North stared at the phone screen, his brow furrowed in confusion as he read Ja Jan's series of messages. Her words had come through about an hour ago, but now, with his focus scattered between her messages and his studies, he wasn't sure how to respond. The room around him felt increasingly suffocating, especially as the pressure of his exams weighed on his mind.
Shit, who can focus on studying with this distraction? North thought, irritated with himself for even letting this become an issue.
[JA JAN]: Hey.
[JA JAN]: North.
[JA JAN]: I'm so stressed.
[JA JAN]: Can we talk?
[JA JAN]: I want to meet you.
[JA JAN]: I really want to hug you.
[JA JAN]: Sorry I don't know what to write, Haha.
[JA JAN]: If you have free time, please answer me. I don't have anyone to talk to.
North sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. It had been a while since they'd last spoken, and he was certain that Ja Jan hadn't come here just to reminisce about their past. But what could she possibly need now? The feeling of unease grew as he typed out a quick response.
[NORTH]: Sorry, I'm studying.
A moment passed before her reply came through.
[JA JAN]: Sorry, I thought you were done.
[JA JAN]: So what time do you finish studying?
[NORTH]: Four.
[JA JAN]: Okay, I'll wait for you. Sorry, I didn't tell you earlier.
[JA JAN]: I'm waiting for you outside the Faculty of Engineering building.
[JA JAN]: Without realizing it, I ended up here, haha.
[JA JAN]: Are you studying here? If not, I'll go wherever you tell me to, just wait for me.
The last message hit him like a brick. JaJan, from another university, had come all the way to his campus. Why would she come here? North's thoughts were interrupted as Chai, his friend, glanced up from his nap.
"Damn," North muttered under his breath, recalling how Ja Jan had shown up unannounced. His friends didn't have the same understanding of the situation, especially when it came to the messy history he shared with JaJan.
"What's wrong?" Chai mumbled, his tone irritated as he rubbed his eyes.
"Nothing," North responded quickly.
"Who are you texting? You should be studying." Chai shot him a disapproving look.
"Look at yourself first!" Duen Nao grumbled from across the room, clearly annoyed that his nap had been interrupted.
With a sigh, North replied to Ja Jan.
[NORTH]: Yes, I'm here.
[NORTH]: Is it urgent?
[JA JAN]: Not really, but I can't take it anymore haha.
[NORTH]: Is it important?
[JA JAN]: Important to me.
[JA JAN]: I can't take it anymore :(
North felt the weight of her words, and the pressure in his chest only increased. What do I do now? he thought, his gut twisting at the thought of meeting her, especially after everything that had happened between them.
[NORTH]: Okay. I'll leave the class and go downstairs.
[NORTH]: You can wait in the cafeteria downstairs.
[JA JAN]: Okay, bye.
North packed up his things reluctantly, his heart heavy with a mix of anger and confusion. I really don't want to see her, but... if she's waited this long, I can't just ignore it. His mind raced with possible scenarios, each one more uncomfortable than the last. He tried to ignore the nagging feeling that she was here for more than just a casual chat.
"You're meeting her?" Chai asked with a sharp tone, his voice full of concern.
"Yeah, she's waiting for me," North replied, trying to sound calm despite the chaos swirling in his chest. His three friends exchanged serious glances.
"Are you seriously going to meet her after what happened?" Kyu asked with a disbelieving frown.
"I hit him first," North admitted, feeling the truth of the situation settle in.
Temp, Ja Jan's ex, had punched him, but it had been provoked by North's own actions. Still, he couldn't ignore the fact that Temp had hurt him, and JaJan had left him to be with someone else.
"You're going to meet her?" Duen Nao added, his voice filled with concern.
"After everything? Don't you remember how bad things got?"
"I don't want to see her either," North confessed. "But she's been waiting for me. And I'm guessing it's something urgent. She wouldn't be here otherwise."
"That's just dumb," Chai muttered. "She left you, remember?"
"Yeah, I know," North said, running a hand over his face in frustration. "But she came all this way, and I can't just leave her hanging."
"You've got to act calm when you get there," Duen Nao added. "And don't let your guard down."
