The journey had drained every ounce of energy from us, yet the moment we stepped into the city, something about it refused to let our exhaustion settle. The air in Thiruvananthapuram felt different... warm, gentle, and filled with a quiet kind of life that didn't rush, yet didn't stand still either. As the bus moved through the streets, I found myself glued to the window, watching everything pass by as if I were afraid I might miss something important.
They said there was a temple here.. Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, ancient, sacred, and filled with stories older than memory itself. Even hearing its name felt heavy, like it carried something I wasn't ready to understand yet.
We drove along the beach road, and that was when the city truly opened itself to me. The ocean stretched endlessly, its waves brushing against the shore with a rhythm that felt almost… familiar. Somewhere in the distance, the newly formed beach, like a small island rising from the Indian Ocean.. stood quietly, as if it had always been there, waiting to be noticed. I didn't know why, but the sight of it made my chest tighten for a brief second, like a memory I couldn't reach.
By the time we reached the hotel near the shore, the sky had softened into warm shades of gold and orange, and the entire place seemed to glow. Everyone was buzzing with excitement, talking over each other, planning what to explore first, while I just stood there for a moment, letting the feeling settle inside me.
Inside, the teachers began assigning rooms three people per room. It should have been simple, but of course, nothing ever is with us.
"I don't want to leave Lian alone," I said, glancing at him.
Lian nodded lightly. "We just need one more person, then."
We both looked around at the same time, and as expected, our eyes landed on Zhan.
He stood a little away from the crowd, not exactly isolated, but not part of anything either. People surrounded him, offering spots in their rooms, calling out to him, trying to pull him in but he looked completely uninterested, like none of it mattered.
"Even boys are fighting over him now?" Lian muttered under his breath. "Does he not have any actual friends?"
I let out a small breath. "The spotlight is the loneliest place, you know. Everyone admires it from afar, but no one really stands inside it."
Lian gave me a look. "Can we ask him to join us?"
I stared at him. "You're asking me to go up to him?"
"Yes," he said calmly. "But I'll do the talking."
Before I could change my mind, he walked over.
"Zhan," Lian said, steady as always, "if you don't mind, Lu and I need one more roommate. Would you like to join us?"
For a moment, I thought he would ignore it like everything else.
But then he looked up.
And agreed.
Just like that.
The others around him went silent, their expressions stiffening as if something unfair had just happened. I didn't understand why, but I could feel the tension for a second before it faded.
Soon, the three of us were in our room.
It had a balcony.
And from that balcony, the ocean stretched out endlessly, the waves catching the last light of the evening like they were made of glass.
Alex and Shaan came barging in almost immediately.
"How come only your room gets this view?" Alex complained, leaning over the railing dramatically. "I'm jealous."
"You're sharing a room with Zhan," Shaan laughed, then immediately froze when I shot him a glare. "I mean- uh- forget I said that."
They stayed for a while, talking, laughing, filling the room with noise, before eventually leaving to unpack their own things. Lian wasn't around either..his fiancé had shown up, and he had quietly left with her, though it was obvious he didn't really want to.
That left me alone.
Or so I thought.
I stood at the balcony, watching the ocean, letting the sound of the waves settle into me.
"Do you like the view?"
I jumped.
"OH MY GOD- make some noise when you walk!" I turned, glaring at Zhan. "What are you, a spy?"
"Sorry," he said quickly, looking down. "I didn't mean to scare you."
The way his expression softened made me pause. "No, I didn't mean it seriously. I was joking."
He looked up again.
And laughed.
Not the small, polite kind.
A real laugh.
For a second, everything blurred.
I had seen that before.
That exact laugh.
Somewhere… someone…
My head spun violently, and suddenly I wasn't standing there anymore.. I saw a boy laughing, carefree, while another boy with white and red hair stood beside him, watching quietly.
The same laugh.
The same feeling.
My body gave in before I could understand anything.
I fell.
But I didn't hit the ground.
Strong arms caught me mid-fall.
"Lu- Lu, are you alright?" Zhan's voice was close, too close, trembling in a way I had never heard before.
"I'm fine…" I whispered, though everything still felt unstable. "Maybe I just need rest."
I tried to walk, but before I could take more than a step, he lifted me...like it was nothing and carried me to the bed.
Carefully.
Too carefully.
His hands were trembling.
"Zhan," I said softly, looking at him, "don't worry so much. I don't like seeing you like this. It's just from the journey."
He hesitated, then nodded slightly. "Alright… but don't talk much. Sleep."
And I did.
When I woke up, the sky had already begun to darken, the sun dipping below the horizon.
Zhan was still there.
Sitting beside me.
Asleep.
His hand still holding mine.
For a moment, I just stared.
This felt unreal.
Like something straight out of the kind of novels Diya always talked about.
I smiled faintly and brushed his hair away from his face.
"He looks… different up close," I murmured.
The door suddenly burst open.
"Did we interrupt something?" Shaan's voice echoed.
Zhan woke instantly.
Lian and Shaan stood there, both wearing the same teasing expression.
"No, you didn't," I said quickly. "What's with the rush?"
Before they could answer, Alex stormed in like a hurricane.
"Everyone's playing Truth or Dare on the rooftop!" he announced. "What do you say?"
And somehow, we all agreed.
Even Zhan.
The rooftop was alive with laughter, the night breeze carrying voices and excitement through the air. We formed a circle, the bottle spinning under the dim lights, the game moving from person to person, each turn louder than the last.
Then the bottle stopped.
On Zhan.
"Truth or dare?" a girl asked, her voice a little too eager.
"Truth."
"Do you like someone in our class?"
The entire circle leaned in.
Zhan didn't react.
"Hmm…" he said calmly.
That was it.
The girls protested, demanding more, but he didn't give anything else. Just silence.
And then-
"Everyone back to your rooms!"
The teachers' voices cut through everything like a blade.
Chaos.
Everyone scattered in different directions, laughter turning into hurried footsteps as we ran down the stairs, trying not to get caught.
But even as we ran, even as everyone shouted and laughed-
My mind stayed on that one moment.
The way he said "hmm."
And the way, for just a second-
It felt like he was looking at me.