From those short messages that night,
it should have ended there.
But it didn't.
"Still awake?"
The message popped up close to midnight.
Phat looked at the screen, a small smile appearing on her lips without her realizing it.
"Yeah. What about you?"
Less than ten seconds later—
"Same here."
And just like that,
the conversation started again.
Like it was something normal.
Even though before this… it had never existed.
That night,
they talked longer than expected.
From school,to random little things.
"My professor is brutal.""And you still survive.""Not always.""You never lose."
Phat stared at that message for a while,
then typed—
"I have lost before."
She paused.
Then deleted it.
"You're exaggerating."
Instead, she sent that.
Kan went quiet for a moment,
then replied—
"If you really lost,""I'd be happy."
Phat frowned slightly.
"Why?"
"So I wouldn't have to compete with you all the time."
She let out a quiet laugh,
even though she was alone.
The conversation continued,
with neither of them mentioning "that day."
No one brought up the past.
It was as if it had been placed somewhere neither of them dared to touch.
"I'm sleepy."
Phat typed around 1 a.m.
"Then sleep.""Good night."
She looked at the last words for a moment,
then replied—
"Good night."
That night,
she fell asleep easier than she had in a long time.
And after that—
it became like this.
Every night.
No plans.No agreements.
But at a certain time,
a message would always appear.
"What are you doing?""Studying.""Still not asleep?""Neither are you."
The same kind of conversations—
but never the same.
Phat started waiting,
without realizing it.
Waiting for that time.Waiting for the screen to light up.Waiting for that familiar name to appear.
And Kan never disappeared.
He always replied.Sometimes texted first.Sometimes stayed until she fell asleep.
Some nights,
the conversations grew longer.
"I got called out by my professor today.""For what?""Late submission.""That's not like you.""People make mistakes.""Yeah.""What about you?""Same as always.""What does that even mean?""Not having you nearby."
Phat froze.
Her fingers stopped above the screen.
Her heart started beating faster without warning.
"What are you saying?"
She typed back,
trying to sound normal.
"Just kidding."
The reply came quickly.
Too quickly.
She stared at it for a while,
then typed—
"Not funny."
Kan sent a sticker instead of replying.
Like he was trying to lighten the moment.
But something inside her—
didn't feel lighter at all.
From then on,
their conversations changed, just a little.
Not just small talk anymore.
There were questions,sentences,that became deeper without meaning to.
"If you could go back,""would you change anything?"
Phat read the message twice,
then replied—
"I don't know.""What about you?"
The other side stayed silent longer than usual.
Much longer.
Then a new message appeared—
"I wouldn't let it end up like this."
Her heart jolted harder than ever before.
She didn't reply right away.
Because she didn't know what to say.
In the end,
she just typed—
"I see."
and sent it.
That night,
the conversation ended like always.
No explanations.No clear words.
But the feelings between them—
were no longer the same.
From people who once hated each other,
they became people who talked every night.
And the scariest part was—
Phat started to feel that
if one night passed without a message from him,
that night…
would be far too quiet.