#rami

If you were the quiet academic king, Park Sohyun and Zhou Xinyu were the reigning queens of the school's social ecosystem. They were strikingly beautiful, fiercely intelligent in their own right, and entirely intimidating. They walked the halls with a synchronized, terrifying grace that parted crowds like the Red Sea.

And for reasons you initially couldn't fathom, they had made it their personal mission to ensure your high school life was anything but peaceful.

Sohyun’s heart would hammer violently against her ribs every single time she saw you. It wasn't a gentle flutter; it was a painful, frantic beat that made her feel physically ill. From her seat in the back of the classroom, she would watch the way you meticulously organized your notes.

To her, you were brilliant. You were flawless. And you were utterly terrifying. She would sit there, her hands gripping her pen so tightly her knuckles turned white, consumed by an overwhelming, suffocating sense of inadequacy.

If she were to walk up to you and tell you how her breath hitched every time you entered the room, she was convinced you would undoubtedly look at her with those calm, analytical eyes and reject her on the spot. The very thought of your rejection felt like a physical blow, a devastating public humiliation she couldn't survive.

So, instead of confessing, she built a fortress of hostility. She masked her crippling anxiety with biting sarcasm.

It was a Tuesday afternoon in the school library when Sohyun initiated her usual routine. The library was a cavernous space, smelling of old paper and dust, illuminated by shafts of golden afternoon sunlight.

You were sitting at your preferred corner table, deeply engrossed in a thick textbook regarding green logistics and sustainable supply chains. You were completely tuned out from the world around you, marking a page with a yellow highlighter.

Sohyun forced her trembling hands to steady as she marched over. She slammed her heavy history books down on the table directly across from you. The sound echoed like a gunshot in the quiet room.

You flinched slightly, your eyes slowly rising from the page to meet hers. You didn't say a word, just waited for the inevitable storm.

"Are you ever going to take a break, or is staring at a textbook the only personality trait you actually possess?" Sohyun asked. Her voice dripped with a rehearsed, venomous sweetness, though her heart was pounding so hard she thought you might hear it.

"I have a presentation for Kelompok 4 tomorrow," you replied calmly, your voice a smooth, steady baseline that completely contrasted her erratic energy. "I'm just reviewing the reverse logistics framework."

Sohyun scoffed, rolling her eyes to hide the fact that she was desperately trying to memorize the exact pitch of your voice. "Kelompok 4. Right. Because carrying eight other people on your back isn't enough of a tragic martyr complex for you."

"They do their part," you said softly, looking back down at your book. "It's a group effort."

"Oh, please," Sohyun mocked, leaning across the table and invading your personal space. She reached out and snatched the yellow highlighter right out of your fingers.

Her skin brushed yours for a fraction of a second, sending a violent jolt of electricity up her arm. She prayed to every deity she could think of that you didn't notice the way her breath hitched.

"I'll be confiscating this," she declared coldly, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "You're ruining the curve for everyone else in the grade. Consider this an intervention."

You looked at your empty hand, then up at her. "Sohyun, I need that to color-code the operational flowcharts."

"Then you should have thought about that before you decided to be so obnoxiously perfect," she shot back, twirling the highlighter between her fingers.

Inside, Sohyun was screaming at herself. The guilt was a heavy, suffocating blanket. She wanted to hand the marker back, gently brush her fingers against yours again, and apologize for being so unbelievably cruel. She wanted to ask you to explain the flowcharts to her, just so she could sit beside you and listen.

Instead, she watched you silently, patiently pull a cheap, smudging ballpoint pen from your bag and resume your work. She tucked your highlighter into her bag like a stolen treasure, her heart aching with a toxic mix of love and profound self-loathing.

Xinyu operated differently, though her internal turmoil was identical. Where Sohyun used passive-aggressive disruption, Xinyu used overwhelming, confrontational presence. Xinyu was taller, with a sharp, piercing gaze that made most students step out of her way without a second thought.

But whenever she saw you, her commanding exterior threatened to shatter into a million fragile pieces. The fear of being a mere annoyance to you mutated into a desperate, aggressive defense mechanism. If she couldn't be your equal, she would be your obstacle.

Later that week, the cafeteria was a chaotic sea of shouting teenagers and clattering trays. Xinyu spotted you navigating the crowd, carrying your tray with a quiet, intense focus, trying to avoid the chaos.

