f there was one thing Liam hated more than group chats blowing up at 2 a.m., it was waking up the next day to find that he was the topic.
MARCUS: Yo Liam
MARCUS: Heard you and Cara were seen leaving the café together 👀👀👀KENJI: Oho~JOSH: This is the moment we've trained for.
Liam stared at his screen, half-awake, a groggy sigh escaping him. He scrolled up.
IVY: Saw Liam and Cara walking side by side yesterday. Looked kinda cute nglIVY: Cara was smiling like a Disney princess. 👸✨
"I'm going to kill Marcus," Liam muttered, slamming the pillow over his face.
Later that morning, Liam met up with his group at the student lounge. He barely stepped inside before Marcus smirked and shouted:
"Hey loverboy!"
Liam didn't even try to fight it. "Please, no."
Josh tossed him a cup of convenience store coffee. "So. You and Cara. Spill."
"There's nothing to spill," Liam said flatly, slumping into the bean bag. "We're partners. We're working on a project. That's it."
Kenji glanced over from his laptop. "Is that what the soft smiles and casual shoulder bumps were about? Must be one hell of a project."
"I hate all of you."
"Don't worry," Marcus said, slinging an arm around Liam's shoulder dramatically. "We support you. We believe in the shy-slow-burn-tension-to-lovers trope."
Josh nodded solemnly. "You're the anime protagonist now."
"Oh my God."
The room erupted into laughter. Ivy popped her head in moments later, holding a bag of chips.
"Hey, Liam."
Liam froze. The others grinned like hyenas.
"Cara texted me. She said thanks for yesterday."
"Wait, what?" Marcus spun toward Ivy like a gossip-starved hawk.
Ivy just winked. "I promised her I wouldn't say more." Then she was gone.
Liam's ears burned.
"Okay okay okay—this is getting serious," Josh whispered. "He's in text-after-the-meeting territory. That's pre-relationship flirt zone."
Kenji added, "Next phase is 'accidental touches become meaningful.' After that? Well... feelings."
Liam buried his head in his hands. "Can we not turn my love life into a game of Pokémon evolution?"
"Too late," Marcus said. "You're already on level 2: Confused but Blushing."
Later that week, Liam found himself once again sitting across from Cara at their usual table in the café. He tried to stay focused on their report, but her hair was tied up differently today—half-up, with strands curling around her neck. His brain was unhelpfully poetic about it.
"You're distracted," Cara said suddenly, looking up from her notes.
Liam blinked. "What? No—I'm reading."
"You've been staring at the same line for five minutes."
He panicked. "It's a complicated sentence."
She laughed softly. "It's a bullet point, Liam. It says 'Use survey data.'"
He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well. I'm just... thinking."
"About what?" she asked, cocking her head slightly.
He met her eyes and hesitated. "Nothing important."
Cara didn't push. She just smiled—softly, kindly—and went back to typing. That smile made it harder for him to concentrate, not easier.
Midway through the session, she pulled out a candy bar from her bag and slid it over to him.
"For you," she said.
He stared at it. "You brought me chocolate?"
She shrugged, smiling. "You looked tired the last time we met. Consider it fuel."
That was it. Liam was now 95% sure he was in serious trouble with his feelings.
Back at the dorm that night, the guys were waiting.
"So," Marcus began, "did she give you anything?"
"Chocolate," Liam said quietly.
All three of them froze.
"Oh my god," Josh whispered. "She gave you food? Voluntarily?!"
Kenji dramatically clutched his heart. "It's happening. It's really happening."
"Alright, calm down, romance police," Liam said, trying not to smile too hard. "It's just a snack."
"First it's a snack," Marcus said. "Then it's a heart. And then—a relationship status update!"
They all burst into laughter.
For once, Liam didn't mind being the punchline. Deep down, he knew something had shifted. Maybe it was still small—like a candy bar passed across a table—but it meant something.
He wasn't just the guy who liked Cara from afar anymore.
Now? She was starting to notice him too.
And for Liam, that was more terrifying—and exciting—than anything else.