The rain didn't fall hard that afternoon.
It hovered instead, misting the air just enough to blur the edges of Campus 2 and soften the world like a half-finished thought. Students hurried between buildings, jackets pulled tighter, umbrellas opening and closing with impatient flicks of the wrist.
XH walked slower than usual.
June matched his pace without comment.
They had ended up together again without planning it—leaving the same class, choosing the same path, neither one stepping away. It felt natural in a way that unsettled him. Not forced. Not dramatic. Just… aligned.
"Does it always rain like this?" June asked, glancing up at the sky.
"Only when things are undecided," XH replied before thinking.
She smiled. "That sounds suspiciously philosophical."
He shrugged. "Campus superstition."
"I like it," she said. "Rain that waits instead of rushing."
They walked in silence for a few moments, the sound of their footsteps blending with the soft drizzle. June adjusted the strap of her bag, eyes forward, posture relaxed but attentive.
"You've been here longer than me," she said. "Does it ever stop feeling temporary?"
XH considered the question seriously. "I think it depends on whether you let yourself belong."
She glanced at him. "And do you?"
He hesitated.
June noticed immediately.
"That was a real question," she said gently.
XH exhaled slowly. "I'm still figuring it out."
June nodded, accepting the answer without judgment. "That's honest."
Something about the way she said that—without pressure, without expectation—made his chest tighten.
They reached the covered walkway near the library. Students clustered under the shelter, phones out, conversations overlapping.
A familiar buzz drifted through the air.
"Did you hear—""They still haven't responded.""My parents are worried."
June tilted her head. "About the rumors?"
XH nodded. "Yeah."
She leaned against the railing, thoughtful. "Fear spreads faster in places where people already feel like they're standing on borrowed ground."
"You talk like you've been here longer than me," XH said.
June smiled faintly. "I've been in places like this before."
That was all she offered.
And strangely, it was enough.
They parted near the library steps. June paused.
"Thanks for walking with me," she said. "It makes the campus feel… less heavy."
XH met her eyes. "Anytime."
She smiled—soft, real—and disappeared inside.
XH stood there for a moment longer, watching the rain collect on the ground.
Across the courtyard, Kitty watched them from under an umbrella she hadn't opened.
Kitty POV
Kitty hadn't meant to follow them.
She told herself that at least three times.
She had left class with HS, laughing lightly, talking about something irrelevant. But her steps slowed unconsciously. Her attention drifted. And before she realized what she was doing, she was standing near the edge of the courtyard, watching two figures under the misty rain.
XH.
June.
They weren't touching.
They weren't doing anything obvious.
That made it worse.
June leaned in slightly as she spoke. XH listened the way he always did when something mattered to him—quiet, focused, like the rest of the world had faded into background noise.
Kitty felt the fracture then.
Not a break.
A crack.
It spread slowly, silently, right through the place where hope had been carefully stored.
She wasn't angry.
She was proud of herself for that.
She had stepped back. She had chosen dignity. She had told herself that watching would hurt less than waiting.
She was wrong.
The pain wasn't sharp. It was dull, constant, like pressure behind the eyes that never quite turned into tears.
When June smiled at XH, something inside Kitty finally shifted.
This is real, she realized.
Not a passing curiosity.
Not a temporary distraction.
June wasn't circling.
She was approaching.
Kitty turned away before she could be seen. She opened her umbrella even though the rain hadn't increased, using it as an excuse to hide her face.
By the time she reached the dorm, her expression was calm again.
She had always been good at that.
That evening, the group gathered out of habit more than intention. The common area felt crowded, tension threading through conversations that tried too hard to stay light.
TR was loud. Louder than usual.
"Okay, listen," he announced, standing dramatically. "I refuse to let rumors destroy my mental health."
PL snorted. "That ship sailed days ago."
"We need a distraction," TR continued. "A good one."
"Movie?" HS suggested.
"Game night," PL added.
"Food," TZ Royal said from the couch. "Always food."
June arrived a few minutes later, hesitating at the doorway.
"Am I late?" she asked.
TR beamed. "Perfect timing. We're spiraling."
June laughed softly and stepped inside.
Kitty arrived last.
XH felt the shift immediately.
June sat on the arm of the couch near him. Kitty chose a seat across the room, posture relaxed, smile polite.
The triangle didn't announce itself.
It existed in glances not taken. In pauses that lasted half a second too long. In the way XH felt hyper-aware of both their presences at once.
At some point, the conversation drifted back to the rumors.
"I heard someone's transferring already," PL said quietly.
June frowned. "Already?"
"They're scared," TR said. "Everyone is."
June looked at XH. "Are you?"
He considered lying.
"I don't know," he said instead.
June nodded slowly. "That's fair."
Kitty watched the exchange carefully, fingers curled loosely in her lap.
Later, as the group dispersed, June lingered.
"XH," she said. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah."
"Do you run when things get complicated?"
The question caught him off guard.
"I… sometimes," he admitted.
June smiled gently. "I hope you don't with me."
The words were quiet.
They were also dangerous.
Kitty stood up then, gathering her things.
"I'm heading out," she said calmly.
XH looked at her instinctively. "Kitty—"
She paused, met his eyes, and smiled. "Don't worry. I'm okay."
She wasn't lying.
She just wasn't telling the whole truth.
As she left, June watched her go, thoughtful.
"She's important to you," June said softly.
"Yes," XH replied immediately.
June nodded. "I can tell."
There was no accusation in her tone.
Just awareness.
Later that night, the campus buzzed quietly with unresolved tension. Forum posts continued. Rain tapped softly against windows. Decisions waited to be made.
Three people lay awake in different rooms.
XH stared at the ceiling, heart pulled in opposite directions.
June replayed conversations, measuring what she felt against what she feared.
Kitty lay still, eyes open, understanding something she hadn't wanted to admit.
The triangle hadn't exploded.
It had settled.
And once something settled, it was much harder to move.