The next day, Kitty did not text.
That was the first sign.
It was not dramatic. It did not feel like a breakup or a fight. No one blocked anyone. No harsh words were exchanged. No scene happened in public.
It was quiet.
And because it was quiet, it felt more dangerous.
XH woke up early, staring at his phone before he even sat up. His screen stayed empty. No notifications. No gentle reminder. No message asking whether he ate.
For a moment, he wanted to pretend it did not matter.
Then he sat up, ran his hand through his hair, and admitted the truth.
It mattered.
Kitty had always been present. Even when she was silent, she was there. Her presence had been the kind that softened everything, a calm line drawn through chaos. Now the absence of that calm felt louder than any argument.
XH dressed quickly and left his room earlier than usual.
The campus air was cool, sharp enough to wake him fully. Students passed him in small groups, faces focused, voices low. Nothing had changed outwardly.
But he had.
In class, he found Kitty in her usual seat.
She was there.
She was not avoiding the lecture. She was not hiding.
She was simply not looking at him.
Her posture was perfect. Her notes were organized. Her expression was calm in the way she had always been calm.
But XH recognized the difference now.
This calm had distance inside it.
June arrived a minute later, brisk, focused, eyes scanning the room briefly before settling.
She looked at XH once.
Then looked away.
It was not anger.
It was calculation.
The lecturer spoke about diffusion and barriers, about how molecules moved from higher concentration to lower concentration until equilibrium was reached.
XH wrote the notes, but the words felt like they belonged to him.
He was the high concentration of hesitation.
Everything in his life was trying to move away from it.
When class ended, Kitty packed her bag quickly and left with NC, not lingering the way she sometimes did. NC smiled politely at XH in passing, a small gesture that felt like an apology for something she could not fix.
XH stood in the corridor for a moment, unsure whether to follow.
If he followed, would that be selfish?
If he stayed, would that be cowardice?
June's voice broke his thoughts.
"XH."
He turned.
June stood a few steps away, arms crossed, expression composed. The hallway noise moved around them, but the space between them felt isolated.
"Can we talk?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yeah."
June led him to a quieter corner near the stairwell. Her movements were controlled, deliberate. Like she had rehearsed this in her head.
"What happened last night?" she asked.
XH hesitated. "What do you mean?"
June's eyes narrowed slightly. "Don't do that. You know what I mean."
He exhaled slowly. "I talked to Kitty."
June's gaze stayed steady. "And?"
XH's throat tightened. "It was hard."
June's expression softened for half a second, then tightened again. "Did you tell her anything?"
He looked away. "I told her the truth."
"What truth?" June asked, voice sharper now.
XH turned back to her. "That I don't know what I feel clearly enough."
June stared at him.
Then she let out a small, tired laugh that sounded more like disbelief than humor.
"So you told her the same thing you keep telling me."
XH did not argue.
June took a breath, forcing her voice back into control. "Do you realize what that does?"
He swallowed. "It keeps hurting people."
"Yes," she said quietly. "It does."
June's phone buzzed. She ignored it. That alone told him something.
She was choosing this conversation over whatever pressure waited on the screen.
"I'm not asking you to be perfect," June said. "I'm asking you to stop being passive."
XH's chest tightened. "I'm trying."
June nodded, almost gently. "Trying is not the same as moving."
He had no defense.
June continued, her voice quieter now. "I know you don't want to hurt anyone. But you are hurting people by delaying."
XH looked down at his hands. "I know."
June watched him for a moment, then asked softly, "Do you understand why I can't wait?"
XH nodded. "Because of your future."
June's eyes flashed. "Not just my future. Because I know what happens when people think waiting will fix things."
She lowered her voice further.
"Waiting doesn't fix things. It just gives them time to rot."
The words landed hard.
June stepped closer, not invading his space, but closing the distance enough that he could feel the heat of her presence.
"I need an answer," she said.
XH's pulse jumped. "June…"
She raised her hand slightly, stopping him before he could soften it with careful words.
"Not today," she clarified. "Not right now. But soon."
She paused, eyes shining with something that looked too close to vulnerability.
"Because if you keep delaying, you'll lose both of us," she whispered.
Then she stepped back, regained her composure, and walked away as if she had not just exposed the most fragile part of herself.
XH stood alone in the corridor, feeling like the walls around him were narrowing.
At lunch, the group gathered again.
JP tried to act normal. He talked about food. He complained about assignments. He joked about how the campus assembly felt like a bad movie.
But the table was different.
Kitty sat farther away than usual, her conversation focused on NC and Anna. She laughed softly, but not in XH's direction.
June sat with them too, posture straight, voice calm, but her eyes avoided Kitty's.
NS noticed everything.
He always did.
At one point, JP nudged XH lightly. "You good?"
XH forced a small smile. "Yeah."
NS looked at him, expression unreadable. Then he spoke quietly.
"You're lying."
JP blinked. "Bro, what?"
NS did not react to JP. He kept his eyes on XH.
"You're trying to keep everyone safe," NS said. "But the longer you do that, the more unsafe it gets."
XH's throat tightened.
TZ frowned. "What's going on?"
JP waved his hands dramatically. "Nothing's going on. Everyone's just emotionally constipated."
TZ snorted.
But the tension stayed.
After lunch, NS walked with XH toward class.
They didn't speak at first.
Then NS said, "Kitty's not texting you."
XH's head snapped slightly. "How do you know?"
NS shrugged. "Because she's quiet today."
XH swallowed. "She needed space."
NS nodded slowly. "She's giving herself dignity. Don't make her regret it."
XH wanted to argue, but he couldn't.
Because NS was right.
That evening, XH tried to focus on studying.
He read the same paragraph three times without absorbing it. His mind kept drifting back to Kitty's words, to the way she looked at him last night, not angry, not desperate, just tired.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message from Kitty.
He froze.
He opened it slowly.
Kitty: I'm not mad. I just needed to breathe.
His chest tightened.
He replied immediately.
XH: I understand.
Another message came quickly.
Kitty: do you?
He stared at the screen.
His fingers hovered.
He typed slowly.
XH: I'm trying to.
Kitty did not reply right away.
When she finally did, it was shorter.
Kitty: trying isn't the same as choosing.
XH stared at the message until his eyes hurt.
Then another vibration.
June.
June: tomorrow. rooftop. after class.
His stomach dropped.
He stared at June's message, knowing exactly what it meant.
There were no extra words. No softness. No emojis. No space to negotiate.
Tomorrow.
Rooftop.
After class.
It was an invitation and an ultimatum at the same time.
XH set the phone down and leaned back, closing his eyes.
He thought of the rooftop. The wind. The open sky. The way words sounded different when there were no walls to soften them.
He thought of Kitty. Her calm distance. Her quiet dignity.
He thought of June. Her urgency. Her fear of time. Her sharp honesty.
He thought of himself.
How he had tried to survive by delaying.
How delay had started to feel like betrayal.
That night, the city outside his window sounded normal.
Cars passing. Voices drifting. Life continuing.
Inside him, everything was tightening.
Not toward an explosion.
Toward a decision.
A decision he could no longer postpone.
And for the first time, XH understood something clearly.
The distance that looked like peace was not peace at all.
It was the space right before something broke.