Ren had barely slept.
The words from his last late-night chat with Tulip were still circling in his mind, stubborn as ghosts. The sound of her laugh, the playful sharpness of her words, the way she always knew how to lighten the weight on his shoulders it all blended into a restless soundtrack that refused to let him rest.
When he finally drifted into sleep, he dreamed not of peace but of a chessboard scattered with broken pieces. His king stood alone, cornered, while the board melted into waves of ink. He woke with a sharp intake of breath, staring at the ceiling of his small room, trying to convince himself it was just a dream.
By noon, he still hadn't shaken the unease. He sat at his desk, laptop open but untouched, pretending to revise notes for his upcoming test. But all he did was stare at Tulip's name glowing on the side of his screen, a chat box unopened since last night.
That's when another notification blinked.
Not Tulip.
Not Maya.
Not Zara.
A name Ren hadn't seen before one that didn't belong in his circle.
Royace.
At first, Ren thought it must've been a mistake. A spam account, maybe. But then he remembered Tulip had once casually mentioned her childhood friend, the one her parents adored, the one who seemed like family to her. Ren had never spoken to him, never imagined he'd reach out.
He clicked open the message.
"Hey, Ren. Heard about you from Tulip. Just thought I'd say hi."
Ren blinked. His hands hovered over the keyboard. A dozen thoughts jostled for space in his head Why is he texting me? What did Tulip say about me? Should I even reply?
But politeness won, as it usually did with him.
"Oh, hi. Yeah, Tulip mentioned you once."
A reply came almost instantly.
"Cool. I don't usually text strangers, but I felt like talking to you. You seem… different. Not like the usual crowd."
Ren frowned, but typed back:
"Different how?"
"You think big. I can tell. Tulip talks about how you dream of building something of your own. And honestly, that's rare. Most guys I know are stuck in routine lives already."
Ren leaned back in his chair. There was a strange thrill in being seen, even through Tulip's words. Someone out there recognized that he was more than a quiet boy with shyness written all over him.
"Yeah… I mean, I do want to build something. Something meaningful."
Royace replied with a laughing emoji, then:
"Same here. I've always wanted to create something big too. Not just work a job and survive. I don't know… people like us, we're wired different, right?"
And just like that, the conversation took off.
For the next half hour, they bounced ideas back and forth.
Royace spoke about starting businesses, about how he'd always hated the idea of being ordinary. Ren found himself talking about games he wanted to design, apps he'd thought of, even half-dreamed novels he wanted to write someday.
It was strange Ren didn't usually open up to strangers. But there was something easy about talking to Royace. Maybe because Royace carried the same restless hunger, the same refusal to live quietly.
They joked about being "the kids who'd change the world," laughed about how nobody around them really understood their visions. It felt light, almost energizing, like a rare moment of finding someone tuned to the same frequency.
Until Royace shifted the tone.
"By the way… I know about you and Tulip."
Ren's fingers froze.
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, don't play dumb. I know you like her. She likes you too."
Ren's chest tightened. He didn't even realize he was holding his breath.
"…Did she say that?"
"She doesn't need to. I've known her since we were kids. I can read her like an open book. She talks about you differently. She defends you when people joke. That's not nothing."
Ren's mind spun. A part of him lit up with warmth proof, even indirect, that Tulip's feelings might mirror his own. But before the warmth could fully settle, Royace's next message came in.
And it shattered everything.
"But, Ren… you need to move on."
Ren's heart dropped. His hands trembled over the keyboard.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because I know her family. I know mine. I know the world we live in. Strict religion. Strict rules. Different backgrounds. You might dream all you want, but in reality? There's no chance you two end up together. Not unless you're insanely successful someday. Money talks, bro. Without it, you're nothing in their eyes."
The words hit like a blunt hammer.
Ren stared at them, reading and rereading, as if they might change the fifth time. But they didn't. They only grew heavier, sinking into him like stones in water.
He typed, stopped, deleted, typed again.
"That's not fair."
Royace replied almost instantly:
"I know it's not. But it's the truth. I've grown up around her family. They'd never let it happen. You can't beat tradition and religion with just feelings. You need power. Success. Money. Until then, Tulip's just… a dream."
Ren's throat tightened. His chest felt hollow, as though something had been scooped out.
"But she… she makes me believe I can be more."
"And that's good. Hold onto that motivation. Use it. But don't fool yourself. If you really care about her, maybe let her go. Or… prove me wrong. Become the guy they can't refuse. That's the only way."
The conversation dragged on, but it didn't feel like talking anymore. It felt like being lectured by fate itself, wearing Royace's name as a mask.
Royace's monologue stretched on, weaving logic and inevitability, hammering the same point: dreams don't survive reality without money and power.
Ren sat there, his mind split in two.
One part of him wanted to scream, to deny it, to insist that what he shared with Tulip was more than circumstance, more than rules. But another part the quieter, darker part recognized the truth in Royace's words. He couldn't unhear them. He couldn't unsee the obstacles.
It felt like the last nail in a coffin he hadn't realized was already built.
When the conversation finally slowed, the air between them felt strange. Heavy.
Royace ended with:
"Look, Ren. I respect you. You're different. You've got potential. If we ever get the chance, I'd love to collaborate on something big someday. Maybe we'll both build the future we dream of."
Ren stared at the blinking cursor for a long time before typing back.
"Yeah. Maybe. And… I'll try to move on."
The words tasted like ash. He didn't believe them, but he wrote them anyway.
"Good man. Take care."
And just like that, the chat ended.
Ren closed the screen, but the words didn't leave. They clung to him, echoing in his head like a curse:
No chance. Strict family. Money talks.
He pressed his palms to his eyes, but it didn't stop the hollow ache spreading through him.
For the first time, it felt like even fate itself had turned against him.
Ren stared at his phone, the faint glow of the screen the only light in his room. Tulip's last words replayed in his head like a cruel echo "I don't think you understand what I need right now."
He wanted to text her again, to say something anything that could fix the fracture. But his fingers felt heavy, his chest hollow. Instead, he tossed his phone on the desk and let out a bitter laugh. Maybe Harvey was right… maybe I'm just setting myself up for another fall.
Still, he couldn't stop himself from scrolling. Every post, every story, every small reminder of Tulip tugged at him. And that's when he noticed it a name that kept appearing, over and over again.
"Tejo."
At first, it seemed harmless. Just another name among the many. But in the days that followed, it became impossible to ignore. Every time Ren posted something, there it was. Every time he put up a story, the same set of eyes lingered. Watching. Liking. Always there.
Ren narrowed his eyes at the screen, a mix of confusion and irritation prickling his skin. Who the hell is this guy? And why does it feel like he's orbiting the same world as Tulip?
His heart sank with a sudden, unwelcome thought and without thinking twice, he opened Instagram, tapped on his story, and began typing.