That night, sleep didn't come.
Not for Ren.
Not for Serin.
Far apart, yet tethered by something unseen.
Maybe fate.
Maybe something stronger—something written between the stars when they weren't even born.
Ren sat by the window, knees hugged to his chest, his hoodie loose like a blanket of memories.
Outside, the moon glowed like an ancient friend—round and silver, floating silently in a sky washed in watercolors.
The wind slipped through the half-open pane, carrying the ghost of jasmine from somewhere far.
He blinked at the stars.
They sparkled like secrets.
Soft.
Distant.
Whispering lullabies only night lovers could hear.
Ren was listening.
A soft smile touched his lips.
"Why do people hurt themselves,"
he whispered,
"when the world is this beautiful?"
The wind tousled his hair gently, like the hand of someone who cared.
Time didn't feel linear anymore—it flowed around him.
Through him.
He wasn't alive; he was part of life.
"Is this a dream?"
he wondered.
"Because my life Now feels like one."
He stared at the moon.
"Hey... if you're listening," he murmured,
"do you think souls can recognize each other even before names and voices?"
The moon didn't reply.
But it smiled.
And in that silence, Ren imagined it saying:
"You've met her."
Morning crept in like a gentle piano note.
The curtains swayed, touched by golden sunlight.
The room transformed into a living watercolor—sunlight streaming across the wooden floor, bathing books and old coffee mugs in soft gold.
The ceiling fan hummed above like a lullaby.
Ren sat up, slowly stretching.
His breath came easy.
Every inhale…
Every exhale…
Whispered her name.
"What is this feeling…?" he murmured, touching his chest.
"It's terrifying... but it feels like home."
Outside,
Two tiny bluebirds perched on his balcony railing.
One nudged the other.
A chirp.
A snuggle.
A tiny kiss.
Ren watched them.
"Even birds have their universes... and I get to watch them."A laugh escaped."Man, I better not mess up my own little universe."
The world didn't rush him that morning.
He didn't trip.
He didn't panic.
He just… flowed.
To the bathroom—brushing, bathing, dressing.
Calm, collected.
A brand new Ren, yet still himself.
When He was about to leave home-
"Hey Mom… can I have 170 bucks for lunch with a friend?"
She peeked from the kitchen with a spoon in her hand and a warm smile.
"Yeah, baby—take it from my purse, it's on the TV."
He kissed her cheek.
"You're the best."
Her cheeks flushed a bit.
She was beautiful—not in a grand, cinematic way, but in the way someone's favorite blanket is.
Warm.
she was Home.
He saw her—not just as "Mom", but as a woman who gave, loved, and lived quietly.
It almost made him tear up.
"Love you," he whispered.
He looked at her purse—white, worn, with silver charms that jingled with old stories.
He took 200 instead of 170.
Whispered,
"I'll pay you back someday."
But on the way to school, a pebble of guilt stuck to his heart.
Today, even the streets of looked like they were in love.
Shops opened like sleepy smiles.
A man watered his balcony plants like he was painting the morning.
The smell of fresh bread swirled through the air like magic.
The sky wore a soft blue scarf.
And the cherry blossoms?
They floated down like whispers from heaven.
Bicycles rolled by with sleepy students.
Grandmas gossiping near a corner cafe.
A stray cat blinking at him.
If the streets were a watercolor—Ren was the water, flowing within it.
Everything felt like a dream.
At the school gate, the P.E. teacher blinked.
"No sprints today, Ren?"
Ren smiled, voice calm.
"Not today, sir."
The teacher blinked again.
"Was that a... peaceful smile?"
He whispered.
Ren walked to his class Calmly.
"AYO MY MAN!!"
WHAM.
Nadh-il kun landed on Ren like a meteor.
"It's Wednesday. Where's my money?"
"I-I just need some ti—"
He Snatched Ren's Wallet.
200, gone.
Ren stared."No please… No....At least let me keep—"
Nadh-il kun plucked 170.
Handed back 30.
"You Got One More week."
Just Like that he walked away.
Gone like a ghost with pockets.
Ren stared at his light wallet.
"Please God... don't let me mess this date up."
His heart? Cracking.
His brain? Screaming.
He turned back and walked back to his seat.
"What if I say something weird and she walks off mid-bite?"
"What if I trip on the table leg and faceplant the garlic bread?"
"What if I smell like anxiety and shame?"
"What if she thinks I'm boring... and starts checking her phone like I'm background noise?"
He Kept On panicking inside while walking to his seat.
"Ah.
The Sacred Seat."
He looked At his seat.
The Seat that was,
Tucked away.
Ignored by everyone.
In his first semester, while laughter filled the room, he sat there in silence.
Just him.
And the whispers of the wall.