"You guys are making it sound like I'm going back to her," North replied, shaking his head.
"You're not, right?" Kyu pressed.
"No," North answered firmly, though the uncertainty in his heart still lingered.
"You'll be fine," Chai said, standing up. "But we're coming with you. Just in case."
"Don't you guys have anything better to do?" North retorted, but he knew they weren't going to let him go alone.
At the cafeteria, Ja Jan was waiting for him, her figure tense as she sat at a table, hands tightly clasped in front of her. North hesitated for a moment, catching sight of her new, shorter haircut. She looked so different now, but somehow, it only reminded him of the past they could never return to.
"Did you cut your hair?" North asked, his voice breaking the silence.
"Yeah, I got tired of the long hair," Ja Jan replied, forcing a smile. "Is it weird?"
"No, I just... wasn't expecting it."
The awkwardness between them hung in the air as they exchanged small talk, trying to bridge the uncomfortable gap between them. North hadn't seen her since their breakup, and now, with her sitting across from him, everything felt unfamiliar.
"So, what's going on?" North finally asked, the words feeling heavy on his tongue.
Ja Jan looked down at her hands, her lips pressed tight as if holding back something painful. "I... I just broke up with Temp."
The words hit North with an unexpected force. Why am I not surprised? He thought bitterly. It wasn't a shock that Temp had caused problems, but hearing Ja Jan admit it stung more than he expected.
"Who broke up with whom?" North asked, keeping his voice neutral.
"Maybe Temp... I'm not sure," Ja Jan muttered, wiping her eyes as tears began to spill. "We fought a lot... When we first started dating, it wasn't like this. You always stayed calm... unlike him."
"I told you he was cheating on you," North said softly, watching her reactions carefully.
Ja Jan sobbed harder as she nodded. "I... I tried to deny it, but I saw it with my own eyes. He had someone else..."
North felt the familiar discomfort of empathy pulling at him, but he reminded himself not to fall back into old patterns. He had moved on from her, even if she hadn't fully moved on from him. I'm not here to fix her problems.
"Do you know who she is?" North asked, though part of him didn't want to hear the answer.
"I don't care anymore," Ja Jan said, shaking her head, her voice tinged with defeat. "I just... I miss the way you used to protect me."
The room seemed to close in around him, and North's thoughts swirled.
Why is she telling me this now?
"You should let go of the past," North said, trying to stay firm. "You need to move on."
Ja Jan's expression faltered, and for a moment, North wondered if she would ever be able to truly leave him behind.
North sat across from Ja Jan, listening to her words. The vulnerability in her voice struck him harder than he expected. Her tear-filled eyes and shaky hands reminded him of the moments they shared, the ones where he used to protect her, care for her. But things had changed. They couldn't stay together, and now, the memories were bittersweet.
At the mention of her appreciation, North's expression tightened slightly.
"At times like this, I remember you. You took good care of me, but we couldn't stay together." Ja Jan's voice faltered, and a knot twisted in North's stomach. He'd been the one who ended things, yet hearing her say this made him feel guilty.
He was about to respond, but he cut himself off before the words could spill. Instead, he simply murmured, "No problem, don't say anything else," trying to soothe the situation, but his words felt hollow.
Ja Jan then hesitated, and North could sense her discomfort as she asked, "If I hadn't broken up with my boyfriend, we wouldn't have met, right?"
The unexpected question caught him off guard. His face registered surprise, and he felt an unsettling shift inside. Ja Jan's tears started to fall harder, her hands trembling as they gripped the tissue he handed her.
North's gaze flicked toward his friends, silently observing from a distance.
Chai wasn't showing much concern, but Duen Nao and Kyu looked like they might explode any second. They knew what Ja Jan had meant to North, and they didn't like the idea of him getting hurt again.
Ja Jan apologized, but North barely registered her words as he repeated, "It's okay, it doesn't matter," hoping it would quell her guilt. Yet, there was something about her distress that stirred something deep within him. She wasn't just sad about the breakup; it seemed she was searching for something—validation, perhaps, or closure.
