Julie sighed and shook her head. “I’m always trying so hard to prove myself to people,” she said, her voice tinged with frustration. “Trying to show them I’m worth notig. But it never really works. Everyone just… moves on. Like I’m just another pretty fa the crowd. Like that’s all I am, all I have to offer.” She looked down at her hands, fidgeting with a loose thread on her sleeve. “And then… you,” she tinued, pausing to take a breath, “you just… seem so effortless. You don’t even try to get attention, but everyone’s drawn to you, like you were born to stand out. You have so much more to you than just looks.”

  Jiko watched her, his brow furrowed in . He shifted in his seat, feeling awkward. He wasn’t used to Julie being so open, sharing things she usually kept hidden.

  Julie’s voice dropped to a near whisper. “But you… you make me feel different,” she said. “Seen, I guess. Like I’m not just… a pretty face.” She g him, their eyes meeting briefly. “You make me feel like I actually matter for more than just my looks.”

  Her words hit Jiko harder than he expected. For a moment, he sits in stunned silerying to process what she just said. His mind feels like it’s spinning—a mix of shock, warmth, and something deeper he doesn’t quite uand.

  “You make me feel different.”

  It repeats in his head, over and over. Not in the way he expected—no sarcasm, no teasing. She means it. Truly.

  Jiko shifts unfortably, his jaw tightening. He looks away from her, out at the rain fallilessly. His fingers curl into fists at his sides, his body tensing. How is it that Julie—someone who had been nothing but kind, thoughtful, and real—could make him feel this way?

  For the first time, he realizes something. It isn’t just the timeline messing with his head. It isn’t just fusion or o—his feelings for Julie are real. Genuine. And they’ve been growing, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

  He swallowed hard, feeling the impact of her words settle deep inside him. He’d always told himself their e was just because of the situation they were in—this weird alternate reality, the strawists of fate that had brought them together. He’d vinced himself it was just circumstantial, a temporary thing born out of unusual circumstances. But hearialk so openly and holy, seeing how vulnerable she looked, he k was more than that. It wasn't just about being stu the past; it was about something real between them, a e that went beyond timelines and what was supposed to happen. It was real, and it was getting stronger every day.

  While Jiko was thinking that kinds of thing, Julie is focused on the rain, seemingly lost in her own thoughts, unaware of the storm she’s stirred inside him.

  “I…” Jiko begins, but his voice catches in his throat. He clears it, trying to find the right words. “I didn’t know you felt like that.”

  Julie looks at him again, her eyes searg his face. “You didn’t? I guess… I don’t really show it, do I?” She smiles faintly, but it’s tinged with sadness. “I just always felt like… I was just here. Existing. Not really seen by anyone as human. But you—” She pauses, her gaze steady on him. “You make me feel like I’m more than just that. Like I’m actually…” She falters, searg for the right word. “Like I’m… worth something.”

  Jiko watches her, his heart ag in a way he doesn’t fully uand. For the first time, he sees Julie beyond the girl he barely noticed before—beyond the one who always seems kind and quiet. Now, he sees something deeper—a girl who’s been trying to find her pce, someone who’s been overlooked, who’s struggled with feeling invisible.

  “I… I don’t know what to say,” he murmurs, his voice quieter now. “I guess I hought about it that way.”

  Julie smiles again, but it’s bittersweet. “You don’t have to say anything.” She looks back at the raiing out a soft sigh. “I guess it just feels o feel like someone sees me for who I really am.”

  Jiko leans back, exhaling slowly, his mind spinning. Her words linger in the air between them, heavy with meaning. For a moment, he feels a deep e—an ache he ’t ignore. And as he watches Julie, listening to the sound of the rain, he realizes just how much she’s e to mean to him.

  Oernoon, Jiko’s friend Ashik leans in with a knowing grin as they sit together during lunch. “Hey, man… what’s going on with you and Julie? I’ve been hearing things.”

  Jiko frowns, feeling a stir of unease. “What things?”

  aki chuckles, raising his hands in monoce. “Just that you twetting pretty close. People are talking about how she’s always around you now, like she’s… I don’t know, more than a ‘study buddy.’”

  Jiko stiffens, his face tightening. “It’s not like that. We’re just… friends.”

  aki smirks, leaning back slightly. “Just friends? Sure, man. That’s what they all say.” He pauses, eyeing Jiko carefully. “But you know how rumors spread. Ohing leads to another, and suddenly people start drawing clusions.”

  Jiko sighs, running a hand through his hair. “It’s nothing, really. Julie’s just… someone I’ve been talking to more, that’s all.”

  Deep down, Jiko knows it’s more than that. Julie makes him feel seen—uood in a way he hasn’t in a long time. And that’s what worries him the most—how natural it feels to open up to her, to let down his guard. It’s easy tet how plicated things bee when feelings are involved.

  Later that day, as Jiko walks down the crowded school corridor, his mind is rag. He suddenly hears someone call his name from behind. Turning, he sees Mili jogging up to him, her expression pyful but with a sharp edge to it.

  “Hey, Jiko! Heard you’ve been hanging out with Julie a lot tely,” Mili says with a teasing grin. “What’s the deal?”

  Jiko tenses slightly, his heartbeat quiing. “It’s nothing. Just w on a project together.”

  Mili leans in, l her voice pyfully. “Hmm, sure. That’s what they all say. But people are starting to talk—you two look pretty cozy.”

  Jiko sighs, feeling the frustration bubbling inside him. “I told you, it’s nothing like that. We’re just friends.”