor didn't start as a rumor.
It started as a glance.
A look held half a second too long in a hallway. A laugh that sounded warmer than usual. Two people walking side by side after class, close enough to look intentional, far enough to deny.
Campus 2 was like that.
It didn't need evidence. It needed a story.
XH learned this on Thursday.
He was leaving anatomy lecture with Kitty, both of them carrying books that felt heavier than they should. Their study sessions had become normal in a quiet way, like something that didn't need to be announced.
And that normality made people curious.
As they walked past the stairwell, a group of students paused their conversation.
One of them looked directly at Kitty, then at XH, then at Kitty again.
XH didn't hear what they said, but he didn't need to. He saw the shape of the words on their mouths.
Kitty's shoulders stiffened slightly.
XH slowed. "Are they… talking about us?"
Kitty didn't answer immediately. She kept walking, chin lifted, expression calm like she had practiced it in front of a mirror.
After a few steps she said, "People talk about anything when they're bored."
"That's not an answer," XH said softly.
Kitty glanced at him. "Do you care?"
He hesitated.
He didn't care about strangers. He didn't care about gossip. He didn't care about being labeled.
But he cared about Kitty's face.
About whether she felt trapped. About whether she felt exposed. About whether she regretted being seen beside him.
"I don't want it to bother you," he said.
Kitty's expression softened just a little. "It doesn't."
Then she added, quieter, "But it makes things… louder."
Louder.
That word stuck with him.
Because it wasn't the rumor that made things loud.
It was the silence between them that suddenly felt visible.
They met the others in the courtyard where TR had claimed a bench like it belonged to him. TZ Royal was leaning back with his hands behind his head, relaxed as if he had never known stress. PL was eating something he had definitely bought five minutes ago. HS sat near JP, who was reading an article like his life depended on it.
NS was there too, sitting slightly off to the side, gaze drifting over the campus rather than the group.
TR spotted Kitty and immediately grinned. "Ahh. The couple has arrived."
XH froze.
Kitty blinked. "What?"
"The couple," TR repeated proudly, like he had discovered fire. "You two are always together. Studying. Walking. Breathing the same air. It's suspicious."
PL laughed. "He's right. It's very suspicious."
JP didn't look up. "It's inevitable. People like patterns."
Kitty's cheeks warmed slightly, but she kept her voice calm. "We're study partners."
TR wagged the mic-less finger he always used like he was holding an invisible microphone anyway. "That's how it starts."
XH tried to laugh but it came out awkward.
Kitty looked at him. Her eyes held a question.
Are you going to say something?
XH didn't.
He smiled lightly and sat down.
That was his skill now.
Making moments smaller when they were trying to grow.
The conversation moved on. TR teased PL about his addiction to snacks. TZ Royal started talking about futsal highlights he watched online. HS asked about assignments. JP listed deadlines like a machine.
But NS remained quiet.
At some point, Kitty stood to refill her water bottle.
TR leaned close to XH the moment she was out of earshot. "Be honest. You like her."
XH scoffed. "Stop."
TR's eyes narrowed. "That's not a denial."
JP looked up briefly. "He won't deny it because denial requires clarity."
PL laughed too loud. "That's deep."
XH glanced toward Kitty's direction automatically.
NS watched him.
"You're obvious," NS said suddenly.
TR's grin widened. "Thank you."
NS didn't look at TR. He was looking at XH.
XH's throat tightened. "I'm not doing anything."
NS's jaw shifted slightly, like he was holding back something sharper. "That's the problem."
Before XH could respond, Kitty returned, and NS's expression smoothed instantly back into calm.
The rest of the day moved forward like a series of small tests.
In lecture, XH found himself hyper-aware of Kitty's presence. When she leaned over her notes, he wondered if she was writing what she wanted to say and couldn't. When she paused and glanced his way, his heart did something stupid.
After class, they walked together again.
This time, the distance between them felt measured.
Like both of them were aware they were being watched.
Kitty broke the silence first. "TR is annoying."
XH laughed. "He's a lot."