Her confession about her relationship with Temp confused him further. He didn't know Temp, but the situation sounded complicated. Ja Jan was torn between forgiving him and moving on, and that confusion only seemed to deepen as she explained how Temp was being forced to leave due to a transfer.
"Is he moving overseas?" North asked, though he wasn't sure why he cared so much about the details. He wasn't invested in Temp's life. Still, something nagged at him, especially when Ja Jan said that Temp was leaving and couldn't stay here. North's mind raced.
Why was this even relevant? He couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the story, something he wasn't being told. As Ja Jan mentioned Tim—Temp's friend—who had said that both Temp and someone else had to move, his curiosity piqued. Who was this person, and what had really happened?
North's gaze sharpened when Ja Jan dropped a bombshell. "He said it had to do with the person who helped you that day." Her words hung in the air, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"What do you mean? Who is this person?" he asked.
Ja Jan's voice trembled as she mentioned the name Johan. It hit him like a cold wave. No, it couldn't be. P'Johan had to be involved somehow. North's mind raced, but he kept his face neutral. He didn't want to let her see how unsettled he felt.
"I don't know," North muttered, even though doubt gnawed at him. "I can't tell you. I don't know what's going on." The thought of Johan's involvement in this mess left him uneasy, but he kept it hidden beneath a mask of indifference. It's better not to get involved, he told himself.
Ja Jan, as if trying to find solace in him, repeated how thankful she was that North had protected her back then. North didn't know how to respond. It was over now, wasn't it? But his heart betrayed him, wanting to help her, even if it meant getting pulled back into the chaos.
Before he could dwell too long on it, Ja Jan's next request surprised him.
"Do you know someone named Tiger? He's also from the Faculty of Engineering."
North blinked, taken aback by the sudden shift in the conversation. "Tiger? Yeah, I know him. He's a friend of mine. Why?"
Ja Jan hesitated, wiping her tears. "I overheard Temp and Tim talking about Tiger. It seems like there's some kind of problem with him. Can you ask him what's going on?"
North felt a pang of frustration. This was getting more complicated by the second. Of course, Tiger's involved. Why wouldn't he be? He silently cursed himself for not seeing the connection earlier. It made sense now—if there was anyone who could stir things up in the Faculty of Engineering, it was Tiger.
"I'll try," he said, his voice flat. But deep down, he knew he was only getting himself deeper into something he didn't want to be a part of.
Ja Jan's expression softened with gratitude, and North quickly stood up, trying to avoid any lingering emotions. "Anything else?" he asked, his tone now more clipped, as though he was trying to distance himself.
"No, that's everything," Ja Jan replied, her voice a mix of relief and exhaustion.
As North moved to leave, Ja Jan's voice stopped him one last time. "North," she said quietly.
He turned to face her, and she continued, "Thank you for listening to me. When there's nothing left, you'll always be there."
The weight of her words hit him harder than he expected. He didn't want to admit it, but something about Ja Jan's vulnerability tugged at him. He swallowed the knot in his throat and nodded. "No problem."
"I'm sorry for what happened," she added, her voice small. "I didn't mean to say the wrong things. I just... I want to keep talking to you. Maybe we could start again? At least as friends."
North felt the familiar ache in his chest at her words. Could they really just be friends? He couldn't answer her right away. Instead, he gave her a curt nod and walked away, the silence hanging heavily between them.
⋆˚☆˖°⋆｡° ✮˖ ⊹⋆.˚
North stared at the phone screen, fingers hovering over the keys. He felt the heat of the conversation settling in, still unsure about how he felt. His mind replayed the interactions from earlier, the confusion and frustration mixing with a sense of unease.
"Are you still alive?" Duen Nao's voice cut through the air, playful yet full of that irritating edge that North had come to recognize so well.
"Yes," North replied flatly, his tone betraying no emotion.
"How are you?" Duen Nao pressed further, clearly trying to provoke him.
"Good," North answered, his voice low, a hint of frustration creeping in.
"You seem upset. How did it go? I told you, didn't I?" Duen Nao continued, his words laced with the smug satisfaction of someone who had been waiting for this moment to annoy him.
"I can handle it. But I'm not sure yet." North's answer was curt, the frustration in his voice barely concealed.
