There are moments when life stops spinning and simply… tilts.
For Leo Shen, that moment arrived on a cloudy Thursday afternoon, wrapped in a white envelope with a government seal.
The letter was waiting in his dorm mailbox.
He stared at it for a full minute before touching it. As if opening it might cause something irreversible to happen.
He wasn't wrong.
---
The letter was from his mother.
Written in her careful, curved handwriting, it smelled faintly of her tea and lavender soap. It was four pages long, but Leo only needed one sentence to lose his balance:
> "Your father has taken a new post overseas, and we're moving to Switzerland next month. You're expected to join us before the start of the next term."
Leo read it again. And again.
It didn't change.
His world—the friendships, the chaos, the warmth he had just begun to find—was now on a timer.
---
He told no one.
Not yet.
Not even Kai.
Because how do you casually say: "By the way, I might disappear in three weeks."
He carried the letter in his jacket pocket, like a secret stone weighing him down.
And still, life continued.
---
That weekend, the school hosted its annual "Local Community Exchange Day." Basically, an open market and fair organized with local businesses. Students ran booths, families visited, and clubs performed.
It was cheerful, bright, loud.
Leo felt none of it.
He walked through the stalls like a ghost. Smiled when people waved. Laughed at Kai's jokes. Even accepted a heart-shaped cookie from a club fundraiser.
But he wasn't there.
Until he turned a corner.
And saw Rin.
---
She was standing in front of the student council tent, handing out pamphlets with two younger students. Her long black hair was tied back today, neat and professional. She wore a simple white blouse and a maroon skirt.
When she noticed Leo, her expression didn't change.
But she walked toward him.
"I haven't seen you since the… lunch," she said.
"Yeah."
"You've been distant."
"I've had things on my mind."
She tilted her head. "Want to share?"
Leo hesitated.
He could have said it right then. He almost did.
But instead, he said, "Later."
She nodded slowly. "Don't wait too long."
---
He bumped into Yuki twenty minutes later.
Literally.
She was balancing three drinks, all in cartoon-shaped cups, and when Leo turned the corner too fast—
SPLASH.
"AHHHH! MY SODA ARMY!"
Leo blinked. "You okay?"
Yuki narrowed her eyes. "You. Owe. Me."
"I'll buy you ten more."
She paused. "Forgiven."
They sat by the fountain to dry off. Yuki had a towel hidden in her giant bag. (Leo didn't ask why. He'd learned not to.)
She handed it to him. "You've been weird lately."
He looked away. "I'm always weird."
"Not like this."
Pause.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" she said suddenly.
Leo froze. "What?"
"I know that face. You looked the same in middle school when your cat died and you pretended it 'ran away to become a lion.'"
Leo smiled faintly. "That was a solid lie."
"Don't change the subject."
"…There's a chance I might have to leave the country," he said quietly. "My dad's job moved. They want me to go with them."
Yuki didn't speak right away.
Then she said, "Do you want to go?"
Leo didn't answer.
That was his answer.
Yuki nodded. "Thanks for telling me."
She stood. "Now go tell the others before I do it for you."
She walked off.
Leo stared at the sky.
Clouds drifted like slow-moving ships.
---
That night, Kai found him on the rooftop.
"You really were gonna ghost us, huh," Kai said.
"I didn't know how to say it."
Kai sat beside him. "Still don't. But that's okay. Just… don't lie."
Leo finally pulled the letter from his pocket. Handed it over.
Kai read it.
"Switzerland, huh. Fancy. Cold. Expensive. Full of cheese."
"I don't want to go."
"Then don't."
"I don't get to decide that."
Kai folded the letter and handed it back. "Then decide what you can control. Decide who you are, Leo. Because you're almost out of time."