That night, the campus felt louder than usual.
Not because people were shouting.
Because everyone was thinking.
The Water Festival lights had been turned off, but the echo of it stayed in the corridors, in the cafeteria, in the way doors closed a little harder and footsteps moved a little faster. The festival didn't end. It just moved into private spaces, into screens, into the silence between friends who didn't know what to say anymore.
XH walked back to his room slowly, jacket still damp over his arm, shoes squelching slightly from puddles. The second rain had been heavier. It had arrived without warning, like a reminder that weather did not ask permission.
He kept hearing Kitty's voice.
Don't follow. Not tonight.
And June's voice too.
Don't chase me either.
It felt cruel, the way both of them said it like they were protecting themselves.
It felt worse because XH understood why.
If he followed, it would look like he was choosing.
If he didn't follow, it would feel like he was abandoning.
Standing still had become its own form of harm.
He reached his door, unlocked it, stepped inside, and leaned his forehead against the wood for a long moment. The room smelled like damp fabric and old detergent. The overhead light was too bright. The air felt too warm.
He wanted to wash the night off.
But he couldn't wash off memory.
His phone buzzed.
Group chat.
JP: BRO. YOU VANISHED LIKE A DRAMA MAIN CHARACTER.TZ: Stop typing. Let him breathe.JP: I AM LETTING HIM BREATHE. I'M JUST COMMENTATING.NS: Don't.JP: Sorry.JP: But if anyone needs therapy, I have a coupon.TZ: You don't have money for coupons.JP: I have vibes.
XH stared at the screen and didn't reply.
His phone buzzed again.
Private message.
NS: you ok?
XH swallowed.
XH: yeah.
NS: don't lie.
XH stared at the words.
XH: not really.
NS: come outside.
XH hesitated. He didn't want to. He wanted to lie down and disappear. But something in him knew he couldn't be alone right now.
He typed.
XH: where?
NS: staircase by the vending machine. bring nothing.
XH put his phone in his pocket and walked out.
The hallway was quiet. Most students were either still outside talking about the festival or already in their rooms replaying the night. XH passed two girls whispering by a door. They stopped talking the moment he walked by. Their eyes followed him like they were reading a headline.
He didn't look back.
At the vending machine staircase, NS waited with his hands in his hoodie pockets. He looked tired. Not sleepy tired.
Like someone who had watched too much and said too little.
When XH arrived, NS didn't speak right away. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and looked at the floor.
"People are talking," NS said finally.
XH nodded. "I know."
NS's jaw tightened. "They're talking like it's entertainment."
XH exhaled. "It is entertainment to them."
NS looked up at him. His eyes were sharp but not angry. Just honest. "And to you?"
XH swallowed. "No."
NS held his gaze. "Then stop letting them hold the microphone."
XH looked away. "What do you want me to do?"
NS sighed, then spoke quietly. "I want you to stop acting like time will fix it."
XH's throat tightened. "I don't want to hurt Kitty."
NS's eyes softened slightly. "You already did. And you didn't even mean to."
XH flinched.
NS continued, voice low. "You hurt June too."
XH whispered, "I know."
NS stared at him. "So what now?"
XH's chest tightened. "I don't know."
NS nodded slowly. "That's the problem."
They stood in silence for a moment. The vending machine light hummed. Somewhere far away, someone laughed loudly. It sounded too happy for the kind of night this was.
NS spoke again, quieter now. "You know what I realized?"
XH glanced at him. "What?"
NS swallowed. "I realized I'm not the main character."
XH blinked. "NS…"
NS shook his head. "No. Listen."
His voice stayed calm, but XH could hear something raw beneath it.
"I realized I'm someone who watches," NS said. "And I realized that watching hurts too."
XH's throat tightened. "Are you talking about Kitty?"
NS's jaw clenched slightly, then he nodded once.
"Since the shy kiss," NS said. "Since that night. I told myself it was nothing. I told myself it was just a moment. But it wasn't. It was… proof."
XH felt heat crawl up his neck. "NS, I never wanted to…"
NS lifted a hand slightly. "I know. I'm not blaming you. I'm just telling you the truth."
He exhaled. "I like her."
The words landed heavy.
XH stared. "You never said anything."
NS's smile was small and bitter. "Because what would I say? She doesn't look at me the way she looks at you."
XH's chest tightened. "NS…"
NS looked down again. "I'm not asking you to give her to me. That's not love. That's conquest. That's ego."
