The house is too quiet. The kind of quiet that makes every sound heavier, like the world itself is holding its breath. The kind of warmth she got that time when she was in her parents' house, that's what she wanted, and the only reason she came here was to find the warmth that she felt.
Alina stands in the middle of the living room, her skin pale, eyes unfocused. The walls seem to tilt around her, the old clock ticking, the smell of dust and faint jasmine mixing in the air. Her lips tremble, her breath uneven. And her vision started blurring. She sways, blinking hard, but the world slips sideways. And then she falls.
Before her body hits the sofa, a pair of arms catches her, strong, trembling, desperate like he always wanted to hold her "Alina..." Kai's voice cracks as her weight falls into him. For a moment, his mind blanks. The sound of her soft gasp, her head tilting against his shoulder it's enough to shatter something inside him.
As Kai's hand touches his neck, he feels her body is burning with Fever. It was burning like a coal. He immediately touched her wrist; her pulse rate was faint, her face was wet from tears that never dried. He lowers her carefully onto the sofa, his hands shaking so badly he can barely push the hair from her face.
"Hey… hey, look at me," he whispers to Alina. No answer from her side. Her eyes are closed, lashes damp. He checked her breathing by placing his fingers near her nose and felt that her breath was too shallow.
Panic grips his chest. "No, no, no…" he mutters, pressing his forehead against hers. "You're fine, okay? You're going to be fine."
He runs to the kitchen, grabs water and a towel, his mind spinning. He's not supposed to be here like this, not supposed to show himself. If Alina were to get up and ask him what he was doing here. Kai has no answer for it, but none of that matters now. All he knows is that Alina is not well. And there is nothing beyond Alina. Kai was angry at himself; he shouldn't have gone away from her.
He wets the towel and comes back, gently pressing it against her forehead. Her skin is on fire. He whispers her name again and again as if the sound alone could pull her back. "Alina… please…"
Outside, footsteps echo in the corridor. Maya stands at the door, her hand half-raised to knock. She's been worried sick as Alina had run from her house earlier, saying she needed to go home. Maya knows Alina wouldn't agree easily to go back with her, but still, she was here to convince her.
As she reaches for the knob, a hand grabs her wrist, pulling her back sharply.
"Ryan?" she gasps, startled.
He shakes his head, his face pale. "Let's go."
"What are you crazy?Alina's in there. She's sick!"
"She already has someone," Ryan says quietly, his voice steady but strange. "Someone's taking care of her."
Maya stares at him, disbelief flickering in her eyes. "Who?"
Ryan doesn't answer. His jaw tightens, and he looks toward the slightly open window through which faint movement can be seen. A man inside, bending over Alina.
"Let's go, Maya," he repeats softly. "She's not alone anymore."
Something in his tone makes her stop arguing. She glances one last time at the old wooden door, her heart twisting, then slowly follows Ryan down the stairs.
Back inside, Kai kneels in front of the sofa, holding Alina's hand. He's never felt so helpless. He doesn't even know how long it's been, maybe an hour, maybe two.
Her breathing is unsteady, her lips cracked. He finally forces himself to move, pulling out his phone. His voice trembles as he calls the doctor. "Yes, she's burning up. No, she hasn't eaten in days. Please come fast."
He hangs up and looks at her again. He doesn't know why it hurts this much. He tells himself it's just a concern, that she is his roommate, even if she doesn't know it yet. But as he watches her lying there so still, so breakable, something inside him breaks.
He cups her face gently. "You shouldn't have gone through it alone," he whispers, his voice raw. "I should have been there with you."
There was no answer from her side. Only the faint sound of rain starting outside, tapping against the window like quiet tears. Half an hour later, the door opens again.
Granny steps in, her shawl damp from the drizzle. She's just returned from her daughter's house and notices two men in white coats walking up the stairs. Her heart lurches. She hurries after them. "Doctor, what happened? Is Alina alright?"
The doctor gives a polite nod. ''I don't know it yet. We'll check. Please don't worry."
Granny's brows knit in confusion. ''Inside the house?"
"Yes," the younger assistant replies. "A man called us said she's being taken care of."
Granny blinks. "A man?"
She follows them up A man? Her heart is uneasy. When she reaches the doorway, the sight before her freezes her in place.
Alina is lying on a bed, not in her own room, but the one opposite. Kai's. The curtains are drawn, dim yellow light spilling over her pale face. A young man sits beside her, worry etched deep into his features. He doesn't notice Granny or the doctor entering; his eyes are fixed entirely on Alina.
The doctor moves around quietly, checking her pulse, giving an injection, adjusting the IV drip. Kai barely blinks. Every second feels endless.
When the doctor leaves, packing his bag, Granny stays behind, her hands folded together. She looks between Kai and Alina, and something in the air shifts. She doesn't recognize him, doesn't know that Kai is an actor. He was the man on the billboards, and she had never seen him. He's just a young man whose soul looks like it's breaking.
He sits there unmoving, elbows on his knees, his fingers gripping the edge of the bed. His voice, when it comes, is a whisper meant only for himself. ''It's all my fault, I shouldn't have left you, I should have been there with you''
Granny steps closer to the Bedroom door, her eyes softening. "Are you… her roommate?"
He doesn't turn his face or even try to look at who is talking to him. His eyes stay on Alina. "Yes," he says quietly.
That single word is enough. Granny doesn't ask more. She doesn't need to. She can see it in the way he watches her and how he forgets to blink, in the way his thumb hovers near her hand but never quite touches, as if he's afraid to break her. There's love there. Unspoken, maybe even unknown to him, but real.
Granny smiles faintly, the kind of smile that carries understanding. "If you need anything," she says softly, "I'll be downstairs."
He nods without looking up. And she leaves, closing the door gently behind then. Usually, she is a curocity queen. But she didn't ask any questions to Kai, as it was the first time she saw Kai, but at that moment, she didn't need any answers; she got all the answers to her questions.
The moment the door shuts, the house sinks back into silence. Kai exhales shakily, rubbing his face with both hands. He hasn't eaten, hasn't even had water. The fever patch on Alina's forehead is damp. He changes it, wrings out the cloth, and replaces it. The sound of water dripping from the basin echoes through the stillness.
He looks at her again, her lips slightly parted, her lashes trembling faintly as if she's dreaming something painful. He wonders what she sees. Her mother's face? The hospital? The grave?
He swallows hard. He doesn't know what to do with the ache in his chest. It's not supposed to feel like this. He's not supposed to care this much. But seeing her like this, fragile, burning, lost, it's unbearable.
He whispers again, "Just wake up, Alina… please…" holding her hand in a way like he doesn't want to leave her, and his tears were rolling down his face.
The clock ticks. Rain keeps falling. And in that old house that smells of medicine and rainwater, Kai sits beside her eyes open, heart breaking quietly, not realizing yet that this is what love feels like.
Granny stands by the stairs window outside, watching the light from Kai's room flicker against the rain. She smiles faintly. She knows that kind of silence, the one filled with all the things a person never says out loud. She doesn't know who that boy is. But she knows what love looks like.