Really?

I messaged her.

I didn’t expect much. Maybe I did. I don’t know.

When she didn’t reply immediately, I told myself it was normal. People are busy. People have lives. She has a life. A world that doesn’t revolve around my notifications.

Still, I kept checking my phone.

One minute.

Five minutes.

Ten.

I laughed at myself. “Why am I even waiting?” I whispered.

Then hours later, her reply came.

It wasn’t long. It wasn’t special. Just simple words.

But I smiled.

And that scared me.

Because along with that smile, there was something else. A dull ache inside my chest. A strange heaviness that didn’t disappear even after she replied.

I was happy.

So why did it still hurt?

That night, I asked my own heart,

“Why is this bothering me? She is no one of mine.”

Silence.

Then something inside me answered for the first time.

“Really?”

I went speechless.

What did that even mean?

She’s not mine. She never was. We barely talk. We aren’t close. I don’t even know what I am to her.

Then why does my mood depend on her reply?

Why does her ‘online’ status matter?

Why does her silence feel louder than everything else?

I don’t believe in love.

At least I thought I didn’t.

Love was something dramatic. Something from movies. Something that happens to other people —

not me. I’ve never faced it. Never felt it.

But this…

This feels unfamiliar.

I saw her today.

She wasn’t alone.

He was there.

His friend? Her friend? Boyfriend? Husband? I don’t know who he was. I just know he was there. Standing close. Talking to her. Making her laugh.

And my heart sank.

It felt like someone quietly removed the ground beneath me.

I had no right to feel that way.

No claim. No title. No place beside her.

Still, it hurt.

I could have walked away.

I should have walked away.

But I didn’t.

I talked to her. A few simple words. Casual. Normal. As if nothing inside me was collapsing.

He was still there.

I smiled. She smiled.

But my heart felt heavy.

Why couldn’t I stop myself?

Why does she pull me in like this?

She’s like a magnet.

And I don’t even know when I became iron.

No one has ever affected me like this before. No one’s presence has changed my heartbeat. No one’s absence has created this strange emptiness.

I keep telling myself it’s nothing.

Just attraction.

Just curiosity.

Just ego.

But if it’s nothing… why does it feel like everything?

Maybe this is love.

Or maybe it’s just the beginning of something I don’t understand yet.

All I know is…

For the first time, my heart spoke back.

And it asked me a question I’m still afraid to answer.

“Really?”

That one word echoed inside me.

I tried to argue back. “Yes. She’s not mine. She never promised anything.”

But my heart didn’t stay quiet this time.

“If she’s no one… why does her silence hurt? Why does her smile heal you?”

I had no answers.

I stared at the ceiling that night, replaying every small moment — the way she types, the way she looks away, the way she laughs when he’s around.

Jealousy? Maybe.

Fear? Probably.

Love? I don’t know.

All I know is, I never believed in love.

But now I’m scared… because maybe it believes in me.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***