Her heart did a painful flip in her chest. The urge to run up, link her arm through yours, and pull you to her table was almost overwhelming. Instead, she forced her expression into a hard, unforgiving glare and stepped directly into your trajectory.

"Whoa!" you gasped, stumbling backward as Xinyu intentionally bumped her shoulder sharply against yours.

You barely caught your tray, though your carton of strawberry milk toppled over, spilling slightly onto the plastic. The surrounding students gasped, the immediate vicinity falling into a tense, expectant hush.

"Watch where you're going," Xinyu spat, her voice echoing loudly, masking the severe tremor in her hands.

You looked up at her, your brow furrowing in confusion. "You stepped right into my path, Xinyu."

"Are you calling me a liar?" she demanded, taking a step closer, completely invading your space. She looked you up and down, forcing her lip to curl in feigned disgust. "Maybe if you weren't so distracted by how incredibly tragic your outfit is, you would know how to walk in a straight line."

You looked down at your slightly oversized, faded gray sweater. "It's just a sweater. It's comfortable."

"It's a crime against humanity," Xinyu fired back, her voice harsh, even as her mind screamed at her to stop. She thought you looked incredibly endearing. She wanted to bury her face in the soft fabric of that sweater.

"I'll keep that in mind," you said softly. You didn't yell. You didn't argue. You merely adjusted your grip on your tray, offered her a small, unreadable nod, and walked around her.

As soon as your back was turned, Xinyu felt the familiar, crushing weight of immense guilt crash down on her shoulders. It felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Why do you do that?" a voice whispered from behind her. Xinyu whipped around to see Sohyun standing there, looking just as miserable.

"I don't know," Xinyu whispered back, her voice cracking. "He looked right at me, Sohyun. I panicked. I just… I completely panicked."

"You spilled his milk," Sohyun muttered, looking at the retreating back of your sweater. "He loves that strawberry milk."

"I know!" Xinyu hissed, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "I know I did. I'm a monster. He's going to hate me forever."

Watching this daily tragedy unfold from a completely different vantage point was Rami, a childhood friend of you and your older sister, Yooyeon. Rami was entirely detached from the school's social hierarchy, possessing a sharp, no-nonsense personality that cut through teenage drama with ease.

While visiting the school grounds one afternoon to drop off a forgotten textbook for you, she leaned against a set of blue metal lockers and observed the ecosystem of the hallway.

She saw you standing by a cork bulletin board. Within seconds, Xinyu was there, standing entirely too close to you, loudly criticizing the way your backpack was strapped. A few feet away, Sohyun was aggressively glaring at a younger freshman girl who had dared to wave at you.

Rami let out a long, heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose to stave off an incoming headache. The pathetic nature of it all was almost too much for her to bear.

She pushed off the lockers and walked right up to you, completely ignoring the immediate, territorial, hostile glares she received from both Sohyun and Xinyu.

"Here," Rami said, shoving the heavy textbook into your chest. "Yooyeon found it on the kitchen counter. Again."

"Thanks, Rami," you smiled, taking the book. "I owe you one."

Rami didn't smile back. She crossed her arms and glared over your shoulder at the two girls who were now pretending to examine the hinges of the lockers.

"Are you completely blind, or are you just a masochist?" Rami asked, not bothering to lower her voice.

You blinked, looking confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb over there," Rami said, jutting her chin toward Sohyun and Xinyu. "They are completely obsessed with you. It's actually painful to watch."

You glanced over your shoulder. Sohyun visibly flinched, and Xinyu suddenly found the floor tiles fascinating.

"They aren't obsessed with me, Rami," you said with a soft sigh. "They just enjoy making my life difficult. It's a game to them."

"It's not a game," Rami argued, grabbing your arm to pull your attention back to her. "Look at them. Really look at them. They act like rabid dogs because they're too scared to just wag their tails. You shouldn't put up with it."

"I don't mind," you replied calmly.

"You don't mind being bullied?" Rami raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think it's bullying," you corrected gently. "I think they're just… loud. They have a lot of energy."

"They're terrified of you," Rami stated bluntly. "And they're too stupid to realize that pushing you away is going to backfire permanently."

You didn't say anything to Rami's harsh assessment. You just looked back at the two girls. Sohyun was nervously chewing her bottom lip, and Xinyu looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of your mouth, softening your features.

"I'll see you later, Rami," you said quietly, turning away and heading toward your next class.