Kitty smiled, then added, "But sometimes he says what everyone else is thinking."
XH's laugh faded. "Does he?"
Kitty glanced at him. "Maybe."
They reached the common study area. Kitty took a seat and opened her book, flipping to a page like she was trying to anchor herself in logic.
XH sat across from her.
A moment passed.
Then another.
Kitty's fingers tapped the edge of her notebook gently, once, twice, like she was considering something.
"XH," she said.
His name sounded different when she said it like that. Not casual. Not floating.
Grounded.
"Yeah?"
Kitty took a slow breath. "Do you ever feel like… we're stuck in the middle of something?"
XH's chest tightened. "What do you mean?"
Kitty's eyes didn't leave his face. "Like we're close. But we're pretending we're not. And everyone else can see it."
XH opened his mouth.
Closed it.
He searched for the right words and found only fear.
"I don't want to ruin things," he said finally.
Kitty's expression flickered.
Not anger.
Not sadness.
Just a small, exhausted disappointment.
"Ruining things by saying something?" she asked softly.
XH swallowed. "Ruining things by saying the wrong thing."
Kitty leaned back slightly. The chair creaked.
"That's the same as not saying anything," she murmured.
The sentence landed like a quiet slap.
XH stared at his hands.
The room was filled with other students, other conversations, other lives. Yet it felt like it was just them.
Kitty spoke again, voice gentle but clear. "I'm not asking you to promise anything. I just… don't want to feel like I imagined it."
XH's heart hammered.
He wanted to say, You didn't imagine it.
He wanted to say, I think about you all the time.
He wanted to say, The kiss was real. You are real.
Instead, he said, "You didn't imagine it."
Kitty's eyes softened. "Then why do you act like it didn't happen?"
XH couldn't answer.
Because he didn't know how to admit the truth without breaking himself open.
Kitty exhaled slowly, then reached for her pen again as if this conversation had cost her too much.
"Let's just study," she said.
XH nodded, even though his chest felt tight and wrong.
They studied for an hour, maybe more. Notes filled pages. Diagrams became clearer. But the air between them stayed tense, stretched thin, as if one wrong movement would snap it.
When they finally packed up, TR burst into the study area like a storm.
"Emergency," he announced.
PL followed, holding a plastic bag. "Food emergency."
TZ Royal grinned. "We're saving you."
HS trailed behind them, smiling apologetically.
TR dropped the bag on the table. Inside were snacks, cheap sodas, and something fried that smelled suspiciously good.
"We're doing a mini feast," TR declared. "Because everyone looks like they're dying."
Kitty blinked. "We're fine."
TR leaned in dramatically. "You both look like people who have unresolved feelings."
PL nodded. "Scientific observation."
JP sighed from a nearby table. "This is why I study alone."
The sudden chaos broke the tension like a window opening.
Kitty laughed, quietly at first, then more fully.
XH felt his shoulders loosen for the first time all day.
They ate together, the group energy pulling them back into something warm and familiar.
TR told a story about almost getting lost in the wrong building. TZ Royal joked about becoming a futsal coach someday. PL argued with JP about whether snack time counted as self-care. HS kept laughing softly, eyes bright.
Even NS returned to the table eventually, sitting down without saying much.
XH watched him carefully.
NS met his eyes briefly, then looked away.
The message was clear.
I'm here. But I'm not okay.
That night, as they walked back toward the dorms, Kitty stayed close to the group. She didn't fall back to walk beside XH like she usually did.
It was subtle.
But XH felt it like cold air.
At the dorm entrance, Kitty turned to him.
Her smile was polite.
Not warm.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she said.
"Tomorrow," XH echoed.
Kitty hesitated.
Then she said, almost too quietly to hear, "I don't like being a rumor."
XH's stomach dropped. "Kitty—"
But she shook her head gently. "Goodnight."
And she walked inside.
XH stood there for a long moment, the campus quiet around him, realizing the rumor wasn't the dangerous part.
The dangerous part was that Kitty was starting to protect herself.
And once she started doing that, it wouldn't be easy to bring her back.