Millie's POV
"Mumma…"
I was sleepy.
Mumma was sitting beside me, patting my hair.
She was saying a poem.
I didn't know all the words, but I liked hearing her say them.
Her voice was soft.
"Twinkle…"
She stopped.
I opened my eyes.
Mumma wasn't saying anything anymore.
I looked at her.
"Mumma?"
She didn't answer.
Maybe she was sleeping.
I sat up.
"Mumma?"
Nothing.
I reached out and poked her cheek.
It was soft.
I poked it again.
"Mumma, wake up."
She didn't wake up.
I frowned.
Maybe she was very tired.
I lay down beside her instead.
"I want to sleep with you."
Mumma still didn't answer.
I moved closer.
Then I patted her arm.
"Sleep, Mumma."
For a little while, everything was quiet.
Then Mumma moved.
My eyes opened again.
She was getting up.
"Mumma?"
She didn't look at me.
She started walking.
I sat up quickly.
"Where are you going?"
She didn't answer.
I climbed down from the bed and followed her.
Her steps were big.
Mine were small.
"Mumma, wait!"
She kept walking.
I ran.
My feet got tangled.
I fell.
"Ouch!"
My hands hurt.
I started crying.
"Mumma…"
I waited.
She didn't turn around.
I wiped my eyes.
"Mumma, wait for me!"
She kept going.
I tried to stand.
Then I saw something strange.
Mumma was in pain.
She clutched head.
Then she fell down.
I stopped crying.
"Mumma?"
She disappeared.
I stared at the empty place where she had been.
I waited.
Maybe she would come back.
She didn't.
"Mumma?"
Nothing.
I started crying again.
"Mumma!"
---
I woke up.
My eyes opened suddenly.
It wasn't my room.
I looked around.
A bed.
A wall.
A window.
The blanket was different.
I sat up.
"Mumma?"
Nobody answered.
I looked beside me.
Empty.
I climbed down from the bed.
Maybe she was outside.
I looked near the door.
Nothing.
"Mumma?"
My voice became smaller.
I ran to the door.
I looked outside.
There were people there.
But not her.
My eyes started hurting.
"Mumma…"
I started crying.
A woman came running toward me.
She knelt down.
"Millie? What happened?"
I shook my head.
I couldn't explain.
I just wanted her.
"I want my mumma."
The woman gently touched my shoulder.
"It's okay…"
"I want my mumma."
My voice became louder.
"I want Mumma!"
She hugged me.
But she wasn't Mumma.
I cried harder.
"I want my mumma…"
I kept saying it.
Again.
And again.
Because I didn't know what else to say.
I only knew one thing.
I wanted my Mumma.
Iris's POV
The papers in front of me had stopped making sense about ten minutes ago.
I stared at the same question for what felt like the fifth time.
Nothing.
I leaned back against my chair and rubbed my forehead.
Maybe I was tired.
Or maybe my brain had simply decided that studying was no longer important enough to cooperate with.
I looked at the clock.
8:30 PM.
I was about to pick up my pen again when my phone began vibrating beside the papers.
I glanced at the screen.
The number looked familiar.
I remembered it after a moment.
The orphanage.
I had given them my number when I met Millie.
Why were they calling now?
I immediately picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Iris?"
"Yes."
There was a small pause.
"I'm sorry for calling at this hour."
"It's okay. Is something wrong?"
The woman's voice became quieter.
"It's Millie."
I straightened in my chair.
"What happened?"
"She has been crying for quite some time."
My fingers tightened slightly around the phone.
"Is she hurt?"
"No, no. She's not hurt."
The woman hesitated.
"She just... won't stop crying. She isn't talking to anyone either. We tried comforting her, but she keeps asking for her mother."
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Of course.
Her mother.
Even after everything, Millie was still just a little girl looking for the one person she wanted most.
"Has she slept?"
"No."
I looked toward the clock again.
"What can I do?"
"We thought... perhaps if you could come here for a little while."
I didn't hesitate.
"Of course."
The woman seemed relieved.
"And if possible..."
She paused.
"Could you bring your boyfriend too?"
I blinked.
"My..."
I stopped myself.
She probably meant Kaizer.
I didn't correct her.
It wasn't important right now.
"Yeah," I said quietly. "I'll ask him."
"Thank you, dear."
The call ended.
I stared at my phone for a moment.
Then I pushed my chair back.
Kaizer was probably in his room.
I stepped into the hallway.
His door was closed.
I walked toward it and knocked softly.
"Kaizer?"
