The rain fell like a whisper—gentle, constant, and almost apologetic.
Kaya sat by the window of her shared dorm room, sketchbook resting on her knees. Her pencil moved slowly, tracing familiar lines she had drawn again and again. Outside, students hurried across the stone paths of Haneul University, umbrellas blooming like scattered flowers.
But her eyes weren't on them.
They were on *him*.
Across the courtyard, beneath the wide stone arch of the music building, stood the same boy who passed by every day at 3:12 p.m.
'Moon Seo-jun'. A quiet music composition student with headphones around his neck and an old satchel slung over one shoulder. His steps were never rushed. His gaze rarely lifted. Yet there was something about him that kept pulling Kaya's attention—something unreadable, like a melody without words.
She didn't know why she sketched him.
Maybe because he felt safe to watch.
Maybe because he never looked up.
Maybe because watching him made her feel less invisible.
A voice broke the moment.
"Kaya, look! He gave me this today!"
Kaya turned slightly.
'Ji-eun', her roommate, held up a thin silver bracelet with a tiny charm. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she twirled it between her fingers.
"He remembered I liked music symbols," she added proudly.
Kaya's smile was polite. "It's pretty."
She returned her gaze to the window.
Moon Seo-jun had already walked away.
That night, Kaya lay in bed, listening to the quiet hum of the dorm. Ji-eun was on her bed, still chatting on her phone in soft tones, her laughter drifting across the room like smoke.
Kaya stared at the ceiling, her hands tucked beneath her blanket.
There had been a time—back in middle school—when the boy Ji-eun now dated had once liked *her*.
Everyone had known, even Ji-eun.
Back then, Kaya had been too shy, too unsure of what to say. She hadn't pushed him away… but she hadn't drawn him closer either. Then came the long break when school shut down. Messages faded. Moments got missed. And when they returned to school,"he was hers"—Ji-eun's.
Sometimes Kaya wondered if she had lost her chance… or if it was never hers to begin with.
"Didn't he used to like you?" Ji-eun had once asked casually, as if it were just gossip.
Kaya hadn't answered. She had only smiled and turned the page in her book.
Far across campus, in a quiet room near the rooftop, Moon Seo-jun sat alone at an old upright piano.
His fingers rested on the keys, not playing, just feeling.
Beside him lay a journal, half-full of scribbled chords and half-sketched lyrics. From between the pages, a folded paper peeked out—a sketch. Of him. Left anonymously on a bench outside the music hall a few days ago.
He hadn't thrown it away.
He didn't know who had drawn it.
But it felt like someone had been watching.
And somehow… that didn't feel lonely anymore.
To be continued.....