✦ EIRA POV ✦
"Adrain!!! Where are you?? Why haven't I seen you all morning? Not in lectures… not anywhere."
The question had been tormenting me since the moment I stepped onto campus. Every corridor I walked through, every classroom I entered, every glance I threw toward the crowd was searching for only one person.
Adrain.
I still couldn't believe what had happened yesterday. The memories kept replaying inside my head over and over again, refusing to leave me alone. The way I had misunderstood him. The way I had accused him. The way I had shouted at him without knowing the truth.
And yet he had still protected everyone.
A sigh escaped my lips as I stared down at the small gift bag resting in my lap.
Today would be different.
Today I would apologize.
I would thank him properly.
I just hoped he liked the gift I had bought. It had taken me almost two hours to decide what to get him. Every time I picked something up, it felt wrong. Too simple. Too boring. Too meaningless.
Eventually I had chosen the locket.
For some reason, it had felt right.
"Eira, will you eat something?"
Tessy's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
I blinked and looked up at her.
"Are you okay?" she asked, pressing her palm gently against my forehead.
"Yeah… I'm fine."
Her expression immediately turned suspicious.
"Fine? Really? You were lost in lecture, and now you've just been staring at your food for half an hour."
I opened my mouth to answer.
Then froze.
My heart skipped.
Adrain.
He was walking past the canteen entrance.
For a second I simply stared.
Then panic exploded inside me.
"Sorry, Tessy, I need to go."
Before she could stop me, I grabbed my bag and rushed out.
"Eira!!!"
I heard her calling after me.
"Eira!"
But I didn't stop.
I couldn't.
Not now.
Not when I finally found him.
"Adrain! Wait!"
My voice echoed through the corridor.
But he didn't slow down.
Didn't stop.
Didn't even turn around.
A strange ache settled inside my chest.
Why was he ignoring me?
I hurried forward until I finally reached him and stepped directly into his path.
Breathing heavily, I forced a smile.
"Hi, Adrain…"
My voice came out much smaller than I intended.
"Adrain, I want to say—"
"I don't have time for you."
The words landed like a slap.
Sharp.
Cold.
Merciless.
He moved to walk around me.
I quickly stepped in front of him again.
"Let me go, Eira."
His voice was emotionless.
But today I wasn't backing down.
"No!!!"
The force of my own voice surprised even me.
My hands trembled slightly, but I refused to move.
"Today, I won't get scared. Because I know you. I know you can't hurt anyone."
For the first time, his eyes lifted to meet mine.
Something flickered there.
Something dark.
Something painful.
Then it vanished.
"Adrain, I want to say thank you. For what you did."
His expression remained unreadable.
"I'm sorry… for behaving like I did. For never understanding you."
The guilt inside me twisted painfully.
"You're a good person, Adrain. I know you are."
My fingers tightened around the gift bag.
Suddenly I felt nervous.
Ridiculously nervous.
Like my heart wanted to jump out of my chest.
Slowly, I held the bag toward him.
"I… I bought this for you. I hope you like it."
For several seconds he simply stared at me.
The silence felt endless.
Then finally—
He took it.
Relief rushed through me so powerfully my knees almost gave out.
Thank God.
He accepted it.
Maybe everything was going to be okay.
Maybe—
"HEY!!! Friends, come here!"
The sudden shout made me jump.
Confused, I looked at him.
Students immediately turned toward us.
Conversations stopped.
People began gathering around.
My stomach dropped.
What was happening?
Why was he calling everyone?
Within seconds a crowd had formed.
Dozens of curious eyes settled on us.
Then Adrain smiled.
And something about that smile made my blood run cold.
"So, friends… Miss Eira Banes thinks I helped her friend for her."
Laughter immediately erupted around us.
My heartbeat stumbled.
No.
No.
Please.
"She thinks everything I do… I do for her."
More laughter.
The sound felt distant.
Like I was underwater.
"Wait—don't tell me…"
A cruel grin spread across his face.
"Don't tell me you actually think I love you?"
The entire crowd exploded.
My stomach twisted violently.
The humiliation hit me so suddenly I almost lost my balance.
"She's so desperate for my attention."
His voice dripped with mockery.
"She even bought me a gift."
I could feel every eye on me.
Every whisper.
Every laugh.
Every judgment.
My fingers curled into fists.
No.
Don't cry.
Don't cry.
Not here.
Not in front of everyone.
"So, let's open it!!!"
He pulled the small box from the bag.
"Friends! Look—it's a locket!"
He held it up for everyone to see.
Then his face twisted with obvious disgust.
"I can't believe someone would give me such a cheap locket."
The crowd burst into another round of laughter.
Each laugh felt like a knife sinking deeper into my chest.
"How much did this cost? A hundred bucks?"
He scoffed dramatically.
The students laughed even harder.
"Well… I guess I do believe in charity."
He pulled several bills from his wallet and tossed them directly at me.
The money struck my shoulder before fluttering down to the floor around my feet.
For a moment I simply stared at them.
Unable to move.
Unable to breathe.
"Sorry, dear. I'm not impressed."
His voice was merciless.
Every word tore through me.
"You know what your problem is, Eira?"
His eyes locked onto mine.
"You mistake kindness for affection."
"You can't even understand human decency"
The crowd quieted slightly.
Listening.
Watching.
Enjoying every second.
"The second someone helps you, you start imagining stories in your head."
"Your fairytales, a prince coming in horse to get you. "
His smirk widened.
"You actually thought I cared."
A tear burned behind my eyes.
I blinked hard.
Fighting it.
But another followed.
And another.
"Look at yourself."
His voice dropped lower.
Crueler.
"I wouldn't fall for you if you were the last girl on earth."
The world seemed to stop.
The words shattered something inside me.
"I'd rather spend eternity alone."
Pain exploded through my chest.
I couldn't breathe.
Couldn't think.
Couldn't even feel my own body anymore.
Then he tossed the locket high into the air.
I watched it disappear somewhere into the crowd.
Gone.
Just like that.
Gone.
The gift.
The apology.
The hope.
Everything.
The laughter became deafening.
My vision blurred completely.
The tears were falling now.
No matter how hard I tried to stop them.
"Try something up to my standard."
His whisper brushed against my ear as I turned away.
Poison.
Pure poison.
My lips trembled violently.
I could barely force the words out.
"You… today you h-hurt me. Congratulations."
A tear slipped down my cheek.
This time I didn't wipe it away.
I wanted him to see it.
Wanted him to see exactly what he had done.
For a brief moment, something changed in his eyes.
Something dark.
Something painful.
Something that almost looked like regret.
But it disappeared as quickly as it came.
Then he pushed past me.
Without another word.
Without looking back.
He walked away.
And standing there in the middle of that crowd, surrounded by laughter and whispers, I felt something inside me finally break.
And so, beneath the laughter of strangers and the weight of a shattered heart, something quietly came to an end.
A trust was broken.
A dream was buried.
A girl walked away carrying wounds no one could see.
Yet destiny has never cared about human conclusions.
It does not end stories when hearts break.
It begins them there.
Because sometimes the most painful goodbye is only the first sentence of a much greater story.
And while Eira believed she had lost something that day, fate was already weaving something neither of them could escape.
What looked like an ending...
was merely the beginning.