[Scene 1: Silent Togetherness]
After the cultural festival, between Aya and Ryo, an unspoken kind of comfort had come.
Both now talked more often, and sometimes left school together.
One evening, Aya and Ryo were standing near the school gate.
There was coolness in the air and the colors of the evening were soft.
Aya said with a gentle smile:
"Sometimes it feels like you're changing, Ryo. You're not like before."
Ryo looked at her with serious eyes:
"Maybe… it's because of you."
Aya's heart started beating fast. She forgot to blink.
In that moment, silence said everything.
[Scene 2: The Desire to Come Closer]
Ryo spoke softly:
"Aya… if you hadn't come into my life, maybe I would still be lost in my darkness.
You've forced me to change."
There was gentleness on Aya's face, but a slight nervousness in her heart too.
"Is this the moment… when he's going to say something to me?"
But just as Ryo stepped forward to say something, Miko's voice came:
"Ayaaa! You're here?"
The moment broke.
Embarrassment on Aya's face, and the same old silence returned to Ryo's face.
[Scene 3: The Beginning of Misunderstanding]
The next day in class, Aya saw that Ryo was talking to a girl.
That girl was from another section and was quite beautiful.
She was leaning close to Ryo and laughing, and Ryo smiled slightly for the first time.
A sting went through Aya's heart.
"He never smiles that easily with me… then why with her?"
Miko saw this scene and whispered in Aya's ear:
"Looks like Ryo has someone special… you're not worried, right?"
Aya tried to give a small smile, but uneasiness spread inside her heart.
[Scene 4: The Breaking of the Heart]
That evening Aya confronted Ryo.
"That girl… who was she?"
Ryo asked in surprise:
"What do you mean?"
Aya's voice was trembling:
"I saw you smiling… with her. You never… with me…"
Ryo said in a cold tone:
"She's just an old acquaintance. Why do you care so much?"
That sentence struck Aya's heart like an arrow.
She became silent, and her eyes filled with moisture.
Ryo tried to stop her, but Aya quickly stepped back and said:
"Maybe I was wrong to think… you would let me change you."
She left, and Ryo stood at the door watching her go.
For the first time, a fear awoke in his heart—
"Did I really lose her?"
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📖 Chapter 8 End.