The thread i didn't see it coming

The first time I noticed him, it wasn’t anything dramatic.

No slow-motion entrance. No sudden change in the air. No reason at all, really.

He was just there.

Sitting two rows ahead of me in the lecture hall, slightly slouched, one hand lazily spinning a pen between his fingers as if time didn’t matter. The professor’s voice echoed across the room, but my attention drifted—not intentionally, just… naturally—toward him.

I didn’t even know his name.

Yet somehow, I remembered the way the light from the tall windows caught in his dark hair, the way his sleeve was slightly rolled up, and the way he didn’t seem to care about anything happening around him.

“Althea.”

I blinked.

“Althea, are you even listening?” my friend Mara whispered sharply, nudging my arm.

“Yeah—yeah, of course,” I muttered, straightening up and pretending to scribble something meaningful in my notebook.

But my eyes betrayed me.

They drifted back to him.

Again.

—

It became a habit after that.

I told myself it wasn’t. That I just happened to notice him. That he just happened to be in my line of sight. That it meant nothing.

But habits don’t form by accident.

Every class, I’d find him with guy out trying. Every hallway, my gaze would flicker just to check if he was there. And when he wasn’t—well, that was the strange part.

It felt… off.

Like something was missing.

“Okay, now I’m sure,” Mara said one afternoon as we sat under the old acacia near the campus gate. “You’re into him.”

“I’m not,” I said too quickly.

She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t even know his name, but you look at him like he’s the answer to a question you haven’t figured out yet.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“It does,” she smirked. “You’re just in denial.”

I rolled my eyes, leaning back against the rough bark. “He’s just… someone I see around.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“That’s it.”

“Sure.”

I sighed. “You’re annoying.”

“And you’re obvious.”

I was about to argue again when something—or rather, someone—stepped into my peripheral vision.

My breath caught.

Him.

He walked past us casually, a backpack slung over one shoulder, gaze forward, completely unaware of the chaos he’d just caused in my chest.

Mara didn’t miss it.

“Oh, wow,” she whispered. “You literally stopped breathing.”

“I did not.”

“You did.”

“I hate you.”

She laughed. “You like him.”

I didn’t answer.

Because for the first time, I wasn’t sure what the truth was anymore.

—

The universe has a strange way of weaving people together.

Sometimes gently.

Sometimes all at once.

And sometimes…

Without asking for permission.

I found that out a week later.

It was raining—one of those sudden, heavy downpours that turned the campus into a blur of umbrellas and rushing footsteps. I stood under the narrow shelter outside the library, clutching my bag, silently debating whether I should just run for it.

“You’re not planning to go out in that, are you?”

The voice came from beside me.

Low. Calm. Unfamiliar.

And yet—

My heart recognized it instantly.

I turned.

And there he was.

Closer than he’d ever been before.

For a second, I forgot how to speak.

“I—uh…” I cleared my throat, forcing my brain to function. “I might.”

He glanced at the rain, then back at me, one corner of his lips lifting slightly. “That’s a bad idea.”

“I’ve had worse.”

“Still a bad idea.”

There was a pause.

Not awkward.

Not exactly comfortable either.

Just… charged.

“I have an umbrella,” he said after a moment. “We’re probably heading the same way.”

My fingers tightened slightly around my bag strap. “Probably?”

“Main gate?” he asked.

I nodded slowly.

“Then yeah,” he said. “Same way.”

Another pause.

The rain poured harder, like it was impatient with my decision.

And maybe… so was fate.

I hesitated.

Just for a second.

Then I nodded.

“Okay.”

—

We walked side by side under his umbrella, the space between us small enough to notice every movement, every breath, every accidental brush of shoulders.

Neither of us spoke at first.

But the silence wasn’t empty.

It was… full.

Of something I couldn’t quite name yet.

“I’m—” I started, then stopped.

He glanced at me. “Yeah?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

He didn’t push.

We kept walking.

Step by step.

Closer than strangers.

Not quite anything else.

Yet.

As we reached the gate, the rain began to soften, like it had fulfilled its purpose.

I finally looked at him properly.

And this time—

He looked back.

“By the way,” he said, voice quieter now, “I’m—”

But before he could finish, a loud honk from the street cut through the moment, followed by people rushing past us.

The moment slipped.

Just like that.

I blinked, slightly disoriented.

And when I turned back—

He was already stepping away.

“I’ll see you around,” he said, almost like a promise.

Then he was gone.

Lost in the crowd.

And all I was left with… was the feeling.

That something had just begun.

Something I didn’t understand yet.

Something I couldn’t stop.

Something—

That had already started to entangle me.

—

To be continued…

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