There was a little movement from inside.
The door opened.
He looked at me.
"What happened?"
"The orphanage called."
His expression immediately changed.
"Millie?"
I nodded.
"She hasn't stopped crying. They asked if we could go for a while."
He looked at the time.
Then back at me.
"Should we go?"
"If you're busy, I can go alone."
He shook his head.
"No."
He reached for his jacket.
"Let's go."
I smiled faintly.
"Okay."
---
The orphanage wasn't far.
We walked past the usual grocery store and continued down the road for about ten minutes.
The night air was cold.
Neither of us spoke much.
There was something strange about walking beside him after everything that had happened recently.
His father's disappearance.
The golden threads.
The police station.
The questions neither of us could answer.
And somehow...
we were still walking toward an orphanage to comfort a five-year-old girl.
Life had a strange way of putting ordinary things beside impossible ones.
When we reached the gate, the same woman who had called me was already waiting.
She smiled when she saw us.
"Thank you for coming."
"Where is she?"
"Inside."
We followed her through the hallway.
The orphanage was quiet.
Most of the children had already gone to sleep.
When the woman opened the door to Millie's room, I immediately saw her.
She was sitting on the edge of a small bed.
A woman sat beside her, gently rubbing her back.
Millie's face was wet with tears.
The room was small, but comfortable enough for three children. Two other little beds stood on the opposite side.
Millie looked exhausted.
My heart sank.
"Millie?"
Her head lifted.
For a moment, she only stared at me.
I smiled.
"Hello."
She didn't answer.
Instead, she climbed down from the bed.
Then she ran toward me.
I crouched immediately and caught her in my arms.
She buried her face against me.
I gently held her.
"Why is my little cutieful crying?"
Her little fingers tightened around my clothes.
"Mumma..."
I stroked her hair.
"Hmm?"
"Mumma went away..."
I looked at Kaizer.
He was watching Millie quietly.
Something in his expression changed.
He seemed to be thinking.
For a few seconds, he didn't say anything.
Then—
"Millie."
She slowly looked toward him.
Kaizer crouched in front of her.
"I know where your mumma is."
Millie's eyes widened.
"Really?"
I looked at him, completely puzzled.
What was he doing?
Kaizer only smiled.
He gently brushed a few strands of hair away from Millie's forehead.
"Do you want to meet her?"
Millie nodded immediately.
He opened his arms.
She went to him without hesitation.
He picked her up.
Then he looked toward the woman who had been taking care of her.
"We'll bring her back after some time."
The woman hesitated only briefly before nodding.
"Of course."
Kaizer turned toward the door.
I followed.
Just before I left, the woman came closer to me and whispered,
"What is your boyfriend up to, Miss?"
I blinked.
"I..."
I looked at Kaizer.
"I also want to know."
---
Outside, Kaizer walked for a little while carrying Millie.
Then he eventually put her down.
She immediately reached for both of us.
One tiny hand wrapped around Kaizer's finger.
The other held mine.
I looked down at her.
Then at him.
For some reason, the sight made me smile.
We walked like that.
Three people.
One little girl between us.
The road ahead was quiet.
And then I realized where we were going.
I looked ahead.
The hill.
The same hill Kaizer had taken me to before.
I glanced at him.
He didn't look at me.
He simply continued walking.
I smiled to myself.
Of course.
---
When we reached the top, the night seemed even quieter.
The city lights stretched below us.
Above—
the sky was filled with stars.
Millie looked around.
Kaizer led her toward the bench.
He helped her sit down.
She looked up at him.
"Brother Kaizer..."
"Hmm?"
"Mumma is coming here?"
Kaizer looked at her.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"No."
Millie looked disappointed.
Then he continued.
"She is already here."
Millie's eyes widened.
"Where?"
Kaizer looked toward the sky.
"Can you see those stars?"
Millie followed his gaze.
She nodded.
"Your mumma is one of those stars now."
I suddenly felt something strange.
Not sadness.
Not exactly.
Something familiar.
The words.
The way he said them.
It felt like I had heard something similar before.
But I couldn't remember where.
Millie frowned.
"But my mumma was human."
"I know."
Kaizer's voice remained gentle.
"But one day, God saw that your mumma was tired."
Millie listened carefully.
"She needed to rest."
He pointed toward the sky.
"So she became a star."
Millie stared upward.
I didn't know why, but another sentence suddenly came to my lips.
It came before I could think.
"Then an angel came."
Kaizer looked at me.
I continued.
"She asked your mother to rest as a star while she took care of little Ir—"
I stopped.
