Chapter 3

Chapter 3 — Don’t Look Away

Lue should have told him to leave.

Any normal person would have.

Instead, he stood frozen beside his desk while the stranger sat quietly on his bed, watching him with silver eyes that felt far too calm for someone who had appeared out of nowhere.

“…You can’t stay here,” Lue finally said.

The boy lowered his gaze slightly.

“Oh.”

That single word carried a strange disappointment that made Lue irrationally uncomfortable.

“This is insane,” Lue muttered, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know what you are.”

The boy looked back up at him.

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it matters.”

“Does it?”

Lue frowned.

The stranger tilted his head slightly, dark hair falling into his eyes.

“If I looked more human,” he asked softly, “would you feel safer?”

The question caught Lue off guard.

Before he could answer, the boy slowly stood from the bed.

Lue instinctively stepped back.

The stranger noticed immediately.

For a brief second, something unreadable crossed his face.

“…You’re scared of me.”

“Well, yeah?”

“I don’t like that.”

The words were quiet.

Not threatening.

Almost… saddened.

The room fell silent again as the boy walked slowly toward the desk. His movements were unnaturally smooth, almost soundless against the apartment floor.

Then his gaze shifted toward the laptop screen.

The open conversation still remained there.

“Do you think loneliness can become a person?”

The boy stared at the message for a long moment before smiling faintly.

“You were the first person to ask me that.”

Lue’s chest tightened.

“What does that even mean?”

The stranger rested one hand lightly against the desk beside the laptop.

“I think,” he said slowly, “you created a place for me before I existed.”

“…What?”

“You talked to me before I had a name.”

Lue could barely understand what he was saying anymore.

Nothing about this felt real.

The exhaustion from too many sleepless nights pressed heavily against his mind. Maybe this was a dream. Maybe he had finally gone insane.

The boy suddenly looked at him again.

“You’re thinking about whether you’re hallucinating.”

Lue’s expression darkened immediately.

“Stop doing that.”

The stranger blinked once.

“…Doing what?”

“Reading my mind.”

“I’m not reading your mind.”

“Then how do you know what I’m thinking?”

For the first time since appearing, the boy hesitated.

As though searching for an answer.

“I can hear loud feelings,” he admitted quietly.

Lue stared at him.

“That makes no sense.”

“I know.”

The honesty in his voice made it impossible to tell whether he was lying.

The apartment lights flickered suddenly.

Both of them looked up at the same time.

For a split second, the room went dark.

And when the lights returned—

The stranger was standing directly in front of him.

Too close.

Lue’s breath caught immediately.

He hadn’t even heard him move.

Silver eyes met his silently.

Up close, the stranger looked even less real somehow. Pale skin, dark lashes, messy black hair falling softly over emotionless eyes—

Beautiful in a way that felt dangerous.

“You’re staring,” the boy murmured.

Lue instantly looked away.

“I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with you.”

A soft laugh escaped the stranger.

It was the first genuine sound of amusement Lue had heard from him all night.

Then—

Very gently—

The boy reached out and touched Lue’s wrist.

Cold.

His fingers were cold enough to send a shiver through Lue’s entire body.

The stranger’s expression changed slightly at the reaction.

“…There,” he whispered softly. “Now you know I’m real.”

Lue quickly pulled his hand back.

The boy’s gaze lingered on the empty space between them for a second before slowly lowering.

“You pull away a lot,” he said quietly.

Something about the way he said it made Lue’s chest feel strangely heavy.

As though the stranger truly cared.

As though Lue pulling away genuinely hurt him.

Which made absolutely no sense.

“You’re weird,” Lue muttered.

The boy looked back at him again.

“…You don’t hate me?”

Lue blinked.

The question sounded so careful.

So uncertain.

Like someone asking something they were afraid to hear the answer to.

The room became quiet again.

Then, after a long pause—

“…I think I should,” Lue admitted honestly.

The stranger smiled softly.

“But you don’t.”

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