Afterthat he kept noticing little things. How she tapped her pen against the notebook when she was lost in thought. How she always tied her hair twice when she was nervous. How she'd quietly hum under her breath while solving equations, completely forgetting the world around her. He remembered how she always brought two pens even though she never used the second one — just so he wouldn't have to ask anyone else when he forgot his.
Yes… she was right. There had been time — so many chances to stop, to step back before his heart crossed that line. But he didn't. And now it was too late.
It was getting harder to stand beside Zainab without giving everything away — his expression, his silence, even his breath. Aqil cleared his throat lightly and said, "I'll get some water. I saw a stall nearby."
"For me too."
Aqil gave a small nod and left.
After some time, Zainab saw Nayla walking toward her. Her steps were fast, her expression tense — brows furrowed. Something was clearly wrong.
When Nayla finally reached close, Zainab frowned and asked, "Why are you making that face? What happened?"
"Zainab." Nayla stopped right in front of her, "do you… do you even know who the girl is? The one Aqil was talking about just now?"
Zainab blinked, a little confused. "No… how would I know? He didn't say her name."
Nayla blinked rapidly, her frustration bubbling over. "You really don't know? Or are you pretending not to see what's right in front of you?"
"What are you talking about, Nayla? Why are you acting like this? He's just my friend. He doesn't owe me every secret he keeps. If he wanted to tell me about that girl, he would've—"
Before she could finish, Nayla grabbed both of Zainab's arms, "That girl, Zainab..... that girl he loves so much, the one he's afraid to confess to— it's you!"
Zainab froze.
Nayla continued, shaking her slightly, "For more than one whole year, he's been carrying this inside him! Everyone could see it—how he looks at you, how he worries for you, how he changes his plans just to be where you are. And you… you didn't see it? Not even once?"
Zainab stumbled back a little, her heart racing. "W–what?" she whispered, "You're joking… right?"
But Nayla just looked at her with pity.
Zainab felt her knees weaken. "No… no, this can't be true. He—he never looked at me like that. We've always been just friends… he was just…" Her voice cracked as her thoughts tangled.
"How could you not see it, Zainab?! He wasn't just being nice—he was trying to tell you something! How could you ignore all those hints?"
The sky roared above them, clouds crashing into each other like angry waves. The wind lashed across the bridge, pushing strands of Zainab's hair into her face as she gripped the cold metal railing.
But Nayla didn't stop; her words kept spilling out, "Who waits for you after class every single day, even when it's raining? Who saves the last seat for you in the canteen? Who literally skipped his football practice just to help you with that stupid chemistry project?"
"Just shut up, Nayla! Please, just shut up!" Zainab snapped. The wind almost swallowed her words, but her eyes burned with frustration. "Why do you always have to twist everything? Just because you and Yusuf are together now doesn't mean every boy and girl in this world can't be friends! Not every smile means love, not every care means someone wants something more! Why is that so hard for you to believe? Not everything has to turn into a love story!"
"Zainab, seriously? Which world are you even living in? Everyone already knows! Even brother Ibi is training him—Aqil!"
"W–what did you just say?"
"You don't know? Aqil takes tuition from Samir. Every single evening, he comes to the study café near my house. I've seen them together many times—Samir and Aqil—sitting with laptops, talking about something."
But Zainab wasn't really listening anymore. The wind was still howling on the bridge, but all she could hear was her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She turned sharply to Nayla, "Ibi is training Aqil? For what, Nayla? For what??"
"I don't know much," Nayla said slowly. "Samir teaches Aqil about computers… hacking stuff. Aqil's actually quite good at it. I think brother Ibi is doing it for you."
Zainab took a shaky step backward. "No… no, that can't be true. You're misunderstanding. How could Ibi do that? Why would he hide something like this from me? Maybe… maybe he's training both Yusuf and Aqil… because they're my friends. Yes, that must be it."
"No. Only Aqil. Didn't your cousin discuss with you?"
Zainab's eyes flickered in confusion. "Cousin? What cousin?"
