It was one of those slow Sunday afternoons for Dewdrop — the kind where the air felt heavy with heat and the sound of a distant ceiling fan filled the silence. He had finished his assignments early for once and was sprawled across his bed, scrolling through his messages with Lili.
She had just sent him a photo.
A blurry one. Of her volleyball court.
Lili: Tell me that's not a perfect shot 😤
Dewdrop: That's… a shoe.
Lili: It's a volleyball! The shoe just photobombed it!
He laughed out loud, nearly dropping his phone.
Dewdrop: You're the only person I know who can make an athletic photo look like a crime scene.
Lili: 😭 I was mid-game! I was trying to impress you!
Dewdrop: Mission failed. But I'm still impressed.
Lili: …Smooth recovery.
He grinned, typing fast.
Dewdrop: I'm learning from you.
Lili: Liar. I'm not smooth at all. I tripped over my own foot during warm-up today.
Dewdrop: You're adorable when you're clumsy.
Lili: You weren't there to see it!
Dewdrop: I've seen you trip on video call before. I have evidence.
Her next message was just a string of emojis: 😤😤😤💢
He laughed so hard his mother called from the kitchen, asking what was so funny.He didn't answer — how could he explain that a girl halfway across the world had just made him laugh like he hadn't in weeks?
A few hours later, they were on a call again. Lili sat cross-legged on her bed, hair tied up, eating chips while pretending to study.
"Stop eating those," Dewdrop said. "You'll regret it later."
"Stop pretending you can cook," she shot back through a mouthful of chips.
"I can!"
"You burned eggs, Dewdrop."
"That was a creative experiment."
"Uh-huh." She smirked. "You know what you'd be great at?"
"What?"
"Ordering takeout."
He laughed so hard she could hear it through her earbuds — warm, genuine, the kind of laughter that made her smile without even meaning to.
When the laughter faded, their voices softened again.
"Hey, Lili?"
"Yeah?"
"I like this version of us. The laughing one."
"Me too," she said quietly. "Sometimes I forget how easy we are."
"Even with everything against us?"
"Especially then," she said. "It makes it mean more."
The silence that followed wasn't heavy. It was full — like sunlight settling gently on skin after a storm.
Dewdrop: I don't know how you do it. You make everything lighter.
Lili: That's what love is supposed to do.
He smiled at her words, letting them sink in. Maybe she didn't even realize how much she changed his world. How even the dull mornings felt brighter now.
They ended the call after a while — her eyelids heavy, his laughter still lingering. But that night, when Lili fell asleep, she dreamed of a life where their calls were replaced by real laughter, across the same couch, in the same sunlight.
And somewhere in India, Dewdrop leaned back against his pillow, whispering into the quiet:"Goodnight, my favorite clumsy girl."