XH did not plan to go to the rooftop.
He didn't even think about it until his feet were already climbing the last stairwell, the echo of June's question and Kitty's question still ringing in his ears like the aftertaste of something bitter.
Then where?
Then where?
Then where?
The corridor had been too loud. Too public. Too full of people pretending they weren't listening while absorbing every word. The classroom had been a trap disguised as education. Dr. Kim's "reflection day" had turned into a mirror, and XH hated what he saw in it.
Not because his definition of love was wrong.
Because it made him feel exposed.
Because it made Kitty look like patience and June look like pressure, and both of them were more than that.
The rooftop door was unlatched, as if the campus knew students needed a place to breathe when their hearts felt too heavy for hallways. XH pushed it open and stepped out.
Wind hit his face immediately, cold and sharp. The sky was pale, thin clouds stretched across it like washed fabric. The campus below looked small from up here. People became moving dots. Their voices were reduced to distant hum.
Up here, there were no whispers.
Only wind.
XH walked to the edge and rested his hands on the railing. The metal was cold. It grounded him.
He tried to think about anything else.
He tried to think about lab schedules, about the osmosis experiment, about Dr. Kim's constant line, winner never quits and quitter never wins, about textbooks and exams and all the things he could control.
But his mind kept drifting back to three words written on the board.
Love.
Loyalty.
Sacrifice.
And the way Kitty had said goodness is still goodness, even if it doesn't get rewarded.
He heard the rooftop door open behind him.
He didn't turn immediately.
The footsteps were light.
Not rushed.
Not dramatic.
He knew who it was before he saw her.
Kitty stopped a few feet away, letting the wind move her hair gently. She didn't step too close. She didn't announce herself loudly.
She simply existed.
XH turned slowly.
Kitty's expression was calm, but her eyes looked tired in a quiet way. Not sleepy tired. Emotional tired.
"You ran up here like you were escaping," she said softly.
XH exhaled. "Maybe I was."
Kitty nodded once, as if that was fair.
For a moment, neither spoke.
The campus wind filled the space between them.
Kitty stepped to the railing beside him, not touching him, but close enough that he could feel her warmth in the cold air.
"You know what's funny," Kitty said.
"What?" XH asked.
Kitty looked down at the campus. "People think the loudest person is the one who feels the most."
XH glanced at her. "And?"
Kitty's lips curved faintly. "And sometimes the loudest person is just scared."
XH's throat tightened. "Are you calling June loud?"
Kitty didn't answer directly. "I'm saying… people show fear differently."
XH stared at the railing. "What about you?"
Kitty's voice stayed soft. "I show it by trying to stay good."
That sentence hurt.
Not because it was dramatic.
Because it was honest.
XH looked at her. "Kitty, I didn't want this to turn into a competition."
Kitty nodded. "I know."
XH frowned. "Then why does it feel like one?"
Kitty's eyes stayed calm. "Because you're the prize everyone is looking at, even if you never asked to be."
XH flinched. "I'm not a prize."
Kitty's gaze softened. "I know. But that's how it feels sometimes. When you stand in the middle and refuse to move."
XH swallowed. "I don't refuse to move. I just… don't want to hurt anyone."
Kitty's voice lowered. "Standing still hurts people too."
The wind grew stronger for a moment, pushing Kitty's hair against her cheek. She tucked it back, slow and deliberate, as if she was giving herself time.
"Can I ask you something," Kitty said.
XH nodded. "Anything."
Kitty turned slightly toward him, eyes steady. "Do you like me?"
The question landed cleanly.
No decoration.
No jokes.
No campus noise to soften it.
Just a rooftop and wind and truth.
XH's chest tightened so hard it almost stole his breath.
He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Kitty didn't look away.
She didn't smile.
She didn't act like she was above needing an answer.
She simply waited, like she had waited many times before.
XH swallowed. "Yes."
Kitty's eyelids lowered for a brief second, like she was absorbing the word.
"Yes," XH repeated. "I do."
Kitty nodded slowly, like she had expected it, but still needed to hear it out loud to believe it.
Then she asked the next question.
"Do you like her too?"
XH's throat tightened again.
He looked away, jaw clenched.
Kitty's voice stayed steady. "Don't lie."
XH exhaled. "Yes."
Kitty's expression didn't break.
But something in her eyes shifted.
Not anger.
Not shock.
Recognition.
Like she had been holding a glass cup carefully and finally felt a crack beneath her fingers.
She turned to face the campus again, hands gripping the railing.
For a moment, she didn't speak.
Then she said, quietly, "So it's true."
XH stepped closer. "Kitty…"
Kitty lifted a hand gently, stopping him without touching him. "No. Let me finish."
Her voice stayed calm, but her words carried weight.
"I'm not mad that you like her," Kitty said. "I'm not mad that she likes you. I'm mad that I've been living in the space where you delay."
XH's chest tightened. "I'm trying."
Kitty nodded. "I believe you. But belief doesn't protect me."
XH swallowed hard. "I don't want to lose you."
Kitty's lips curved faintly, but the smile looked sad. "You can't keep everyone forever."
XH's eyes burned slightly. "Why are you saying it like it's already decided?"
Kitty finally turned toward him again.
Her eyes were bright.
Not with tears yet.
With restraint.