"You guys started again?" Duen Nao asked, his tone shifting to something more curious now.
"I don't know." North's voice wavered slightly, the uncertainty bubbling to the surface. His thoughts raced, trying to make sense of everything.
"Do you really want to reconcile?" Chai asked, his voice quieter, more considerate.
"She wants to start over," Kyu chimed in, his voice full of skepticism.
"Start over with the same person!" North exclaimed, his frustration boiling over. The thought of repeating the same cycle made his skin crawl. "What the hell?" North muttered under his breath, his mind overwhelmed by the complexity of the situation.
"Does she still love you?" Duen Nao's voice came again, sharper this time, his curiosity piqued.
"No, she didn't say that," North answered, shaking his head in disbelief. The confusion was wearing on him more than he cared to admit.
"So, what does she want?" Kyu pressed.
"Well, she seemed worried about Temp at first. It seemed like she was still sad, but she kept saying she wanted to talk to me. I'm confused, shi... ooii!"
North's words tumbled out in frustration. The emotional turmoil gnawed at him, making his thoughts scatter like leaves in the wind.
"Maybe she just wants to keep you," Duen Nao suggested, though it was more of a guess than a statement.
"We'll support you, even though I'm still very upset," Chai added, offering his support, but with a clear trace of disappointment in his voice.
"So, you'll be the backup?" North replied, his voice heavy with sarcasm.
"What's your answer?" Kyu demanded, his eyes narrowing in on North as if he were trying to see through the layers of frustration.
"It's better to say no. It's the right thing to do," North said, the decision feeling like a weight lifting from his chest as he finally spoke his mind.
"Wow, you can do that?" Duen Nao said, a note of surprise in his voice.
North could feel his friend's eyes on him, waiting for a sign of weakness, but North wasn't willing to show it.
"But why are you like this?" North asked, genuinely confused. The tension in the room felt thick, like it was pressing down on his chest.
"Surprised?" Duen Nao replied, his voice tinged with amusement.
"You guys are friends. She can tell you everything that happened to her, but you have to be careful with your anger; you might get heart disease," Kyu teased, a smirk playing on his lips.
"I'm not angry anymore," North muttered, trying to deflect the comment.
He hated that Duen Nao always found a way to bring up old wounds.
"Last time, you were drunk like a dog," Kyu continued, not letting go of his teasing grip.
"Idiot, can you please not bring it up?" North scolded, rolling his eyes. The conversation drifted on, but North's mind was elsewhere, lost in the confusion of it all.
Later, after parting ways with his friends, North quickly adjusted his thoughts. There was still work to do, still classes to attend, and his mind wouldn't stop racing. He pulled out his phone, checking the messages that had been pinging his screen.
[EASTER]: Did Ja Jan come to see you?!
North paused, confused by the message.
[NORTH]: How did you know?
[EASTER]: Kyu told me.
[NORTH]: I told you, he's a real gossip.
[EASTER]: So what?!
[NORTH]: Nothing.
[NORTH]: We're just talking.
[EASTER]: Don't hide it.
[EASTER]: Tell me.
North shook his head. What is this, a cross-examination?
[NORTH]: Nothing.
He decided to ignore Easter's messages for a moment and checked his conversation with Tiger. He needed to focus on something else, something that felt a bit more real. His thumb hovered over the screen, and he quickly typed out a message to Tiger.
[NORTH]: Tiger, do you have any free time? Please answer.
Less than ten minutes passed before Tiger's reply popped up on the screen.
[TIGER]: What?
[TIGER]: I don't have any free time.
[TIGER]: For you!
North laughed despite himself. Tiger!
[NORTH]: I suddenly felt uncomfortable.
[TIGER]: Why?
[NORTH]: I'm not good at keeping secrets for too long.
[NORTH]: But I can't keep it anymore.
[NORTH]: This is weird.
[NORTH]: I guess I should've told you sooner.
[TIGER]: What's so uncomfortable?
[TIGER]: That's not even your business.
[TIGER]: Shit, what's wrong?
[NORTH]: Can I call you?
[TIGER]: Yes.
[NORTH]: Duen Nao?
[TIGER]: Here.