The high school years dragged on this way, a continuous, exhausting, emotionally draining dance of harsh words, stolen glances, and a love so deeply buried under paralyzing fear that it threatened to suffocate all three of you.

The transition from the rigid, structured hallways of your high school to the sprawling, vibrant campus of the university didn't break the intense gravitational pull between the three of you. If anything, the expansive grounds of the Faculty of Business and Economics only provided Sohyun and Xinyu with a much larger stage to act out their agonizing, complicated dynamic.

You had enrolled as a Business Networking major, your academic life consumed by the intricate complexities of Operations Management, supply chains, and your overarching thesis on Green and Reverse Logistics. You were, as you had always been, at the very top of your cohort. Your mind was a brilliant, analytical engine, constantly reading systems, predicting outcomes, and understanding human operational behavior.

Because of this, you were anything but oblivious.

You knew exactly how Sohyun and Xinyu felt about you. You had known for years. You didn't need a dramatic confession under a cherry blossom tree to understand the truth; you saw it in the data of their everyday actions.

You noticed how Sohyun would aggressively critique the formatting of your proposals for the Dewan Perwakilan Mahasiswa (DPM), only to secretly email you a flawlessly edited version at two in the morning so you wouldn't stress over it. You noticed how Xinyu ruthlessly maneuvered her way into "Kelompok 4" for your massive MIS project, aggressively managing the schedules to ensure absolutely no other girls in the group had the opportunity to sit next to you during late-night study sessions.

Their fear of rejection was incredibly loud, masked by layers of biting sarcasm and confrontational glares. But their profound, overwhelming care for you was even louder, provided you knew how to listen for it. You were simply waiting. You were a patient man, willing to let them fight their internal battles until they were finally brave enough to drop the armor.

However, that delicate, frustrating stalemate was entirely shattered on a sweltering Thursday afternoon.

You were sitting at a shaded outdoor table near the faculty lounge, trying to escape the midday Surabaya heat. You had a stack of journals on sustainable supply chain models spread out before you, deeply engrossed in your research.

Suddenly, your focus was broken by a pair of cool, familiar hands slipping over your eyes from behind.

"Guess who, genius?" a playful, melodic voice chirped right next to your ear.

You couldn't help but smile, reaching up to gently pry the hands away. "You're supposed to be in Jakarta, Rami."

Rami let out a bright, ringing laugh, stepping around the table and immediately dropping into the empty chair right beside you. She was your childhood friend, practically a second sister, and she operated with a complete disregard for personal space when it came to you. She slung an arm casually around your shoulders, leaning her head against yours as she peered down at your dense academic papers.

"My classes got canceled for the rest of the week, so I took the first train down to bother you and Yooyeon," Rami said, reaching over to blatantly steal a sip from your iced coffee without asking. "God, I missed you. Have you been doing nothing but reading about recycled cardboard since I left?"

"It's reverse logistics, Rami, and it's important," you chuckled, gently nudging her shoulder. "It's good to see you."

Rami grinned, leaning in closer, her face mere inches from yours as she animatedly began telling you a story about her chaotic train ride. To any outside observer, the sheer physical comfort and easy intimacy between the two of you painted a very specific, very romantic picture.

And unfortunately for Sohyun and Xinyu, they were currently acting as outside observers.

About fifty feet away, partially concealed behind one of the large concrete pillars of the faculty building, the two reigning queens of the university's social ecosystem were currently experiencing a catastrophic, system-wide mental breakdown.

Sohyun’s heart was hammering so violently against her ribs that she felt physically nauseous. Her manicured nails were digging painfully into the rough concrete of the pillar as she stared at the scene unfolding at your table.

Who is she? Sohyun's internal monologue was shrieking in pure, unadulterated panic. Why is she sitting so close to him? Why is she touching his shoulder? He never lets anyone touch his shoulder! Why is he smiling at her like that? He never smiles like that when I'm around. I usually just get the polite nod. Oh my god, she's gorgeous. Is she his girlfriend? Did he get a girlfriend?

Beside her, Xinyu was vibrating with a terrifying mix of profound jealousy and sheer terror. Her sharp, imposing gaze was fixed entirely on Rami, mentally dissecting this sudden, beautiful threat to her entire world.

I will completely destroy her, Xinyu thought wildly, her breathing shallow and erratic. No, wait, I can't do that, Y/N would hate me. But look at them! She just drank from his cup! Indirect kiss! They just shared an indirect kiss right in the middle of the campus courtyard! This is a disaster. This is an absolute, code-red emergency.