He looked up, eyes steady. "I just need you to stop breaking her in slow motion."
XH felt like he couldn't breathe.
NS pushed off the wall. "Go sleep."
XH whispered, "What about you?"
NS's voice was quiet. "I'll be fine."
XH wanted to argue.
But he knew NS's version of fine meant he would carry it silently.
XH returned to his room with his chest tight and his mind louder than the hallway.
Meanwhile, across campus, Kitty sat on her bed with her phone in her hand, screen dim.
NC sat beside her, legs tucked under her, hair still damp from the festival.
Kitty stared at the chat thread with XH.
No new messages.
Her thumb hovered over the keyboard, then stopped.
NC watched her carefully. "You're waiting."
Kitty didn't deny it. "I hate that I'm waiting."
NC nodded. "You don't have to message him."
Kitty exhaled. "I know."
NC's voice softened. "Then why do you look like you want to?"
Kitty's eyes burned slightly. She blinked fast and forced it down.
"Because part of me wants to make it easier for him," Kitty whispered. "That's my habit. I fix things. I smooth things."
NC leaned closer. "And what about you?"
Kitty laughed softly, without humor. "I don't know how to fix myself."
NC's hand rested on Kitty's shoulder. "You don't have to fix yourself. You just have to stop offering your heart like a donation."
Kitty's throat tightened.
She stared at her phone again.
Then she clicked into Facebook.
Not because she wanted drama.
Because she wanted to know what people were saying.
She scrolled.
There it was.
A blurred screenshot from the rain.
A caption full of laughing emojis.
A comment thread filled with speculation.
She felt her stomach twist.
She kept scrolling.
Someone wrote: "June won already."
Someone replied: "Kitty is the real queen though."
Someone else replied: "XH playing both, typical."
Kitty's hand tightened around the phone until her fingers hurt.
NC's voice was quiet. "Stop reading."
Kitty swallowed. "I want to know what story they're writing about me."
NC shook her head. "They don't know you."
Kitty's eyes were bright. "That's the worst part. They don't know, but they still decide."
She put her phone down and stared at the ceiling.
For a moment, she didn't speak.
Then she whispered, as if she was speaking to someone unseen.
"I tried to be good."
NC's voice was gentle. "You are good."
Kitty's throat tightened. "But goodness doesn't protect you from being second."
NC didn't answer.
Because sometimes there wasn't an argument that could save a heart.
On the other side of campus, June sat at her desk, laptop open, Notion notes on the screen. But she wasn't reading them. Her eyes were fixed on the same sentence written in her notebook from earlier.
Love is not expecting much.
She stared at it like it was a rule she could cling to.
Jihye lay on June's bed, scrolling through photos from the festival, giggling softly. Cherry sat on a chair, legs crossed, watching June with a predator's patience.
June's phone buzzed once.
She grabbed it instinctively.
Nothing from XH.
Her jaw tightened.
Cherry smirked. "You want him to chase."
June snapped, "No I don't."
Cherry's smile widened. "You do. Because if he doesn't, you feel stupid for caring."
June's eyes flashed. "I'm not stupid."
Cherry leaned forward slightly. "Then stop acting like you don't want proof."
June swallowed hard.
She hated how accurate Cherry was.
She hated that she could feel it too.
She wanted XH to chase. Not because she wanted to win.
Because she wanted confirmation that her pride wasn't standing on nothing.
She wanted proof that she mattered more than fear.
June whispered, voice tense, "I told him not to chase."
Cherry shrugged. "And you're still waiting for footsteps."
June's chest tightened.
She stood abruptly and walked to the window.
Outside, the campus lights glowed softly. The pavement still reflected faint wetness.
June stared at the empty path.
No footsteps.
No jacket.
No XH.
Her throat tightened.
Jihye's voice was gentle. "Are you okay?"
June forced a laugh. "Yeah."
Cherry said, "Liar."
June didn't respond.
Because she knew she was lying.
Because her definition of love, the one she spoke confidently in class, felt like armor that was starting to crack.
That night, none of them slept properly.
XH stared at the ceiling, remembering Kitty's calm eyes and June's sharp voice, and NS's confession.
Kitty stared at her phone, refusing to send a message she wanted to send.
June stared at the empty path outside her window, waiting for proof she had told herself she didn't need.
And somewhere in the campus air, the festival's leftover moisture clung to everything like a thin film.
Like a warning.
Because water always dried.
But what it revealed stayed.