[TIGER]: I can talk to the balcony.
[NORTH]: Okay, I'll wait for you.
The phone call connected, and North immediately heard the annoyance in Tiger's voice as he answered.
"Am I interrupting your time with your husband? Tiger, I have something to ask you."
"What?"
"That's the thing about Temp. What did you see and what did you do?"
A pause followed, and then Tiger responded with a question of his own.
"How did you know?"
"Do you remember? My ex-girlfriend just came to see me and told me they were going to be transferred because of someone. At first, she remembered the person who came to pick me up that day. But now, your name is also in this situation."
North hesitated. Asking Tiger felt like the right choice. If he went to Johan, he would only end up getting scolded again.
"I'm lazy. Can I tell you later?"
"Come on, my good friend, tell me now."
"Since when did you become a sycophant?"
"Oh, I was just wondering. Is it hard to say?"
Tiger sighed audibly on the other end of the line.
"It's not difficult. I just don't want to talk about it. What should I do? I really don't want to tell it."
"Tiger!"
"Damn, every time you call me like that, it always threatens me. Just a quick summary, OK? But don't tell Duen Nao."
"OK!"
Tiger proceeded to explain.
"On the day you guys got into trouble, Duen Nao's mouth and eyebrows cracked when he returned to the room. I was so angry, and no matter how many times I asked him, Duen Nao wouldn't tell me who did it. But seriously, it wasn't hard to find. I searched the CCTV camera footage files from that day. But when I went to the store, they told me that someone had bought it."
A sudden realization hit North like a truck.
"That's P'Johan, so I should go look for him."
"You went looking for him? Do you know him?"
Tiger's response was casual, as if this was all just a small thing.
"A little. I knew him when I was racing cars."
North raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had never known Tiger to mention Johan before.
"In the past, we sometimes met on the race track. Whose black Bugatti do you think is the best? I'll never forget it."
"And did you ever compete with P'Johan?"
"I've seen him driving, and he really doesn't feel scared to death. Have you ever been in his car?"
"Yes, sometimes."
"Then you know what his driving skills are like."
"That's right."
Johan... this was starting to make more sense, but also feel more confusing by the second. Why was Tiger involved with him? And why did this all matter now?
The conversation continued, but North couldn't stop the nagging feeling that something was off about Johan. Did he really like him? North tried to push the thought away, but the more he heard, the more uncertain he felt.
North knew Johan wasn't the best driver. In fact, from the few times he had seen him behind the wheel of a car or motorcycle, North felt a constant unease. There was something reckless in the way Johan maneuvered vehicles, something that always left him on edge. Despite not being an expert himself, North could tell there was an unpredictable streak in Johan's driving style that unsettled him.
"You didn't say you knew him," Tiger remarked, pulling him back to the conversation.
"Really?" North responded, a slight hint of surprise in his voice. "Oh."
Tiger resumed, shifting back to their earlier discussion. "When I went to see him, he said he'd already taken care of it."
"Taken care of what?" North asked, his curiosity piqued.
Tiger explained, "I originally wanted that CCTV footage to get them out of the University."
North paused, recalling the altercation from that day. "Hey, but I started that fight."
Tiger didn't seem to mind. "Yeah, sure, but I didn't think about it like that. I just wanted to know who hit Duen Nao. P'Johan said he understood the situation already."
"Wait, so the recording is still there?" North inquired.
"Yeah," Tiger confirmed.
"How do you know?" North pressed.
"I know, and Tim knows too. It's not good for him," Tiger answered cryptically.
North's mind raced. "So, Tim's problem is you, and Temp's problem is P'Johan, right?"
"Something like that," Tiger said, sounding a bit dismissive.
North's brow furrowed as he processed the information. "So, what's your plan? How are you going to get them out of here?"
"They've got a bad track record. It's easy," Tiger replied, almost nonchalantly. "Is that enough? What else do you want to know?"
North could sense there was more to this than Tiger was letting on. He knew when Tiger was hiding something—he was always good at reading him when he was trying to keep his emotions under control.
"So, you're just getting them out and not doing anything else?" North asked, his voice low and calculating.