"Sohyun," Xinyu hissed, her voice trembling as she grabbed her friend's arm in a vice grip. "We have to do something. Right now. We have to go over there."

"And do what?!" Sohyun hissed back, her eyes wide with panic. "What if they're dating, Xinyu? What if we walk over there and he introduces her as the love of his life? I will literally throw myself into the campus fountain and drown."

"If we don't go over there, she's going to steal him completely!" Xinyu argued desperately, logic completely abandoning her. "We can't just stand here and let some random girl take the only guy we've ever cared about because we're too cowardly to act. We have to intervene. We'll march over there, assert dominance, and… and demand his attention for a DPM project!"

"I'm not even in the DPM!" Sohyun pointed out frantically.

"It doesn't matter! Just follow my lead!"

Fueled by a volatile cocktail of pure adrenaline, territorial jealousy, and the terrifying realization that they might actually lose you, the two girls stepped out from behind the pillar. They marched across the courtyard toward your table, their heels clicking aggressively against the pavement, looking like they were preparing for a war.

But as the physical distance between you closed, the adrenaline rapidly began to evaporate, entirely replaced by their deeply ingrained, paralyzing fear of your judgment.

By the time they reached your table, they had completely run out of steam.

You looked up from Rami's animated story, your calm, analytical eyes landing on the two girls standing awkwardly by your table. You raised an eyebrow, waiting.

Sohyun opened her mouth, fully intending to say something witty and sharp to demand your attention. She meant to ask you a complex question about operations management. Instead, her brain entirely blue-screened under the weight of your gaze.

"We…" Sohyun started, her voice cracking embarrassingly. She felt the heat violently rush to her cheeks, turning her entire face a brilliant, glowing shade of crimson. "The… the cardboard. For the… things."

Xinyu internally screamed at her friend's complete failure and stepped forward to take charge. She pointed a finger at your table, but her hand was shaking so badly she quickly dropped it.

"Y/N," Xinyu stated loudly, trying to summon her usual commanding presence, but it came out sounding breathless and panicked. "We need to… we have to discuss the schedule for the… the breathing. I mean, the meeting. The DPM meeting about the… the green leaves. Logistics. Green logistics."

You blinked, leaning back in your chair. "The DPM meeting about green logistics isn't for another three weeks, Xinyu. And Sohyun, you aren't on that committee."

Xinyu's face went from pale to a deep, agonizing red in less than a second. Her sharp mind went completely blank. She had absolutely no idea what to say next. She just stood there, her mouth slightly open, completely flustered, radiating a chaotic, terrified energy. Sohyun looked like she was actively praying for a sinkhole to open up beneath the courtyard and swallow her whole.

Rami, who had stopped her story mid-sentence, was currently staring at Sohyun and Xinyu with an expression of pure, unfiltered bewilderment. She looked from the two blushing, stammering girls, to you, and then back to the girls.

Rami leaned closer to you, not bothering to lower her voice. "Y/N, who are these creeps? Are they stalking you? Because I will happily call campus security right now. They look like they're about to have a synchronized stroke."

Sohyun let out a tiny, mortified squeak, burying her burning face in her hands. Xinyu looked completely paralyzed, her eyes darting frantically between you and Rami, completely unable to defend herself against the accusation.

You let out a soft, warm chuckle, the sound instantly defusing the heavy tension in the air. You reached over, gently patting Rami's arm to calm her down.

"It's okay, Rami. Stand down," you said smoothly. You gestured toward the two petrified girls. "Rami, these are my classmates. Park Sohyun and Zhou Xinyu. They can be a little intense when it comes to academics, but they aren't stalkers."

You shifted your gaze to the two girls, your eyes softening. "Sohyun, Xinyu, this is Rami. She's my childhood friend. She basically grew up in my house alongside my older sister, Yooyeon."

The words childhood friend echoed in Sohyun and Xinyu's minds like a chorus of angels singing.

The profound, crushing weight of their jealousy vanished in an instant, leaving behind only the sheer, embarrassing reality of their current behavior. They weren't losing you to a beautiful stranger; they had just aggressively marched up to your closest family friend and completely made fools of themselves.

"Oh," Xinyu breathed out, the tension leaving her shoulders so fast she almost sagged. "Childhood friend. Right."

