"Today is the final exam. Make sure you're prepared."
The teacher's voice echoed at the front of the classroom.
The atmosphere was unusually quiet. No talking, no laughter. Just tension pressing down in the air.
I stared at the exam paper in my hands. The words were all there, lined up neatly, yet I couldn't understand a single one.
My head felt heavy. My mind drifted.
Like everything had fallen out of place.
"Phat… are you okay?"
A classmate beside me whispered softly.
I nodded.
Even though—
I wasn't okay at all.
The exam began.
I tried to focus, tried to pull myself together. I wrote down answers one by one.
But everything felt slow. Slower than usual.
And in my head—
there was only Kan.
His words, his eyes, that day.
Looping over and over.
"Time's up."
The teacher's voice cut in.
I put my pen down. My hand trembled slightly without me realizing it.
I walked out of the exam room. The air outside should've felt lighter.
But instead, it made it even harder to breathe.
"Phat."
The voice I had been trying to avoid… called out again.
I stopped, then turned.
Kan was standing there. His eyes fixed on me, just like always.
"What do you want?"
I asked flatly.
"You got this part wrong on the exam—"
"No."
I cut him off immediately.
"I don't want to hear it."
He frowned slightly.
"I'm just trying to help."
"I said I don't need it!"
My voice rose before I could stop it.
People around us started to look.
But I didn't care anymore.
Kan paused for a moment, then lifted the paper in my hand to look.
"You wrote this part wrong. The formula should be—"
"Give it back."
My voice turned cold.
But he didn't let go.
"Listen first, Phat—"
"I said give it back!"
I yanked the paper from his hand.
It all happened too fast.
The sharp edge of the paper sliced across his finger.
A soft but clear sound.
Kan froze.
So did I.
Bright red blood slowly seeped from the tip of his finger, dripping onto my exam paper.
A small stain—
but far too clear.
My heart jolted.
I couldn't speak.
Kan glanced at his wound for a second, then looked back at me—
as if it didn't matter at all.
"You can be as mad at me as you want,"
he said, voice calm.
"But when it comes to your studies, I don't want you to mess up."
His words made me tighten my grip on the paper.
"Stop doing this."
I said softly… but it hurt.
"You don't have to act like you care about me."
Kan went still.
"It's not necessary."
I looked up at him.
"Or is this just another way for you…"
My voice trembled slightly.
"To make me feel something… and then destroy it again?"
His expression changed instantly.
"I've never thought that."
"But I have."
I shot back immediately.
Not giving him any space to explain.
Blood still seeped from his finger.
But he didn't even look at it.
"Phat…"
He called my name softly.
But I shook my head.
"Enough."
I took a step back.
"Don't get involved with me again."
Those words—
felt like a knife I stabbed out myself.
But the one who hurt…
wasn't just him.
I turned and walked away without looking back.
Even though I knew—
his eyes were still following me.
And the last thing I saw, before I walked out of sight,
was the small drop of blood
still staining my paper.
Like something…
that could never be erased.