It was the little things Eli began to notice.
When he forgot his pencil in class, Kai wordlessly slid one across the desk. When group work got overwhelming, Kai offered to help—even though no one asked him to.
And once, when Eli stayed late to finish an assignment, he found Kai waiting by the gate with his umbrella, as though he had known Eli would still be there.
During break time, Eli's friends were the first to tease again.
"Eli, did you see? Kai saved you a seat." "You two are really close, huh?"
Eli shrugged, his tone casual. "We're friends now."
The table went quiet for a beat before his friends all burst out at once.
"What?! With Kai? Already?!" one of them gasped. "He doesn't even look like the type to talk to anyone—he's so unapproachable!"
Eli blinked at their reactions, tilting his head. "...Is it really that surprising?"
His calmness only made them stare harder, as if he had just broken some unspoken rule of the universe.
One afternoon in the library, Eli grew frustrated over a tricky math problem. He sighed, tapping the eraser against the page.
"Stuck?" Kai's voice was quiet beside him.
Eli blinked. "You're good at this stuff?"
Kai leaned over, his hand brushing lightly against the page as he pointed out the mistake. Their shoulders nearly touched, and Eli's heart skipped as he tried to focus on the numbers.
When the problem was solved, Eli muttered, "Thanks."
Kai gave the smallest smile. "Youre welcome"
It was nothing big. Just small acts—like how a normal friend would do.
But the truth was, he couldn't ignore it, even if he wanted to. More than he wanted to admit.
.