An ordinary night.
Quiet, just like every night before.
Phat lay on her bed, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling. One hand rested on her chest, the other loosely holding her phone, as if she was deciding something.
The screen lit up.
Her chat list appeared in silence.
Her finger scrolled past other names without interest, then stopped at one.
Kan.
No new messages. No conversation. Just a name… still there.
She stared at it longer than she should have.
Then tapped.
The chat window was empty.
Too quiet—
until her heartbeat became louder on its own.
Phat typed.
"What are you doing?"
Then deleted it.
Typed again.
"How's school?"
Deleted it again.
She let out a soft sigh and placed the phone beside her.
"Why would I text him…"
The question lingered in her mind.
Even though deep down, she already knew the answer.
She just… wanted to know how he was doing.
A few minutes later,
a notification sound broke the silence.
She froze.
Then quickly grabbed her phone—just a little too fast.
The screen showed the same name.
Kan.
Her heart started racing immediately.
She tapped into the chat.
"You're not asleep yet?"
Phat went still.
Like her mind stopped working for a moment.
He texted first.
Even though she hadn't sent anything at all.
She typed a reply.
"Not yet"
Then paused.
Deleted it.
Typed again.
"I'm not asleep yet"
Sent.
The moment the message went through,
her heart started pounding again—
like she had just done something she shouldn't have.
His reply came faster than expected.
"I thought you were already asleep."
She looked at the message, then typed back.
"Not sleepy yet."
A few seconds passed.
"How is it there?"
A simple question.
But it made her pause.
"It's good."
She replied shortly.
"Is it hard?"
"Just normal."
The conversation felt too ordinary.
So ordinary that it was as if nothing had ever happened between them.
But her heart—
was anything but ordinary.
She typed again.
"What about you?"
Sent.
She stared at the screen.
Waiting.
"Same as before."
"Nothing changed."
His answer was short.
But strange.
Like something was hidden beneath it.
Phat pressed her lips together lightly before typing.
"I see."
Sent.
Silence.
She thought the conversation had ended.
But a few seconds later—
a new message appeared.
"What about you?"
"Have you changed?"
That question made her freeze.
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
She typed.
"I don't know."
"Maybe I'm the same."
Then paused.
Before adding another line.
"Or maybe not."
She stared at her own words for a moment.
Then sent them.
The other side stayed silent longer than before.
Her heart began to beat faster again.
She didn't know what she was waiting for.
But she still didn't put the phone down.
Then—
a message arrived.
"Yeah."
"I think so too."
Short.
But clear.
Phat placed her phone on her chest,
her eyes still fixed on the ceiling.
But her feelings—
were no longer the same.
That conversation wasn't anything special.
No sweet words.No confessions.
But just a few simple lines
were enough to make her realize—
he was still there.
Not far away.
And never really gone.