"Nice to meet you," Sohyun managed to squeak from behind her hands, still refusing to show her incredibly flushed face.

Rami narrowed her eyes, clearly not buying their sudden, awkward submissiveness, but she leaned back in her chair. "Right. Well. Nice to meet you too, I guess."

You looked at the two girls standing awkwardly in the heat, clearly miserable and entirely unsure of what to do next. They looked like they wanted to bolt, to run away and hide from the immense embarrassment of the situation. But you weren't going to let them run away this time. It was time to break the cycle.

"Actually," you started, closing your textbook and neatly stacking your journals. "Rami and I were just about to head off campus to get some lunch. I know a quiet spot that serves incredible seafood just a few blocks from here. Why don't you two join us?"

Sohyun finally lowered her hands, staring at you in utter disbelief. "You… you want us to come with you?"

"I don't think we can," Xinyu added quickly, her defensive instincts kicking in to protect her from this incredibly vulnerable situation. "We don't want to intrude on your reunion. Plus, I'm sure you have… things to catch up on."

"It's not an intrusion," you replied firmly, offering them a small, encouraging smile. "I'm inviting you. I'd like it if you came. Both of you."

Sohyun and Xinyu exchanged a wide-eyed, panicked glance. You had never explicitly invited them to do anything outside of mandatory group projects. This was unprecedented territory. But the gentle, genuine warmth in your eyes was a magnetic force they simply couldn't resist.

"Okay," Sohyun whispered softly. "We'd like that."

Twenty minutes later, the four of you were seated in a cool, dimly lit restaurant known for its phenomenal grilled fish and spicy sambal. The air conditioning was a welcome relief from the Surabaya heat, but the atmosphere at the table was incredibly thick with awkward tension.

You and Rami sat on one side of the booth, while Sohyun and Xinyu sat stiffly on the opposite side, keeping a perfectly measured six inches of space between them. They both looked like they were bracing for an execution rather than waiting for an appetizer.

Rami was thoroughly enjoying the situation. She methodically peeled a shrimp, chewing it slowly as she locked her sharp gaze on the two girls across from her.

"So," Rami started, wiping her fingers on a napkin. "Let me get this straight. You two saw Y/N sitting with a girl you didn't recognize, and your immediate instinct was to sprint across the courtyard, completely red in the face, to aggressively demand to talk about… cardboard?"

Sohyun closed her eyes, letting out a pained sigh. "Please, just let me die in peace."

Xinyu crossed her arms, her defensive walls instinctively snapping back into place. "We had a legitimate academic inquiry. Y/N is a vital part of our group projects. His focus is important."

"Right. Very convincing," Rami scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You know, for two people who supposedly just care about his grades, you both looked like you were ready to commit murder when you saw me touching his arm. It's honestly hilarious."

"Rami," you warned gently, placing a hand over hers on the table. "That's enough. Be nice."

Rami sighed, leaning back against the booth. "I'm just saying, Y/N. They act like absolute terrors. I've heard the stories from Yooyeon. They steal your stuff, they insult your clothes, they completely monopolize your time… and then they stand in a courtyard looking at you like you hung the moon and the stars. It's exhausting just watching it."

The table plunged into a heavy, suffocating silence.

Sohyun stared down at her untouched glass of iced tea, the condensation pooling at the base. Xinyu's jaw was clenched so tight a muscle ticked in her cheek. Rami had just taken a sledgehammer to the very fragile glass house they had been hiding in for years.

You looked at them, seeing the very real, very raw distress in their eyes. They were cornered.

"Rami is very blunt," you said softly, breaking the silence. You kept your voice low, steady, and entirely free of judgment. "She doesn't mean to be cruel. But… she isn't entirely wrong."

Sohyun and Xinyu both snapped their heads up to look at you, panic flaring in their eyes.

"I know I haven't said anything about it," you continued, leaning forward slightly, resting your forearms on the table. "But I'm not blind to the way things have been between us. The teasing, the arguments, the hostility. It's been going on since high school."

"Y/N, we—" Xinyu started, her voice panicked, but you gently raised a hand to pause her.

"I've always known it wasn't because you actually hated me," you said, your eyes moving between them, making sure they understood the absolute sincerity in your words. "I've always known there was a different reason behind it. I just… I didn't want to push you until you were ready."

Sohyun’s lower lip trembled. She reached down, her fingers nervously twisting the fabric of her skirt under the table. The fear of rejection was screaming at her to stand up, to make a sarcastic comment, and walk out of the restaurant.