Tiger's anger was palpable now. "You could say that," he muttered. "But it's not entirely free."
"What do you mean?" North pressed.
"He hit Duen Nao with his right hand eight times. I saw it on the camera," Tiger said, his voice now a bit more serious.
"Shit!" North swore under his breath. "If he's right-handed, his life's going to be tough."
"Yeah, well, he's got to pay for what he did. He's leaving soon anyway," Tiger added.
"Damn, since when did arms change?" North muttered, incredulous at the brutality of it all.
Tiger's voice turned cold. "Calm down, I didn't cut off his arm."
North took a moment to digest this new information. "Oh," he said slowly.
"So maybe it's just broken? He'll have to wear a cast for a few months?"
"That's the idea," Tiger replied, almost nonchalantly. "Temp's problem, though—that's your fault. If he'd hit you first, it would have been satisfying to see his whole body in bandages."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Are you afraid?" Tiger shot back, his tone a little mocking.
North let out a deep breath. "Seriously... you two are scary."
Tiger smirked, his voice softening slightly. "I call it love."
North scowled, not understanding what Tiger meant. "So, Duen Nao—they hit him first, right? I remember Chai saying Duen Nao started it."
"No, they hit him first," Tiger corrected him quickly.
North processed this information with a frown. "Ah, so you're protecting him. But he doesn't even know it, right?"
"Exactly," Tiger said. "No one's going to tell him, so he might never know."
North felt the tension in his chest grow. "How do you know I wouldn't tell him?"
Tiger let out a heavy sigh. "North, you know P'Johan likes you, right?"
"What?" North asked, genuinely confused.
"P'Johan," Tiger repeated, his voice taking on a teasing tone.
"No way," North said, dismissing the idea with a shake of his head.
"Well, maybe not. But I've seen other people lose their minds over him," Tiger continued.
"What do you mean?" North asked, his curiosity piqued despite himself.
Tiger's tone shifted to one of knowing mockery. "You pretend not to know, but you're not stupid, North. If what I'm saying is true, are you really going to tell me that he doesn't think anything of you?"
North was taken aback by the bluntness of the statement. "Oh, I know. So what? I..."
Tiger prodded him further. "You don't like it?"
"I... I didn't think of it like that," North replied slowly, trying to reason through his thoughts. "We just met. He's never said anything like that to me or flirted with me. How could he like someone like me? That's just…another thing to think about."
As much as North wanted to dismiss Tiger's words, a part of him couldn't shake the feeling of something unresolved—something he had noticed, but didn't want to acknowledge.
"I still don't want to complicate things, let alone think about love."
Tiger's tone softened, though there was still a hint of teasing in it. "Oh, I'm just like you. I don't think about anything all day."
North narrowed his eyes at the remark. "Oh, and now you're scolding me?"
"But if you want to know," Tiger continued, his voice more serious now,
"I've been thinking about it all day."
"About what?" North asked, his voice a little unsure.
"I don't know how to say it," Tiger said cryptically. "Listen to me. I'm not that close to him, don't know much about him. But I think it's better to be careful. Even though I said it's scary, I'm telling you this for a reason."
"Be careful of what?" North asked, his unease growing.
"Everything you can imagine," Tiger replied darkly.
"What does that mean?" North asked, his voice filled with frustration.
"Forget it. I don't know, and I don't care," Tiger said dismissively. "Go, see you later, and don't tell anyone. Just... be careful with P'Johan."
"Be careful of what?!" North pressed, the concern growing in his voice.
"Think for yourself," Tiger answered, his voice turning cryptic once more.
"Ai SAT!" North exclaimed in frustration, the weight of the conversation bearing down on him.
As much as he hated to admit it, Tiger's words lingered in his mind. If Johan really liked him... but why would he? And if he had known about the situation with Temp and came to see him, would he really be satisfied with the way he handled it? North was drowning in questions, unable to find answers.
Just as he was about to lose himself in thought, his phone pinged again. It was Easter, still pestering him even after everything that had just been said.
North quickly opened the chat, typing a response to get him off his back.
[NORTH]: Yes, she came to make peace. Are you satisfied?
[JOHAN]: WHAT?!