Chapter 1 The Beginning We Didn’t Notice
Kuki had always believed that important things happened loudly.
With drama. With signs. With warning.
That’s why she didn’t notice when her life quietly began to change.
She was in the 9th grade when her mid-term results disappointed her. Not enough to break her, but enough to make her doubt herself. So she joined a tuition class—the same one her elder sister had once attended. The teacher remembered her because of her sister, which made Kuki feel both seen and invisible at the same time.
At the tuition, there were only a few students.
Two girls. Three boys.
Small enough for everyone to notice everyone else.
One of the girls was from her class. They weren’t friends yet—just familiar faces in the same room. Kuki didn’t know that this almost-stranger would one day become the person who knew her best.
Days passed. The routine settled in.
Then one afternoon, a new boy walked into the tuition.
His name was Rehu.
There was nothing dramatic about his arrival.
No slow-motion moment. No sudden heartbeat.
Kuki looked at him once, then looked away.
She didn’t know that this ordinary-looking boy would one day become the most complicated chapter of her life.
Kuki was quiet by nature. She didn’t talk to boys much. Her friend, however, spoke easily—with casual laughter, with homework questions, with simple confidence. Slowly, Kuki followed her lead. Conversations became normal. Laughter became natural. Everyone became… comfortable.
Even Rehu.
They talked about classes. About tests. About small, unimportant things.
They laughed during breaks.
They started playing Truth or Dare, asking questions that meant nothing at the time—
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
No one did.
Nothing changed.
Months slipped by, unnoticed.
Until one ordinary day refused to stay ordinary.
Kuki was leaving on her scooty when Rehu called her to stop.
He stood there with his friends, suddenly unsure of where to look.
“Come here… for a second,” he said.
She moved her scooty to the side, impatient, unaware that a moment was about to divide her life into before and after.
Rehu struggled for words.
Then, finally, he asked, “Will you be my girlfriend?”
The question landed between them, awkward and unexpected.
Kuki laughed, confused.
“Whose?”
“Mine,” he said.
“Are you crazy?”
She rode away before the silence could answer for him.
At home, she told her sister everything.
Her sister only smiled. “It’s your choice. Do what feels right.”
At that time, Kuki felt nothing for Rehu.
Not attraction.
Not curiosity.
Nothing at all.
The next day, she asked her friend to refuse him on her behalf.
Rehu waited for her response, unaware of how easily she dismissed the moment.
Kuki thought it would end there. A small, forgettable incident.
She was wrong.
Rehu began to try in quiet ways.
Not with big gestures—but with presence.
Once, during a test, Kuki whispered an answer to him.
Later, she realized it was wrong.
Rehu didn’t change it. He trusted her more than the truth.
When she found out, she corrected it for him.
The moment stayed with her longer than it should have.
Then, suddenly, Rehu stopped talking to her.
It shouldn’t have mattered.
But it did.
She told herself it was nothing.
Yet the silence felt heavier than their conversations ever had.
“Why did you stop talking to me?” she asked him one day.
He looked at her and said, “Why does it matter to you?”
The question stayed.
It followed her home.
It sat beside her in class.
It whispered inside her thoughts when she tried to ignore it.
Why did it matter?
She didn’t know the answer.
But she felt it.
A few days later, tired of overthinking, tired of the quiet tension between them, Kuki said yes.
Not because she was in love.
Not because she was sure.
But because it felt easier than saying no again.
Rehu wasn’t serious.
Kuki wasn’t serious.
They both called it timepass.
Something light. Something temporary. Something harmless.
Neither of them understood what they were beginning.
They didn’t know this “nothing” would become everything.
They didn’t know this small yes would change their lives.
They didn’t know this story would refuse to end when they wanted it to.
They thought they were starting something simple.
They had no idea they were beginning a story they would never finish.
