Kai walked back to his room after leaving Alina's door, but the quiet of the hallway did nothing to calm his thoughts. Usually, the moment he stepped into his own space, his mind settled into order again, yet tonight something felt unsettled inside him. The word Friends refused to leave his mind was the one Alina had said so casually earlier.
He closed the door behind him and stood still for a moment, replaying the conversation in his head.
"She said I am her friend," he murmured to himself. The word sounded strange when he said it out loud.
Kai sat down on the edge of his bed and leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at the floor. His thoughts began circling the same question again and again.
"Doesn't a friend mean someone who favours another person?" he thought slowly. If that was the meaning, then the conclusion felt uncomfortable.
"Does that mean she thinks she did me a favour by helping me?" he wondered. "Is that what she meant?"
The idea didn't sit well with him. Alina had never behaved like someone doing him a favour. If anything, she had barged into his carefully organized life and turned everything upside down as if it were completely normal.
Kai reached for his phone and unlocked it. The pale glow of the screen illuminated the quiet room as he typed a simple question into the search bar.
What does friend mean? Several definitions appeared on the screen, but one description made him pause.
A friend is someone who chooses to stand beside you even when they don't have to. Someone who shares your time, your problems, and your quiet moments without expecting anything in return. A friend doesn't stay because of obligation. They stay because they want to. They become a part of your daily life without you even noticing how it happened.
Kai read the lines slowly. Then he read them again. Something about the description felt strangely familiar. Memories began surfacing in his mind without invitation.
Alina was walking into his house on the very first day and complaining loudly about how lifeless his living room looked while rearranging half the furniture.
Alina destroyed his kitchen the day she insisted she could cook and nearly burned everything except the ceiling.
Alina argued with him about the most meaningless things and then sat beside him quietly when his silence became too heavy.
Kai leaned back against the headboard of his bed, still staring at the phone screen. "So this is what a friend is," he murmured thoughtfully.
Yet the realization only created a new question. "What exactly is the relationship between Alina and me?" The thought lingered in his mind as he continued searching.
He read article after article that explained what friendship meant and how people behaved with their friends. Some pages explained how friends supported each other during difficult times. Others described how friends could argue endlessly yet remain beside each other. There were even ridiculous questions that Kai never imagined himself searching for, yet tonight he read them with complete seriousness.
What do friends do when one of them gets bored?
How close are friends supposed to be?
Do friends get angry when the other gets hurt?
With every answer he read, the strange feeling in his chest grew stronger. Almost everything described there already existed between him and Alina.
By the time the night grew silent and the sky outside began turning pale with the first signs of dawn, Kai had spent hours researching something most people understood naturally. For him, however, it felt like solving a complicated puzzle. And somewhere during that long night, he finally reached a quiet conclusion. "So… this is friendship."
---
The next morning felt different in a way neither of them immediately acknowledged. Kai stood in the kitchen preparing breakfast while sunlight streamed through the window and filled the room with soft warmth. The smell of toast and eggs drifted across the dining area where Alina sat unusually quiet.
Normally, she filled the morning with endless chatter or complaints about waking up early, but today she seemed distracted.
"Kai?" she called softly from the table.
"Hm?" he replied while focusing on the pan.
A moment passed. She didn't say anything. A few seconds later, she called again, "Kai?"
"Yes?"
Still nothing followed. Kai frowned slightly but continued cooking. This strange pattern repeated several times until he finally switched off the stove and turned around to look at her properly.
"Kai?" she said again.
This time, he walked toward the dining table and placed the plate of food in front of her before pulling a chair beside her. He studied her face carefully before asking in a calm voice, "Is everything okay?"
Alina avoided his gaze immediately. She stared down at her plate while nervously moving her spoon back and forth. "I… need help," she said quietly.
Kai's expression remained calm. She hesitated before speaking again. "I need some money."
The words came out quickly as if she wanted to say them before her courage disappeared.
"But don't worry," she added immediately. "I'll return it soon. I just haven't received my salary yet, and I really need it right now."
Kai simply asked, "How much?"
She hesitated before answering softly, "Ten thousand dollars."
Kai didn't react with surprise. He calmly took out his phone and made a quick transfer before placing the device back on the table. "It's done," he said.
Alina looked up in surprise. "That fast?"
Kai leaned back slightly and replied in a composed tone, "This is the least a friend can do."
Her embarrassment was still visible, so he added calmly, "You don't need to hesitate with me, and you definitely don't need to avoid eye contact." She looked up slowly.
"I think you forgot something?" he continued.
"What?"
"We're friends now."
A faint smile appeared on Alina's face. Kai added, almost thoughtfully, "Friends don't hesitate when they need help. They claim their rights over each other."
Alina couldn't stop smiling now. "Someone clearly spent the whole night researching friendship." Kai picked up his coffee and pretended not to hear the comment.
---
By evening, however, that peaceful mood had disappeared. Alina had been trying to reach Maya for nearly an hour. She paced around the living room while holding her phone, repeatedly dialling the same number. The call rang and rang, then disconnected.
"No answer again," she muttered anxiously.
Normally, Maya responded immediately. Even if she was busy at the café, she always sent a quick message. But today there was nothing. Alina tried calling again. Still no response. Her uneasiness grew stronger. Finally, she grabbed her jacket and walked toward the door.
"Kai," she called.
He was sitting at the dining table working on his laptop, but the moment he heard her voice, he looked up.
"I'm going to the café to check on Maya. She isn't answering any of my calls, and something feels strange." Before she even finished explaining, Kai had already closed his laptop and stood up.
"Let's go," he said.
Alina looked at him in confusion. "Wait… when did you decide you're coming?"
Kai picked up his car keys calmly. "Friends accompany each other when they go out." She shook her head with a small laugh and followed him outside.
---
The street where Maya's café was located looked strangely quiet when they arrived. Normally, the warm lights from the café filled the entire sidewalk, and laughter could be heard from inside. But tonight the building stood in complete darkness. The metal shutter was pulled down it was locked. Alina stopped walking.
"That's not normal," she said slowly.
Kai stepped closer to the entrance and examined the lock with sharp attention. "What happened?" he asked calmly.
Alina crossed her arms uneasily. "I've been calling Maya for the last hour. She hasn't answered once. And now the café is closed."
Kai looked at the surrounding street carefully. "What time does she usually close?"
"Not this early," Alina replied immediately. "She keeps it open until midnight most days."
The silence of the street suddenly felt heavier. Kai turned back toward her. "Did she tell you anything earlier today?"
Alina shook her head. "No. The last message I received from her was that she was informing me of her visit to her parents' house. Usually, she could come back by now."
Kai looked at the locked shutter again. "Something's wrong," he said quietly.
Alina nodded slowly. The uneasy feeling between them deepened as they stood there staring at the closed café. Neither of them said it out loud, but the same thought had already formed in both their minds. This didn't feel like a normal closing. It felt like something had gone very wrong. And the night was only just beginning.