don't have to carry everything alone

The campus was unusually quiet that morning.

Mina sat beneath her favorite cherry blossom tree, her sketchbook open on her lap. Her pencil moved absentmindedly across the page, but her mind was somewhere else.

She hadn't noticed Ari walking toward her until a warm carton of strawberry milk appeared in front of her.

"I had a feeling you'd skip breakfast."

Mina looked up.

"...How did you know?"

Ari shrugged with a smile.

"You only hold your pencil like that when you're thinking too much."

Mina blinked.

"You notice everything..."

"I notice you."

Those three words settled softly in Mina's heart.

They spent the morning together, sharing quiet conversations between classes.

Ari talked about random things—a squirrel that had stolen someone's sandwich, a professor who accidentally wrote on the board with a permanent marker, and how she wanted to adopt every stray cat she saw.

Mina laughed so much that her cheeks began to hurt.

"You know," Ari said, watching her carefully, "your laugh is becoming less rare."

"...Is that a bad thing?"

"It's my favorite sound."

Mina hid behind her sketchbook.

"You really don't know how to behave."

"I do."

"No, you don't."

"I just choose not to."

Later that afternoon, rain began pouring unexpectedly.

Students rushed across campus, trying not to get soaked.

Ari and Mina stood beneath the library entrance, waiting for the rain to slow.

Mina quietly stared at the gray sky.

Her smile had disappeared.

Ari noticed immediately.

"What happened?"

"...Nothing."

"Mina."

"I'm okay."

Ari didn't answer.

She simply stood beside her.

After a long silence, she spoke softly.

"You don't have to say you're okay every time."

Mina's fingers tightened around her sketchbook.

"It's easier."

"For who?"

"..."

"For the people around you?"

Mina looked down.

"...I don't want to burden anyone."

Ari's expression softened.

She gently took the sketchbook from Mina's trembling hands and held it carefully, as if it were something precious.

Then, without a word, she reached out and intertwined their pinkies.

A small gesture.

Gentle.

Patient.

"I'm not asking you to tell me everything," Ari whispered.

"I'm asking you not to carry everything alone."

Mina felt her vision blur.

No one had ever said those words to her.

People usually wanted the cheerful version of her.

The quiet one.

The one who always answered, "I'm fine."

But Ari...

Ari wanted the parts she kept hidden.

A single tear escaped before Mina could stop it.

"Oh..."

She quickly turned away, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"...Crying."

Ari smiled sadly.

"Crying isn't something you apologize for."

She carefully wiped the tear from Mina's cheek with her thumb.

"So if one day you can't smile..."

"I'll sit beside you."

"If one day you're too tired to talk..."

"I'll stay anyway."

"If one day the world feels too heavy..."

"I'll help you carry it."

Mina couldn't hold back anymore.

She stepped forward and rested her forehead against Ari's shoulder.

Very gently.

As if asking for permission without using words.

Ari didn't tease her.

She didn't make a joke.

She simply wrapped one arm around Mina's shoulders, holding her with the same warmth she always offered everyone—but somehow, this time, it felt different.

It felt like home.

The rain continued to fall around them.

Students hurried past without paying them any attention.

But under one shared umbrella, with one quiet embrace and countless unspoken feelings, two hearts grew just a little closer.

And for the first time in years, Mina allowed herself to believe that maybe...

Maybe she didn't have to be strong all the time.

Maybe it was okay to lean on someone.

Especially if that someone was Ari.

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