Then it hit her—her lie. She had once told Faisal was her cousin to cover up. She completely forgot about that fake story. Without saying another word, Zainab turned and started running. Nayla called her name, her voice echoing behind her, but Zainab didn't stop. She didn't want to hear another word. She scanned the area with wild eyes, searching—and then she saw him.
Aqil.
He was standing near a roadside stall with Yusuf, talking, holding a cup of tea like nothing was wrong.
Zainab didn't stop to think and ran straight toward Aqil. The world around her felt blurred. Everything disappeared until only one face remained in front of her.
Aqil turned just in time to see her coming. "Zainab?"
Before he could react, She grabbed his arm tightly. The sudden pull made the teacup slip from his hand, crashing to the ground and spilling hot tea over her foot. And she didn't even flinch.
"Zainab! What are you doing?!" Yusuf shouted, completely stunned.
She didn't even look at him, "Stay out of it, Yusuf."
Still gripping Aqil's arm, she dragged him away from the stall, ignoring his confusion and Yusuf's worried calls. Her nails dug into his sleeve. When they stopped near an empty alley, Zainab turned to face him.
"Go away. Just go away from my life the same way you entered it. Leave quietly, and never come back."
Confusion was written all over Aqil's face.
"No… wait," She shook her head as if arguing with herself, "It's not even you who came into my life first. It was me… I walked into yours. But I can't walk away now… I can't go anywhere." Her voice cracked. "So it has to be you. You have to leave. You have to walk away from me."
He gently held her arm, his thumb brushing over her wrist. "Zainab… breathe. Just calm down and tell me what happened. What's wrong? What did I do? You're scaring me. Talk to me. What's happened in just five minutes that made you say this?"
"How easily ... how easily you took everything we had and twisted it. All those conversations, all the times I trusted you with the stupid, silly parts of my day… I thought it was simple." Zainab took a step closer, her eyes blazing with a pain so raw it made him flinch. "Every time I talked to you, I was just talking to my friend. When I laughed with you, it was real. It was pure. There was no second meaning, no hidden hope in any of it. I never looked at you and wondered what it would be like. For me, it was enough that you were my friend. That was the entire story. So tell me, when did it change for you? When did my trust start to look like an invitation? When did my friendship become a path to something else in your head? I never gave you a single signal. Not one. Because there was no signal to give! I don't know how to be any clearer than I have been. My life is a locked box, Aqil. Every single day is a performance. And with you… with you, for a few hours, I got to put the key down and just be. I thought you saw me. Just Zainab. And now… now I find out that even that was a lie. You were looking at me with a different set of eyes the entire time, building a fantasy I never agreed to be in."
Aqil's hand was still on her arm. She looked down at the point of contact and with jerking movement, she pulled her arm back. The space between them instantly turned cold.
"So don't stand there and ask me what's wrong. You are what's wrong. This… this feeling you've been carrying… it has ruined the one good, simple thing I had. It has turned every memory we share into something ugly. And I can't look at you now without wondering which part of you was real, and which part was just… waiting."
This was his nightmare, the one he had fought so hard to keep locked away in the quietest corner of his heart. He had imagined this moment a hundred times, and in every single one, it was horrible. But the reality was worse. The raw pain in her eyes was a thousand times more terrifying than any rejection he could have dreamed up.
"I know," he whispered. "I know you only see a friend. And that was always enough for me. It was enough just to be near you."
He took a shaky breath, his own heart feeling like it was being ripped in two. "I never wanted you to find out. I swear. I planned to keep this secret my whole life. I never wanted anything from you, Zainab. Not a single thing. I never tried to make you love me. I never tried to touch you or make you uncomfortable. Just having your friendship was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I would have been happy with just that, forever. Loving you is my problem, not yours. It's my own feeling to carry. I never meant to put its weight on you. I never meant to ruin what we had. That is the last thing I ever wanted."
She took one step back, "I never want to see your face again. Don't call me, don't text me, and never, ever think about crossing my path. And you should know. there is someone else. Someone I have always wanted to be with. Someone whose silence is more comforting than your words ever were. When I imagine my future, it is his face I see at the end of it. Not yours. It will never be yours."