My heart skipped.
Kaizer was looking at me.
There was something in his expression.
A strange softness.
And something else I couldn't understand.
I swallowed.
"Little Millie."
Millie didn't notice my hesitation.
"So Mumma is resting there?"
Kaizer nodded.
"Hmm."
"And she can see me?"
"I think so."
Millie looked up again.
"Then she wants Millie to become a good girl?"
Kaizer smiled.
"She does."
"How?"
I smiled.
"By sleeping on time."
Millie listened seriously.
"Playing with your friends."
She nodded.
"Doing your homework."
Another nod.
"And not doing bad things."
Millie thought about it.
Then nodded firmly.
"I will."
She looked at the stars again.
"Then Mumma won't be tired anymore."
Kaizer and I exchanged a glance.
"Hmm," he said softly.
For the next few minutes, none of us spoke.
The wind moved gently around us.
Millie kept looking at the sky.
I kept thinking about the sentence that had slipped from my mouth.
Little Millie.
Why did those words feel like they belonged to someone else?
Why did I know what came next?
I glanced at Kaizer.
He was deliberately looking away.
He knew.
I could tell.
But he didn't say anything.
And somehow...
I didn't ask.
After another ten minutes, I noticed Millie's head slowly dropping.
I smiled.
"She is getting sleepy."
"Hmm."
Kaizer gently helped her lie down across the bench.
She curled up almost immediately.
I sat down on the ground beside the bench.
Kaizer sat beside me.
The two of us leaned back against the wooden bench.
Millie's breathing slowly became steady.
The stars remained above us.
For a while, we simply sat there.
Then I spoke.
"Kaizer..."
"Hmm?"
"Do you think my mother asked your mother to deliberately send you to me?"
He fell silent.
I looked at him.
He seemed to be thinking about my question.
"Why do you say so?"
I shook my head.
"Nothing."
He continued looking at me for another moment.
Then he smiled.
"Well... I think I came to you by myself."
I looked forward again.
"Why?"
He was quiet for a moment.
Then—
"Maybe I liked coming to you."
I turned toward him.
He was already looking at me.
Something about his expression made me forget what I had been about to say.
He looked away first.
"Maybe I liked..."
Our eyes met again.
Neither of us moved.
The words remained unfinished between us.
Then Millie shifted in her sleep.
I immediately turned toward her and gently patted her head.
She settled down again.
When I looked back, Kaizer was smiling.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"What?"
"Nothing."
I sat back in my previous position.
He looked toward the sky.
I did the same.
The silence returned.
But it didn't feel awkward.
It never really did with him anymore.
A few minutes passed.
Then his voice came quietly beside me.
"I wasn't able to complete my sentence."
I looked at him.
"I know what you were about to say."
He chuckled softly.
"Then should I say it or not?"
I didn't answer immediately.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
There was no teasing expression on his face now.
Only hesitation.
Then, quietly—
"I like you."
My heart seemed to stop for a second.
I immediately lowered my face.
My knees came up instinctively, and I buried my face against them.
I could feel the warmth spreading across my cheeks.
I didn't know what to say.
I heard him breathe out softly.
Maybe he hadn't planned to say it like that either.
Neither of us spoke for a while.
Then he said,
"But..."
I lifted my head slightly.
"Hmm?"
He looked toward the sky.
"Isn't our life a bit strange?"
I looked at him.
"Hmm."
"I don't know—"
Before he could finish, I slowly rested my head against his shoulder.
He stopped speaking.
I could hear his breathing.
For some reason, being this close didn't feel frightening anymore.
I quietly said,
"I also like you."
He turned his head.
"Iris?"
I didn't look up.
"Let us be strange only."
He remained silent.
I smiled.
"I just wanted to tell you."
After a moment, he smiled too.
"Then?"
I lifted my head.
"Aren't we good now?"
He looked at me.
"We can live together..."
I paused.
"Talk to each other."
Another pause.
"Eat together."
I smiled.
"And study together."
His smile grew.
"Hmm."
We looked at each other for a moment.
Neither of us said anything else.
There was no need.
For now...
this was enough.
Then—
"Mumma?"
We both turned.
Millie's sleepy eyes were half-open.
I immediately smiled.
"Are you awake?"
She nodded.
Kaizer stood up and helped her sit.
She reached for our hands again.
And just like that, the three of us started walking back down the hill.
Neither Kaizer nor I mentioned what had just happened.
But every now and then, when Millie wasn't looking—
our eyes met.
And we smiled.