5.

The next few hours were a blur of domesticity. They hung clothes, arranged books, and smoothed out bedsheets, carefully curating a corner of home in a foreign land. Once the roomfelt like hers, they locked up and wandered back into the heart of the campus.

By the time they reached the cafeteria, the intensity of the day had built an appetite. The canteen was a deafening, chaotic cacophony of voices and clattering trays.

"Hungry?" Gunther asked, scanning the seating options.

"Starving," Lisa admitted.

"You wouldn't even know where to look if I didn't come with you," Ravee teased, leading the charge toward the food stalls.

As the family secured a table, Lisa followed Gunther to the order counter. While her brother chatted with the cashier, Lisa’s gaze drifted toward the far end of the room.

A particular table was swarmed by a crowd of girls, their laughter ringing out in a high-pitched, harmonic chorus that seemed to drown out the rest of the room.

"Lili, focus," Gunther said, laughing as he handed her a chilled iced latte and a couple of strawberry-cream sandwiches. "Get these to Mom and Dad."

Lisa nodded, forcing her attention back to her family, but the image of that crowded table lingered in the back of her mind.

She turned away, but as she walked, a nagging curiosity pulled at her—who was the center of such gravity, and why did the air around them feel so charged?

She shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought, but the mystery of the noisy table followed her back to her parents, a small, unanswered question in a day full of new beginnings.

As the afternoon shadows lengthened across the school grounds, a heavy silence settled over Lisa. The inevitable moment of departure had arrived, and the weight of their imminent exit pressed against her chest.

"You’re leaving already?" she asked, her voice trembling with the fragile hope that they might somehow linger a while longer.

Ravee reached out, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear with a regretful smile. "I wish it weren't so, my sweet girl, but we have no choice. Your father’s leave ends tonight, and we’re booked on the next flight out the moment we step off this campus."

Lisa turned, her gaze darting toward her brother, Gunther. A flicker of desperation crossed her features. "Gunther? Is there any way you could stay?"

Gunther offered a sympathetic, lopsided grin, shaking his head. "I wish, but the campus rules are strict, and I can’t bunk here. However, I had a feeling you might need a friendly face nearby, so I’ve booked a hotel room just a short distance away in the city. I’m not going far."

"Okay," Lisa whispered, her shoulders dropping as a wave of relief warred with her lingering melancholy. "As long as you're close enough to reach."

The final farewell was a blur of tight embraces and the lingering scent of her mother’s familiar perfume.

Her parents pressed soft, lingering kisses onto her forehead—a silent promise of love before they finally turned to walk away. Lisa watched their retreating forms until they vanished beyond the school gates.

She collapsed into Gunther’s waiting arms, burying her tear-streaked face against his chest to muffle her ragged breaths.

She remained there, anchored by his steady heartbeat, clinging to the last shred of home before even he had to depart from the campus grounds.

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