"Because I know myself," she said softly. "I can endure a lot. But I can't endure feeling like someone's backup plan."
XH's heart slammed against his ribs.
"You're not," he said quickly. "You're not backup. You're…"
He stopped, because he didn't know what word would save him.
Kitty's gaze sharpened slightly. "Then what am I?"
XH's mouth opened, but the answer didn't arrive.
The rooftop felt colder.
Not because of wind.
Because of silence.
Kitty exhaled slowly. "That's what I thought."
XH reached out instinctively, then stopped himself. He didn't want to trap her. He didn't want to be selfish.
Kitty looked away again.
Then she spoke, voice quieter now, like she was confessing something she didn't want to admit.
"I prayed," Kitty said.
XH blinked. "What?"
Kitty's throat moved as she swallowed. "I prayed that you would choose me. Not because I wanted June to lose. But because I wanted to believe good things happen to people who stay good."
XH felt a sharp ache.
Kitty continued, "And then I watched you under that jacket. I watched you protect her from rain like it was instinct. Like it was natural."
XH whispered, "Kitty…"
Kitty's eyes flicked toward him. "Don't apologize. Not yet. Apologies are cheap when nothing changes."
The rooftop door opened again.
This time, the footsteps were heavier.
More direct.
June appeared.
She stopped immediately when she saw them.
Her gaze swept the space, reading everything in a single second.
The distance between XH and Kitty. Kitty's tense shoulders. XH's strained expression.
June's jaw tightened.
"So this is where you went," June said.
XH's chest tightened. "June…"
June stepped closer, wind tugging at her hair. "You ran away in the hallway."
Kitty's voice was calm. "He didn't run away. He came up here to breathe."
June's eyes snapped to Kitty. "And you followed him."
Kitty nodded. "Yes."
June's posture stayed straight. "Of course."
Kitty's eyes narrowed slightly. "Don't act like you wouldn't."
June's lips pressed together. "I wouldn't corner him."
Kitty's smile was faint. "You do it with your eyes."
June's gaze sharpened. "And you do it with your silence."
The air tightened again.
XH felt like the rooftop was shrinking.
June stepped closer to XH, but stopped short, not touching him.
Her voice lowered. "Did you tell her you like me?"
XH froze.
Kitty's eyes flicked toward him, calm but alert.
XH swallowed. "Yes."
June's face shifted. A flash of satisfaction, then guilt, then pride, then something softer that scared her.
Kitty's jaw tightened slightly.
June spoke again, voice quiet. "And did you tell her you like her?"
XH's breath caught.
He didn't answer immediately.
June's eyes widened slightly. "You didn't?"
Kitty's voice was calm but sharp. "He did."
June's gaze flicked to Kitty, then back to XH. "So you like both."
XH's voice was rough. "Yes."
Silence hit.
Wind moved around them, cold and persistent.
June laughed softly, but it wasn't humor. It was disbelief.
"So what now?" June asked, voice controlled. "You stand here and say yes to everything?"
Kitty's voice was quieter. "No. He decides what love means to him."
June's gaze sharpened. "Love means choosing."
Kitty's eyes held steady. "Love also means not destroying people in the process."
June stepped closer, voice low. "Don't lecture me like I'm the villain."
Kitty's voice stayed soft. "I'm not. I'm trying to keep myself from becoming one."
June's expression tightened. "I don't expect much from people. That's my definition. I don't cling."
Kitty's eyes softened. "You cling differently."
June's lips parted slightly, then closed. Her pride stiffened.
XH finally spoke, voice strained. "Stop."
Both girls turned to him.
He looked at June. "You're not wrong for wanting clarity."
He looked at Kitty. "You're not wrong for wanting honesty."
His voice cracked slightly. "But I can't do this here. Not like this."
June's eyes narrowed. "Then where?"
Kitty's gaze held his. "Yes. Where?"
The rooftop had become the same question again.
XH swallowed, feeling the weight of it.
He looked down at the campus below, then back at them.
"Not today," XH said quietly. "But soon. I promise soon."
June's face tightened. "Promises."
Kitty's eyes softened. "Soon is still time."
XH's chest tightened again. "I know."
June exhaled sharply, turning away first, anger disguised as control. "Fine. I have class."
Kitty didn't move.
June took two steps, then paused at the door and looked back.
Her voice was softer, almost vulnerable. "Don't make me regret caring."
Then she left.
The rooftop door closed.
Silence returned.
Kitty stood beside XH, wind tugging gently at her towel, her hair, her patience.
XH whispered, "I'm sorry."
Kitty didn't respond immediately.
Then she said, quietly, "Don't be sorry. Be brave."
XH's throat tightened. "I'm trying."
Kitty looked at him, eyes bright with restrained emotion.
"Then try louder," she said.
Then she turned and walked toward the door.
Halfway there, she paused and looked back.
"XH," she said softly.
He looked at her.
Kitty's voice was quiet, but it carried everything she didn't want to say out loud.
"I won't beg you," she said. "But I also won't disappear."
Then she left.
XH remained at the railing, hands gripping cold metal, wind cutting across his face.
Below him, campus life continued like nothing had happened.
Above him, the sky stayed pale and indifferent.
But inside him, something shifted.
Not resolution.
Not relief.
A deadline.
Because rooftops didn't offer comfort.
They offered truth.
And now he had nowhere left to hide.