It happened two days after the beach.
No big buildup. No dramatic timing.
Just an ordinary afternoon that stopped being ordinary halfway through.
Yuna asked me to walk her home.
That alone was unusual. She usually liked the noise, the group, the shared air. Today she wanted quiet.
The street was warm, cicadas screaming from the trees like they were afraid of being forgotten.
"You didn't tell them," I said.
She shook her head. "Not yet."
"You're going to."
"Yes," she replied. "Just… not all of them."
I stopped walking.
She stopped too.
"My family's moving," she said.
The words were calm. Too calm.
"Moving?" I echoed.
"End of summer," she continued. "My dad got transferred. Different city. Different coast."
My chest tightened. "That's… far."
She smiled faintly. "Very."
I searched her face for hesitation. For doubt.
There was none.
"Is that why everything feels rushed?" I asked.
She nodded. "I didn't want to say it out loud. Saying it makes it real."
"It's real anyway."
"I know," she whispered. "But when I don't say it, I can pretend this summer doesn't have an ending."
The cicadas grew louder.
Or maybe I just noticed them more.
"What about Ren?" I asked carefully.
She flinched.
"Ren is the reason I didn't want to leave," she said. "And the reason I know I have to."
I didn't understand.
She kept going.
"If I tell him… if he says something back…" She shook her head. "I won't be strong enough to go."
We reached her house.
She didn't open the gate.
"I need you to do something for me," she said.
"Anything."
She looked straight at me. "If he asks you—don't tell him. Not yet."
My throat went dry. "That's not fair."
"I know," she said. "But neither is timing."
I hated how right she sounded.
That evening, Ren noticed.
"You're acting weird," he said.
"Everyone's acting weird," Mio added.
But Ren was watching me now.
"You know something," he said quietly.
I opened my mouth.
Then I remembered Yuna's eyes. The way her voice trembled.
And I said nothing.
That night, I wrote again.
Some summers don't end because they're over.
They end because they're too full to continue.
I closed the notebook.
Tomorrow, Ren would stop waiting.
And when he did—
Someone was going to get hurt.