The night was quieter than most. Ren sat at his desk, eyes fixed on the glowing monitor but mind elsewhere. Lines of code blinked back at him, a project deadline approaching, yet his fingers hovered over the keys as though frozen in place. His room was the same as ever half-finished sketches piled in the corner, textbooks with sticky notes poking out like stubborn weeds, and the hum of his old CPU filling the silence.
But Ren wasn't the same.
Months had passed since he had let Tulip slip through his fingers. Or maybe he had convinced himself that was how it had to be two worlds that touched for a brief, fleeting season before being forced apart. He worked harder than ever, losing himself in assignments, competitions, and projects, as if achievement might stitch together the holes left inside him. His professors had started to notice. His name was mentioned now with respect, admiration even. He had become someone who people believed in, though he still struggled to believe in himself.
Yet every so often, in the quiet moments between work, his thoughts drifted back. To her laughter. To that playful annoyance when she lost a game of chess. To the fire in her eyes that had once pushed him to try harder.
Tulip.
Even now, she lingered like a shadow in his heart. Not in a way that held him hostage anymore, but in a way that reminded him where his story had started.
Tonight, though, there was something different in the air. A faint pull, a heaviness that told him something was about to change.
It came with a notification.
His phone buzzed, the glow lighting up his desk. Ren expected another group chat ping or a work-related message, but when his eyes focused on the screen, his breath hitched.
Royace.
That name felt like an echo from another lifetime. They hadn't spoken properly in so long not since everything with Tulip had cracked and splintered into silence. Ren's thumb hovered over the screen before he finally opened the message.
Royace: "Hey. Long time. Can we talk?"
Ren leaned back in his chair. He considered ignoring it burying himself in work like he always did. But something inside urged him otherwise. He typed back.
Ren: "Sure. Call?"
Seconds later, his phone vibrated. He picked up.
"Ren," Royace's voice carried across the line, familiar yet cautious.
"Yeah," Ren replied simply.
There was a pause, as though Royace was measuring his words carefully. "I've been meaning to reach out. Just… didn't know how you'd take it."
Ren stayed silent, waiting.
"You've changed, man," Royace continued. "I've been seeing your work. You're building things. Competing. Winning. That's the Ren I always knew was buried under all that self-doubt. Honestly, I'm proud of you."
Ren let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Compliments still felt heavy, almost undeserved. "Thanks," he muttered.
"But that's not the only reason I called." Royace's tone softened. "It's about Tulip."
The room felt colder. Ren sat upright.
Royace didn't hesitate now. "I need to tell you the truth. She never wanted to block you. She never wanted things to end that way. It wasn't her choice."
Ren blinked, his throat dry. "What do you mean?"
"It was her friends," Royace explained. "They pressured her. They made her believe being close to you wasn't good for her. They pulled Tejo into the picture, not because he was her boyfriend he never was but because they thought it would make her move on faster. The whole thing… it was a mess, Ren. And she got caught in it."
For a moment, Ren said nothing. He just stared at the dark screen of his computer, his reflection faintly staring back. A part of him wanted to rage, to break something, to shout that it wasn't fair. That he had been left drowning while Tulip had been tangled in the nets of her so-called friends.
But another part of him quieter, steadier remained still.
He had been here before. He had spiraled before. Tonight, he refused to.
Instead, he asked softly, "And where is she now?"
Royace hesitated. "She's… moving on. Living her life. I don't think she's happy about how things ended, but she's trying. And I thought you deserved to know the truth before you close this chapter for good."
Ren closed his eyes, breathing deep.
Images of Tulip flashed in his mind not the girl who blocked him, not the one tangled in rumors, but the one who laughed, who pushed him to dream bigger, who made him believe for the first time that maybe he wasn't as small as he thought.
"I used to think losing her was the worst thing that ever happened to me," Ren said quietly. "But now… I think it's different."
Royace listened.
"Maybe I lost her, but maybe I found myself because of her. She was the reason I kept moving when I wanted to stop. She was the spark that made me chase something bigger than my fears. And even if she's not here anymore, I'll always be grateful for that."
There was silence on the line. Then Royace exhaled, almost like he'd been holding his breath. "You've really grown, Ren."
Ren smiled faintly, though there was no one to see it. "Maybe. Or maybe I just finally stopped running from myself."
For the next hour, the two talked not just about Tulip, but about life, dreams, and what lay ahead. Royace shared his own ambitions, plans for building something bigger than either of them could manage alone. And Ren, for the first time in a long time, felt not just like someone chasing shadows of the past, but someone stepping into the light of his own future.
When the call ended, Ren didn't feel broken. He didn't feel empty.
He felt ready.
Ready to carry Tulip in his memories, not as a wound, but as a reason.
Ready to build.
Ready to live.