Pixel had never hugged a boy in her life.
Not once.
Not casually. Not accidentally. Not even in a friendly way.
In a college where relationships were normal—where people moved from one partner to another like it meant nothing—she was different.
She didn't date.
Didn't flirt.
Didn't even try.
And that alone…
was enough for people to notice her.
Some found it strange.
Some whispered about it behind her back.
Some laughed like it was the most amusing thing they had ever seen.
And some—
turned it into a game.
"Try making her fall for you."
A sentence often said for fun.
A challenge passed around like cheap entertainment.
As if her feelings were nothing more than a bet.
Pixel heard it all.
Every word.
Every laugh.
Every passing comment that followed her like a shadow.
She ignored it.
Not because it didn't affect her—
but because she had learned, a long time ago, that reacting only made things worse.
Silence was easier.
Safer.
She came from a lower middle-class family, where life was simple… but expectations were not.
There were rules.
Unspoken, but strict.
She believed in love.
In something real. Something lasting.
But in her world—love wasn't something you chose.
It was something decided for you.
Arranged marriages. Family approval. Society's expectations.
That was her reality.
So she never let herself feel anything.
Never allowed her heart to wander.
Never crossed that invisible line she had drawn for herself.
Because once you cross it—
there's no going back.
Studies became her escape.
Her only focus.
Not because she was passionate about it—
but because it was the only path that made sense.
The only way forward.
And somewhere along the way…
she became someone people couldn't understand.
Someone distant.
Someone unreadable.
Someone… untouchable in her own way.
And then there was him.
Stephan.
Tall. Rich. Untouchable.
The kind of boy who didn't need to try to be noticed—because attention followed him anyway.
Girls admired him.
Some chased him.
Some tried everything just to be seen by him.
But he never gave anyone a chance.
Never entertained anyone.
Because to him—
love didn't exist.
Feelings were distractions.
And people like her…
people like Pixel—
made no sense at all.
He had everything.
And yet, he believed in nothing.
They were in the same class.
Sat in the same lectures.
Walked the same corridors.
Existed in the same space.
And yet…
they had never spoken.
Not once.
Not even a single word.
As if they lived in two completely different worlds—
separated by something invisible, yet impossible to cross.
But that was about to change.
Not because they wanted it to.
Not because they planned it.
But because sometimes…
one moment is enough.
One unexpected situation.
One coincidence.
One mistake.
And suddenly—
two completely separate lives begin to collide.
And when that moment comes—
it doesn't ask for permission.
It doesn't give you time to think.
It just happens.
And after that—
nothing stays the same.