That Seat Held, Memories with him for years.
"How could I ever cheat on you?"
he said to the chair and smiled.
He leaned back, promising himself not to sleep.
Because if he slept—
His hair would look like a crow's nest.
His breath? Strong enough to knock out a teacher.
His face? Like someone punched him mid-dream.
"I shouldn't slee—"
Thud.
He Instantly fell asleep from the late night fatigue.
Out like a light.
In His Dream—
He and Serin.
Sitting under a Sakura tree.
She fed him a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
He wiped cream off her nose.
She laughed like spring itself.
He held her hand like it was his only anchor.
He leaned in, forehead to forehead.
"Even the universe stops moving when you smile."
She replied,
"Then I'll smile just for you."
They danced in an empty alley lit by fairy lights.
Watched a movie projected on a wall.
Shared headphones on a bus.
Laughed until their ribs hurt.
Dream Ren was winning.
"REN !!!"
The janitor's voice.
Ren jerked up.
"DATE! DATE! OH NO—"
He saw only the janitor.
Dark room.
Empty chairs.
Class Was Finished Hours ago.
12:15 p.m.
He was Just in Time !
He hugged the janitor like he was a war hero.
"Thank you SO MUCH!"
Janitor: "What the—"
Janitor turned beet red.
(Who hugs the janitor? WHO??)
Before the man could react, Ren bolted.
He ran through the city like his heart was GPS-powered.
Grabbed gum off a shelf, flung coins like a ninja, washed his face in a fountain.
Ruffled hair.
Checked breath.
Practiced his smile.
"What if she's already there and thinks I ditched her?"
"What if she changed her mind and left?"
"What if she only wanted to meet as friends?"
"What if she's too pretty and I look like a burnt potato next to her?"
"What if I say something dumb and she laughs... politely… forever remembering me as "That Cringe Guy"?
He kept on Overthinking.
He dialed.
"Hey—where are you?"
Serin: "Dude chill. I'm still at the bus stand."
Ren paused, Like a cartoon character Drifting to a stop.
"I'm in front of Pizza Hut!"
Ren Squeaked.
"Cool. Go inside, order something."
"WHAT? NO! I'M TOO NERVOUS!"
He squeaked Again.
And Serin?
She laughed.
Soft.
Real.
Like autumn rain tapping against a window.
"YO YO HOMIE, IS THIS SERIN'S DATE?!"
Ashiwkun's voice blasted through the phone.
"GIVE THE PHONE BACK TO HER , YOU JERK!"
Ashiwkun laughed,
"Broooo… you better not fumble this. Don't sit there like a dumb anime character—get inside and ACT COOL."
Ashiwkun Always been like a brother to him.
He Hang Up the Call And waited For her Opposite to Pizza Hut .
Ren's heart kept pounding like a ticking bomb.
He stood across the road, chewing a piece of gum nervously, its taste long gone.
Buses passed.
Cars honked like dying crickets.
The city moved fast, too fast.
And now, it all felt rushed.
Too rushed.
His thoughts blurred into noise.
His feet itched to flee.
"What if Mom passes by? What if my sister sees me with a girl? What if my classmates walk by—oh god oh god I'm sweating!"
His breaths became short.
His palms, wet.
His heart, a bomb waiting to blast.
And then…..
He saw her.
And instantly—Everything stopped.
Time froze.
The city, the honks, the chaos, the people,
All faded into silence.
It was just him and her.
Serin walked like a character pulled out of a film reel, slowed down just for him.
Her hair swayed with the gentle wind, catching golden sunlight like threads of silk.
Her eyes glinted, full of wonder.
Bag casually strapped behind her, sneakers soft against the pavement.
Even the birds flying past her felt like strokes on a moving painting.
Ren's heartbeat skipped—then stilled—then became something else entirely.
For a brief moment,
the street between them wasn't asphalt.
It was a canvas.
And if the world were made of Watercolors,
then she was the hue, and he was the brush.
They were made to find each other on the same page.
Ren blinked.
The people around him remained frozen.
Not literally—but the way your heart freezes when beauty walks in.
Maybe it lasted a fraction of a second.
But to him—it felt like days.
He didn't breathe.
He didn't move.
Because this wasn't just a meeting.
It was something else.
It was connection.
A connection that didn't need words.
That didn't need reason.
That simply…was.
"If this is a dream,"
Ren thought,
"please let me never wake up."
And then,Serin looked up—And saw him.
The corners of her lips curled into the softest, most imperfect smile.
The kind of smile you only give someone special…when your heart remembers them, even if your mind doesn't.
In that fleeting moment, Ren didn't fall in love.
He simply recognized it.
Like she had always been there.
Waiting.
Like she was made to enter His life.
just. like. this.