The Boy Who Felt Different

The morning sunlight spilled through the classroom windows like liquid gold, painting warm streaks across the desks of Class 2-B.

The room buzzed with life. Conversations overlapped like tangled threads, laughter echoed from every corner, and chairs scraped against the floor in a chaotic symphony of youth.

Yet amidst the noise, Yuna Tachibana sat quietly by the window.

Her gaze wandered beyond the glass, toward the pale blue sky stretching endlessly above the city.

One year.

A small smile touched her lips.

One year since she started dating Ren Kurokawa.

Her eyes drifted toward the back of the classroom.

There he was.

Asleep.

His head rested on folded arms, dark hair falling messily across his face. The morning light softened his features, making him look strangely peaceful.

Ren Kurokawa.

Quiet.

Reserved.

Sometimes cold.

A person as difficult to understand as a book written in a language nobody could read.

And yet...

Somehow, he had become one of the most important people in her world.

After class, the hallway had fallen silent.

The rush of students had already faded, leaving only distant footsteps and the faint hum of fluorescent lights.

Ren stood beside her.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then he finally broke the silence.

"I'm going away for a while."

Yuna blinked.

"Huh? Where?"

"A vacation."

His answer was brief.

As always.

He avoided her gaze, staring somewhere beyond her shoulder.

The awkward silence that followed stretched like an invisible wall between them.

Yuna forced a smile.

"Then bring me back a souvenir."

For a split second, something softened in his expression.

"...Sure."

A few days later, she stood at the train station watching him leave.

Crowds flowed around her like a river, but all she could see was Ren's retreating figure.

It felt normal.

Because Ren had always been like that.

Short replies.

Simple words.

Never particularly sweet.

Never expressive.

Which was exactly why what happened next felt so wrong.

That night, rain clouds drifted lazily across the moonlit sky.

Yuna lay on her bed scrolling through her phone.

She sent a simple message.

Did you get there safely?

The reply arrived instantly.

Let's meet.

Her eyebrows lifted.

Ren?

Replying that quickly?

That alone felt strange.

The riverside was quiet.

Streetlights cast pools of golden light onto the pavement while the river reflected fragments of the city like shattered glass.

A familiar figure waited beneath one of the lamps.

Same face.

Same eyes.

Same voice.

Everything looked identical.

And yet...

Something felt different.

A strange sensation crawled beneath Yuna's skin.

Before she could process it, Ren suddenly grabbed her hand.

Her eyes widened.

"H-Huh?"

Without answering, he gently pulled her forward.

"Missed you."

The words struck her like lightning.

Yuna nearly stumbled.

Weird.

Very weird.

Ren wasn't clingy.

He wasn't affectionate.

He definitely wasn't the type to say things like that.

Yet here he was, walking beside her as if he never wanted to let go.

She stared at him.

"Why are you acting like this?"

He glanced at her.

She swallowed.

"You've never been like this before..."

Ren stopped walking.

The night grew strangely quiet.

Even the sound of the river seemed distant.

For a long moment, he simply stared at her.

Then slowly—

He smiled.

"I really, really like you."

Yuna froze.

The confession wrapped around her heart like a sudden storm.

Before she could react, he pulled her into his arms.

"...For a long time."

The warmth of the embrace made her eyes sting.

Tears gathered before she realized it.

Today was their anniversary.

Maybe that was why her heart felt so full.

Maybe that was why she wanted to believe this moment was real.

Then she heard him whisper.

"So I wish it were me instead."

The words drifted into her ear like a ghost.

Yuna's body stiffened.

What did that mean?

Later that night, she lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

The memory replayed endlessly inside her mind.

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

She reached for it.

A message from Ren.

Where are you?

Her breath caught.

Confusion spread through her chest.

What?

But...

He had walked her home.

Hadn't he?

Another notification appeared.

I miss you.

Her fingers trembled around the phone.

Something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

And she could feel it.

Days passed.

Then came the anonymous account.

No profile picture.

No posts.

No information.

Nothing.

A faceless observer.

Curious, she accepted the friend request.

Almost immediately, odd things started happening.

Whenever she uploaded a selfie, the account reacted first.

Whenever she posted a story, it viewed it within seconds.

Like a shadow.

Like a pair of unseen eyes following her every move.

Watching.

Waiting.

Who are you?

The question lingered in her mind like a thorn she couldn't remove.

A week later, Ren finally contacted her again.

Let's meet.

Relief washed over her.

Maybe she had been overthinking.

Maybe everything really was normal.

But when she arrived at their usual meeting place, another message appeared.

Let's go to the mall instead.

Yuna frowned.

The mall?

A memory surfaced.

"I hate crowded places."

Ren had said those exact words countless times.

Yet now he wanted to spend the day surrounded by hundreds of strangers.

Maybe people change.

Maybe she was imagining things.

At least, that was what she told herself.

The shopping mall glowed with dazzling lights.

Crowds moved around them like waves in an endless ocean.

Beside her, Ren handed over her favorite drink.

Her favorite.

The exact one.

Yuna stared.

"How did you know?"

He smiled naturally.

"You always choose sweet drinks."

The answer was simple.

But throughout the day, it kept happening.

He remembered her favorite foods.

Her favorite colors.

Tiny details she barely remembered mentioning.

Things even her closest friends forgot.

It should have made her happy.

Instead, a strange uneasiness settled inside her chest.

Because the Ren she knew wasn't like this.

The Ren she knew was distant.

Quiet.

Hard to read.

Yet the boy beside her laughed easily.

Smiled often.

And looked at her as though she were the center of his universe.

The difference was impossible to ignore.

That night, Yuna opened her social media again.

As expected, the anonymous account had already reacted to her newest post.

First.

Always first.

She clicked the profile.

Still empty.

Still blank.

Still watching.

A chill crawled down her spine.

Then she remembered the words whispered beside the river.

"I wish it were me instead."

Her heartbeat quickened.

An unsettling possibility began to take shape inside her mind.

What if...

The boy she met that night...

Wasn't Ren?

The darkness of her room suddenly felt colder.

And somewhere in that darkness, it almost felt as if two identical figures were standing side by side.

One smiling softly.

The other staring without emotion.

Waiting.

Watching.

For her to discover the truth.

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