With that, she turned and walked away, her figure growing smaller until she disappeared into her car, leaving Aqil alone in the empty alley. He stood there long after she had vanished from sight. The rest of the day passed in a blur of numb horror. He didn't remember finding Yusuf, didn't remember the bus ride back to the hostel. His body moved on autopilot while his mind replayed the shattered look in her eyes—a look he had put there.
At some point, huddled on his narrow hostel bed in the dark, he fumbled for his phone. His hands trembled as he called her, needing her to know one last thing. "Please," he whispered to the ringing tone, "just let me tell you I'll disappear. I'll do what you asked."
The call went to voiocemail. He called again. And again. Each unanswered ring was a nail in the coffin of their friendship.
Driven by a desperate need for just one more chance to explain, he ran all the way to the guesthouse he knew as her home. He begged the guard, but the man just shook his head firmly. "She is not here."
Present Time
The sharp crack of Ibrahim's palm against the table jolted Aqil back to the stark, white-walled room. The ghost of Zainab's tears faded, replaced by the present danger radiating from the man across from him.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you. Your mind is somewhere else. I asked you a question. Where is it?"
"She… she found out," Aqil murmured, the words tasting like ash. "Nayla told her. About me….."
"That's enough," Amir interjected smoothly, "Apart from her discovering.... what else happened?"
Aqil looked up, "What else needed to happen? Was that not enough? The betrayal she feels… it came from the one person she believed saw her only as a friend. What greater injury is there than that?"
He caught himself then, biting his tongue. He had no right to speak of her secret, of the other person she claimed to love. That was her truth to keep, not his to share.
Ibrahim let out a slow breath. He leaned back, the metal creaking under his weight, "Zainab is strong. This… this will pass. She will forget all of this soon enough."
His fingers tightened the unlit cigarette a fist, crushing the tobacco and paper into a crumpled mess. He didn't even seem to notice.
Aqil watched the pieces fall. "I hope she forgets soon. And I will make it easy for her. I'm done with my packing. I'm leaving Kuala Lumpur on the first train tomorrow morning."
Both Amir and Ibrahim snapped their heads towards him. "Going where?" they asked in unison.
"Ipoh. It's quieter there. They have big factories and tech parks, and they always need people who can work hard. They hire students for night shifts in data entry, assembly lines... the pay is decent. I can rent a small room, find work, and continue my studies from there."
"Are you out of your mind?" Ibrahim's voice dropped, "You are not going anywhere. Do you hear me? Packing your life into a bag and running to some factory in Ipoh is not a solution. And I have not invested my time in someone who surrenders."
Men like Ibrahim, whether they are powerful businessmen or mafia leaders, have a sharp eye for boys like Aqil. They can easily hire anyone with money, but you cannot buy a person's true loyalty with a salary. It doesn't work that way.
That is why they seek out boys: orphans, the poor, those with talent but no opportunities. They invest in them, teach them skills, and help them stand on their own feet. In doing so, they create a bond far stronger than any paycheck. The boy, lifted from nothing, gains not just a livelihood but a purpose and a twisted sense of family. His gratitude transforms into a lifelong, unbreakable allegiance. For Ibrahim, such loyalty is the most valuable currency there is.
After a long and tense conversation, he finally saw it was useless. He could not stop Aqil from leaving. Sometimes, no matter how much you plan, things just don't work out the way you want. Time had its own plans, and they were different from his.
He stood up to leave. Aqil's voice broke the silence.
"Can I… can I ask you one thing? Why are you so tense for Zainab? This isn't the first time I've noticed it. It's… unusual. The way you worry for her… it doesn't feel like you're just concerned for your friend's cousin."
Amir's eyes flicked nervously towards Ibrahim, watching the stone-like expression on his face. Would he tell the secret?
"You have made your choice," Ibrahim stated. "And because of that choice, you are no longer worthy of knowing anything."
He walked towards the door, but paused just as his hand touched the handle. He didn't turn back, but his voice carried clearly across the room, offering one last thread of connection.
"You have my number. Remember it. The world is not a kind place for a boy with nothing and no one. If you are ever in trouble or if you find yourself sinking with no one to pull you out… call me. This offer does not expire."