Gentle rays of sunlight peeked through the sky, filtering between scattered cotton-like clouds and casting a serene sapphire glow.
He was there—sitting on his seat near the window of the bus, his head leaning quietly against the glass, eyes lost in the calm beauty outside. From his headphones, a melancholic tune played—one of many on his ever-growing playlist.
Slouched lazily in his seat, with his bag beside him and only a few other passengers sharing the ride, it was clear he'd missed the rush hour by a landslide. He was three hours late. The clock now read eleven in the morning.
But he didn't care.
With deep blue eyes and messy black hair that fell carelessly over his face, he looked like any other nineteen-year-old—bored, detached, and silently drifting through the world.
He gazed through the window, watching the scenery slide by: wide fields, elegant bridges arching over flowing water, and golden plains hinting at the arrival of summer.
Despite the breathtaking view, his expression didn't change. His eyes remained tired, distant, and unbothered—his little world sealed away with his music.
Finally, the bus approached the university—a massive campus of structured beauty and unique architectural design. It almost resembled a fortress.
He sighed, sitting up straighter in his seat. His loose black shirt and matching wide-legged pants gave him an effortlessly disheveled look. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, eyes closing as a thought drifted across his mind:
> "Damn it... Back to this hell they call university. None of this means anything. I just want to go home and finish my novel… I still have fifty chapters left in volume one. School is such a waste of time."
The bus came to a stop.
He rose from his seat, facing his first dilemma of the day: which door should he use? The far-off front door for males? Or the middle one?
The bus had three doors. The front was for men, the rear for women, and the middle… well, it was always a toss-up. Both genders used it depending on the moment.
He stood frozen, then decided:
> "I'll just wait until everyone else gets off. No reason to rush."
He opened his phone again, scrolling through chapters of his favorite web novel. After a couple of minutes, he noticed everyone had already left.
The last to step off was a girl. And just as he moved to follow, someone else hurried from behind.
They didn't notice each other—both in a rush—and collided hard.
He fell flat on his back, a sharp pain shooting through his nose—his weak spot. He clutched it, groaning:
> "Damn it… That hurts! Who the hell—?"
He looked up and saw… a girl.
Black hair. Dark eyes. Sitting in front of him, rubbing her head with a pained expression.
She wasn't exactly stunning, but the moment their eyes met, something else stirred in his chest—a strange pang of guilt. Heavy. Unfamiliar.
He muttered, still holding his nose:
> "Ah… Sorry. I didn't mean to…"
She steadied herself, stood up, brushed off her forehead, picked up her bag, and calmly dusted off her clothes.
Her eyes met his again—calm, composed.
> "It's fine… It was my fault. I forgot something and rushed back before the doors closed."
He let out a sigh of relief and stood up as well, stepping off the bus with her.
> "Ah, alright then… Good luck today."
Right after he spoke, the bus doors shut behind them, and it rolled away.
He glanced over at her—she hadn't moved. She looked worried.
> "Sorry… I guess I made you drop something. Wait here—I'll go grab it."
She replied coldly:
> "There's no point. Class starts in three minutes. If I'm late, the professor won't let me in."
Her eyes fell to the ground.
He asked gently:
> "What did you forget?"
She replied quietly:
> "My lab coat… I can't enter without it."
He smiled slightly, a soft light flickering in his eyes:
> "It's fine. I brought mine. Take it. I'll go look for yours, and once you're done, we can trade back."
She looked at him silently, a hint of gratitude in her eyes:
> "That's not necessary…"
But he didn't listen.
He reached into his bag, pulled out his clean white lab coat, and handed it to her.
She took it shyly, checked her phone, then dashed off toward the college building.
He stood there for a moment, closing his bag, thinking—about how, in just a few minutes, he had acted in a way that didn't feel like him.
As for her, she ran, clutching the coat close to her chest, a look of relief blooming gently across her face.
---
It was four in the afternoon.
He sat on a random bench in his college garden, bathed in the soft glow of the setting sun, sipping from a plastic water bottle with little care.
That morning, he had found her coat. He kept it with him, then spent the rest of the day wandering between lecture halls, attending as many classes as he could.
Now, two hours had passed since the time she was supposed to return.
Mumbling to himself, he frowned.
"Am I really this stupid? How did I expect to see her again? I don't even know her name… or her department… I don't have a single way to contact her. Literally, how the hell am I supposed to find her now? The campus closes in two hours, and she's nowhere to be seen..."
He sighed. "Yeah, I'm not staying here forever. I've got anime waiting at home."
He stood up, picked up his bottle, and started walking between the neatly arranged synthetic bushes that lined the garden paths. Eventually, he left the center and made his way toward the college gates.
Stopping for a brief moment, he glanced around, as if giving a quiet farewell to a fading hope, then turned and began descending the stairs that led to the street.
Not much happened after that.
He took the usual bus home, got off at the familiar stop near his neighborhood, walked a short distance, bought the latest issue of his favorite manga, and then stopped by a convenience store at the end of the street to grab a few kinds of chocolate.
Finally, he arrived at his house—a modern, elegant home with a simple square design.
He stepped inside quietly, slipped off his shoes at the door, climbed the stairs, and dropped his backpack in front of his room without even bothering to go in.
Instead, he headed straight to the bathroom.
He didn't really need it—he'd just gone earlier—but decided to take a shower anyway, ignoring how worn-out his body felt.
Under the warm stream of water, his thoughts wandered back to that strange morning.
"I actually gave my coat to a random girl... I must be a complete idiot."
He stepped out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his slightly long hair that reached his neck and obscured part of his face.
He was relatively tall, with no standout features to his body—or his face, for that matter. And he had never cared much about how he looked.
He slipped into the loose loungewear he'd left in the bathroom earlier and headed downstairs.
In the living room, his younger sister was lounging on the couch, watching an educational show about dolphins.
He slumped down next to her lazily, resting his weight against the couch, and pulled a few chocolate bars from his pocket.
His sister turned to him with a playful smile.
"Oh~ my dear brother, you brought me some too, right?"
He replied coldly, "I didn't. And don't expect me to give you any."
She pouted dramatically. "Aw, don't be like that! I'm your adorable little sister! Do you know how many people out there would kill to have a sister like me? You should treat me better."
She wasn't exaggerating too much.
She really was beautiful—with shiny orange hair, sparkling blue eyes like polished gems, great height, a toned figure, and soft skin as smooth as milk.
Still, he maintained his usual cool tone.
"That doesn't change anything…"
Before he could finish, their mother walked into the room, carrying a few dishes she'd brought from the kitchen. Behind her trailed a teenage boy with similar orange hair and jet-black eyes.
With a soft, scolding tone, the mother said,
"Sweetheart, didn't I tell you not to eat anything before dinner? You'll spoil your appetite."
Just then, the doorbell rang.
She set the dishes down gently on the table, while the teen boy ran off to open the front door—which was directly across from the living room.
The moment the door swung open, a soft, sweet voice filled the room.
"Um… is your older brother home?"
The boy froze, eyes wide with surprise. He looked back over his shoulder, completely bewildered.
The mother and sister turned toward the door in confusion, equally stunned.
But he…
He stayed frozen in place, unable to move.
A girl was asking for him at his house.
That had never happened before.
To be continued…
---