THEY KNOW.
Exams were only a few weeks away, and the pressure at school had become heavier. Most students were buried in their books, whispering formulas and memorizing notes.
But Ruan was barely present.
Ever since the breakup, he barely ate, barely focused. Not only that, he had skipped several classes that week, and when he did show up, he either dozed off or stared blankly out the window. The teachers had begun noticing.
That morning in biology class was no different.
Ruan sat at the back of the classroom, slouched in his chair with his head resting against his hand. The teacher's voice blended into meaningless noise as diagrams of cells and chromosomes filled the board.
"Ruan," the biology teacher called from the front of the room. "Stay awake in my class."
A few students turned to look.
Ruan lazily straightened up in his chair, but his eyes remained unfocused. Instead of looking at the board, he stared out the window at the pale afternoon sky.
The teacher sighed and continued explaining the lesson.
A few minutes later, he noticed again.
"Ruan," the teacher said, walking closer this time. "Look at the board."
Ruan didn't move.
The teacher's patience snapped. He walked up towards him, "Did you hear me? Look at the board."
Slowly, Ruan raised his eyes.
But instead of turning toward the board, he looked directly at the teacher, his expression cold, and empty.
For a moment, the classroom went silent.
Then Ruan suddenly stood up. His chair scraped harshly across the floor as he pushed it back with unnecessary force. The loud noise startled everyone.
Without saying a word, he grabbed his bag and walked straight out of the classroom. The door slammed shut behind him. The teacher tried to call him back but he couldn't care, not now.
Kev stared at the door in disbelief.
"Did… did that just happen?" he whispered.
West blinked. "That's not like him."
Est frowned slightly, thoughtful.
Across the classroom, Lumi watched the scene unfold with a faint sneer. Unlike the others, she wasn't surprised. She knew exactly why Ruan was falling apart. And a small, bitter satisfaction flickered in her eyes.
Ruan didn't stop walking until he reached the rooftop.
The wind was strong up there, pushing against his hair as he leaned against the railing and stared at the city below.
His chest felt heavy.
Akari's voice kept replaying in his head.
I think we should break up.
He ran his hands through his hair. The words refused to leave him alone.
He fished out pictures from his bag. The ones from the photo booth. He had been staring at them for a long time since the breakup. In the picture they were happy, but now everything had shattered only in a nick of time.
Not long after causing a scene, the door at the rooftop creaked open.
Kev, West, and Est stepped out. Briskly, he slid the pictured back in his bag and wiped away his tears.
"Dude," Kev said, slightly out of breath. "You scared the hell out of us."
Ruan didn't turn around.
West crossed his arms. "You wanna explain what that was about?"
Still no answer.
Est studied him carefully. "Something's wrong?" he said quietly.
Ruan let out a long breath. "I'm fine."
Kev scoffed. "Tell that to somebody who doesn't know you."
Ruan finally turned to look at them.
His eyes were tired.
Red.
"Can we just… go somewhere else?" he said quietly.
The three friends exchanged confused glances.
"Where?" West asked.
Ruan shrugged.
"The old basketball court."
Kev blinked. "That abandoned place?"
Ruan nodded.
"Just… come with me."
The old basketball court sat behind a row of empty warehouses on the edge of town. The metal fence was rusted, and weeds had begun creeping through cracks in the pavement. It had been years since anyone regularly used the place. But the hoop still stood.
Ruan grabbed the basketball and started playing immediately.
Hard.
Too hard.
The ball slammed against the ground again and again as he dribbled aggressively across the cracked court.
He shot.
Missed.
The ball bounced away.
He grabbed it again.
Shot again.
Missed again.
The harder he tried, the worse he played.
Akari's words kept echoing in his head.
I think we should break up.
Ruan's movements became rougher. Angrier. The ball hit the rim and bounced away once more. He played rough the others barely enjoyed.
Kev finally stepped forward and grabbed his arm. "Alright, that's enough!"
Ruan tried to pull away, but Kev held him firmly.
"Stop it!" Kev said seriously.
West walked closer, his brows furrowed. "What the hell is wrong with you lately?"
Est stood beside them, his voice calm but firm. "Exactly. Talk to us Ruan."
The tension in the air felt heavy. Ruan swallowed hard. For a moment he tried to keep the words inside. But the pressure was too much.
Suddenly his knees gave out. He dropped onto the ground and sat there, his shoulders shaking. A quiet sob escaped him before he could stop it.
Kev's expression immediately softened. "Hey… hey, man…"
Ruan wiped his face roughly, but the tears kept coming. It took some time. Est stroke his back tenderly to comfort him.
"I…" His voice cracked. "I was dating someone."
The three friends froze. Was
"And they… they dumped me."
Kev blinked in shock. West clenched his fists. Est leaned forward slightly.
Ruan took a shaky breath and finally said the words he had been hiding.
"Bu...But that person is not Lumi." He continued, they listened patiently. "He's… our teacher. Akari."
Silence fell over the abandoned court. And just like that...The truth finally came out.
Silence fell over the abandoned court.
Kev, West, and Est stared at Ruan, trying to process what he had just said.
Ruan kept his head down, his shoulders trembling slightly. Saying the words out loud felt strange, like he had just shattered something fragile that he had been hiding for too long.
For a few seconds, no one spoke.
Then Kev suddenly smacked the back of Ruan's head.
Not hard. Just enough.
"You idiot!" Kev snapped.
Ruan blinked in surprise, looking up at him.
"You've been walking around like a ghost for weeks," Kev continued frustration clear in his voice. "Skipping classes, acting like the world ended… and you didn't think to tell us?"
West crouched down beside Ruan, shaking his head.
"You seriously thought you had to deal with this alone?" he said.
Est sighed and sat down on the cracked pavement across from him. "That explains a lot," he said calmly. "Your behaviour, the fight in class, the mood swings."
Ruan wiped his face again, embarrassed.
"I didn't know how to say it," he admitted quietly. "And… I didn't know if you guys would understand."
Kev stared at him like he had just said the dumbest thing possible.
"Understand?" Kev scoffed. "Ruan, we're your friends. Not random strangers on the street."
West nodded firmly.
"Yeah. You could've told us anything."
Est leaned forward slightly, resting his arms on his knees. "The bigger question is," he said, "why did he suddenly break up with you?"
Ruan's expression darkened again.
He hesitated. Then he swallowed.
"I really don't have any clue. We were just happy, then suddenly..." he left the sentence hanging. "There's… more."
Kev groaned dramatically. "Of course there's more."
"Oh! and Lumi. What about her?" Kev asked.
Ruan then explained the whole thing with their parents and stuff. They talked about stuff and soon Ruan, for the first time in days, a small laugh escaped Ruan. It was weak and shaky. But it was real.
And sitting there on the broken basketball court, surrounded by his friends, the crushing loneliness he had been carrying finally started to lift.
"I think today we should go to May right guys?" West suggested.
"That's cool. I'm in." Kev agreed.
Est nodded too. Then they all looked at Ruan waiting for his response. He smiled then shook his head yes.
"Yes!" the three said in unison and cheered him as he had scored goals.