I lifted a brow, sarcasm on autopilot.
"Aren't you the one who told me to stay away from her? You got what you wanted. Why does the reason matter?"
"Don't you start with my suggestion." He sighed. "When I said that, you two barely knew each other. Although, considering Duru was the girl in your sketches… I'm not sure that's true on your end."
The moment he mentioned the drawings, I snapped my gaze to him.
"How long have you known?"
"Last year. I saw them tucked between your Structural Statics notes. I figured someone other than the usual girls might've caught your attention." He smirked. "I just didn't realize it was Duru until the day I had to babysit her when she was sick. Still don't get one thing though—why the hell were you drawing her asleep like that creepy vampire?"
I rolled my eyes at his stupid comparison, but the memory of my first encounter with Duru hit me, and I couldn't stop the grin that tugged at my mouth.
Even if she didn't remember, I'd met her once—about a year ago—in one of those shared electives every engineering department takes.
Calling it "meeting" was generous.
"It was the first week of the second term," I began. "You know I never go to first week classes. But Bora and Nil had fought the night before, and Bora whined at me all night. By the time he passed out at dawn, I was wide awake. So I went to campus."
I leaned back, the scene replaying with annoying clarity.
"I was sitting in the back by the window, killing time on my phone while I waited for the professor, when a girl stopped right beside me."
I glanced at Rüzgar, then continued.
"She asked, 'Mind if I sit here? Every seat by the heater is full.' I looked up, irritated because she interrupted a game where I was about to break my record…"
I shook my head, half-laughing to myself.
"It took me more than ten seconds to realize what I was looking at was actually a human being. Don't expect some 'too beautiful to be real' nonsense. If anything, she looked like an alien. The creepy kind."
Rüzgar snorted, but I ignored him.
"She was bundled up in layers—so many layers you could barely see anything except her eyes. And even those looked half-closed like she was fighting to keep them open. I stared like an idiot for a second, noticed her shifting impatiently, and looked around. She was right. Every seat was taken. So I got up and let her have mine."
A smug curve pulled at my mouth as I remembered what came next.
"I was about to move because I wasn't in the mood to attract someone trying to flirt at eight in the morning, but then a whole group walked in and filled the last empty seats. So I turned away and buried myself back in my game. A while later I realized she hadn't spoken, hadn't even moved. So I turned, and…"
I chuckled.
"She was asleep. Fully asleep. Head tucked into her jacket like it was a pillow. We'd been sitting there maybe ten minutes. How someone can fall asleep that fast in that position is beyond me."
Rüzgar's face had the same entertained look mine probably did.
"I waved my hand in front of her face a couple times to see if she was faking. Nothing. Not a twitch." I paused. "At first I went back to my phone. Then I did something I never do."
I looked down at the table as the memory sharpened.
"I watched her."
"The funny thing is, up until that moment, I hadn't even paid attention to what she looked like. She was… normal. Slightly chubby, plain, quiet. The kind of girl I wouldn't look at twice in passing."
I lifted my eyes again, voice slower.
"The only thing that stood out was her hair. Red. Not just red—this insane shade. It spilled out from under her beanie in loose waves, some of it on her shoulder, some over her face, and in that morning light it… glowed."
I swallowed, caught off guard by how vivid it still was.
"For someone so ordinary, she looked… different when she slept. Like she had this quiet little magic that belonged only to her. I remember thinking I'd never seen anyone look that beautiful asleep."
I hesitated, then admitted, softer than I meant to—
"She looked… happy."
My gaze dropped again.
"And whatever she was dreaming about, I wanted it to never end."
I let out a humorless breath.
"I knew how stupid it was to think that about someone I didn't know, someone I hadn't even noticed ten minutes ago. But I couldn't help it. Then some guy nudged my arm. I turned, ready to snap, and saw the attendance sheet. Class was over. The professor was waiting."
"I signed while cursing him out in my head, then turned back to wake her. She opened her eyes—barely—and looked at me like I was a minor inconvenience."
I smirked.
"I handed her the paper without a word. She held out her hand again, so I realized she wanted my pen. I gave it to her, and she didn't even bother lifting her head. Just found her name, scribbled something that barely qualified as a signature…"
I shook my head, amused all over again.
"And that's how I learned her name."