But then she looked at you. She looked at the immense patience in your eyes, the quiet strength that had drawn her to you in the first place. You weren't attacking them. You were offering them a bridge.

Sohyun took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with you.

"I'm sorry," Sohyun whispered, her voice cracking under the emotional weight of the words. "I am so, incredibly sorry, Y/N."

You tilted your head slightly. "For what, Sohyun?"

"For being so awful to you," she confessed, a single tear escaping and sliding down her cheek. She didn't bother to wipe it away. "For stealing your things. For saying cruel things about your studying. I was just… I was so intimidated by you. You were always so perfect, so brilliant, and I felt so small compared to you. I didn't know how to talk to you like a normal person. I was terrified that if I was just nice to you, you would see right through me and realize I wasn't good enough. So I acted like a monster to protect myself. And it was stupid. And it was mean. And I'm sorry."

The absolute vulnerability in Sohyun's confession hung in the air, raw and undeniable.

Xinyu swallowed hard, her throat thick with emotion. Seeing her friend break down her walls gave her the final push she needed to shatter her own.

"She's right," Xinyu said, her voice unusually soft, stripped entirely of its commanding edge. She looked at you, her sharp eyes swimming with unshed tears. "I'm sorry, too. For everything. For bumping into you in the halls, for insulting your clothes, for being so impossibly demanding during our projects. I used my anger because I was too cowardly to use anything else."

Xinyu reached out, tentatively resting her hand on the edge of the table, just inches from yours. "I didn't hate you, Y/N. I have never hated you. I just… I didn't know how to handle the fact that I cared so much about what you thought of me. And seeing you with Rami today… seeing how easy it was for her to just sit next to you and make you smile… it made me realize how much time I've wasted being angry instead of just being honest."

You looked at the two women sitting across from you. The masks were gone. The hostility had completely evaporated. They were terrified, yes, but they were finally, beautifully honest.

You reached across the table, your large hand covering Xinyu's trembling fingers, while your other hand reached out to gently grasp Sohyun's hand where it rested near her glass.

They both gasped softly at the physical contact, their eyes snapping to yours.

"Thank you," you said, your voice a warm, comforting rumble that sent a wave of profound relief crashing over them both. "It takes a lot of courage to say that. I accept your apologies. Both of them."

Sohyun let out a wet, breathless laugh, squeezing your fingers tightly. "You're not mad? You're not going to tell us to leave?"

"I invited you to lunch, didn't I?" you smiled, your thumbs gently rubbing against their knuckles. "I don't hold grudges. I just wanted us to finally be able to sit at a table together without someone threatening to confiscate my highlighters or rewrite my flowcharts."

Xinyu let out a small, self-deprecating chuckle, wiping at her eyes with her free hand. "I can't promise I won't still critique your flowcharts. They really can be quite messy."

"I'll take the constructive criticism over the yelling any day," you replied smoothly.

Rami, who had been sitting quietly watching the entire exchange, finally let out a loud, dramatic sigh, picking up her chopsticks again.

"Well, thank God that's over," Rami muttered, though there was a distinct, approving smile playing on her lips. "I thought I was going to have to physically shake the truth out of you two. Now that we've established that you aren't actually rabid stalkers and just emotionally stunted idiots, can we please eat? I'm starving."

The heavy, suffocating tension that had defined your relationship for years finally broke, shattering into a million pieces.

Sohyun and Xinyu didn't immediately confess their undying, romantic love. The fear of that final, ultimate rejection was still a small, lingering shadow in the back of their minds. But the massive, impenetrable wall of hostility was entirely gone.

As the waiter brought out the plates of fragrant, steaming food, the atmosphere at the table shifted into something completely new.

For the first time in your lives, you sat together not as a target and his tormentors, but as friends. Sohyun cautiously asked Rami about her life in Jakarta, genuinely engaging in the conversation without a hint of sarcasm. Xinyu, while still maintaining her confident posture, asked you a genuine question about your thesis, actively listening to your response without preparing an insult to tear it down.

You sat there, surrounded by the lively chatter, feeling a profound sense of peace settle over you.

It was just a meal. It was just an apology. But as you caught Xinyu's eye across the table, watching her offer you a small, completely genuine smile, and felt Sohyun 'accidentally' brush her knee against yours under the table without pulling away in panic, you knew everything had changed.