XH didn't remember deciding to move.
He only remembered the moment where standing still became unbearable.
The common area door closed behind Kitty first. The soft click echoed louder than it should have. June's footsteps faded in the opposite direction, measured, unhurried, like she already knew where she was going.
Two exits.Two losses.
And for the first time, XH understood something with brutal clarity.
Waiting was a choice.
And he had already made it too many times.
He moved.
Not fast. Not dramatically. Just forward.
The hallway felt longer than usual, lights humming overhead, the air thick with unsaid words. He didn't know who he was chasing yet. Only that if he didn't move now, he would lose both in different ways.
He turned left.
Kitty.
Her footsteps were quicker than he expected. She walked like someone who didn't want to be followed but hoped, just slightly, that she would be.
"Kitty," XH called.
She didn't stop.
He jogged a few steps, heart pounding harder than it ever had during exams or deadlines. "Kitty, wait."
She slowed.
Then stopped.
She didn't turn around immediately.
When she did, her face was calm. Too calm.
"What?" she asked.
Not angry.Not emotional.
Tired.
"I didn't mean to let things get like this," XH said, breath uneven.
Kitty laughed softly. "No one ever does."
"I should have gone after you earlier," he continued. "I should have said something."
Kitty tilted her head slightly. "Which time?"
The question hit like a slap.
"The first time I stepped back?" she went on. "The second time you watched me leave? Or tonight, when you finally decided I mattered enough to chase?"
XH opened his mouth.
Closed it.
She shook her head, a small, sad smile tugging at her lips. "That's the problem, XH. You always arrive at the right emotions too late."
"I care about you," he said quickly.
"I know," Kitty replied. "That's why this hurts."
Her voice cracked then. Just a little. The armor slipped.
"You think I started seeing someone else because I wanted to?" she asked. "I did it because waiting was destroying me."
XH's chest tightened. "I never wanted you to feel like that."
"But I did," she said firmly. "Every time you hesitated, every time you chose silence, you told me I was optional."
"That's not true," he said.
Kitty stepped closer, eyes sharp now. "Then why did it feel so real?"
The question demanded an answer he didn't have.
She exhaled slowly, shoulders sagging for the first time. "I'm tired of being brave for both of us."
XH swallowed. "What do you want me to do?"
Kitty looked at him for a long moment.
"I want you to stop chasing people only when you're about to lose them," she said quietly. "Because one day, there will be nothing left to chase."
The words settled heavy between them.
Kitty stepped back.
"I'm not angry," she added. "I'm just… done pretending I'm okay."
Then she turned and walked away.
This time, XH didn't follow.
Because he finally understood.
Chasing Kitty now wasn't courage.
It was regret.
He stood there for a moment, heart racing, chest aching, the hallway suddenly too quiet.
Then he turned.
June.
He ran.
Not carefully. Not thoughtfully. He ran like someone who had already wasted too much time being afraid of the wrong choice.
The night air hit him as he burst outside, cool and sharp. The campus paths stretched ahead, lamps casting long shadows. He scanned the space frantically.
There.
June stood near the gate, phone in her hand, bag slung over one shoulder. She wasn't rushing. She wasn't looking back.
She was already halfway gone.
"June!" XH shouted.
She turned.
Her expression was calm. Guarded.
He slowed as he reached her, breath uneven. "Please don't leave like this."
June studied him. "Like what?"
"Like I didn't matter," he said.
She raised an eyebrow slightly. "I never said you didn't."
"But you're pulling away," he said. "I can feel it."
"Yes," June replied. "Because I learned something important."
XH's heart hammered. "What?"
"That I can't build a future with someone who freezes when things get hard," she said evenly.
The words were sharp, but not cruel.
Honest.
"I'm trying to change," XH said. "Tonight—I—"
"You ran," June interrupted. "That's new."
A flicker of something crossed her eyes.
Hope.
Then caution buried it.
"I ran because I realized waiting was killing everything," XH said. "I don't want to keep doing that."
June crossed her arms lightly. "Then say something real."
XH hesitated.
Caught himself.
And pushed through.
"I'm scared," he said. "Scared of choosing wrong. Scared of hurting people. Scared that no matter what I do, I'll lose someone."
June nodded slowly. "That fear doesn't disappear."
"I know," he continued. "But I don't want it to control me anymore."
Silence stretched between them, heavy and alive.
June's voice softened. "And Kitty?"
The name landed hard.
"I care about her," XH said honestly. "But I didn't protect her when I should have."
June watched his face carefully. "And me?"
XH met her eyes. "I don't want to lose you because I was too afraid to speak."
June exhaled slowly, looking past him at the quiet campus.
"This is the part where I usually walk away," she said.
XH's heart sank.
"But," she added, turning back to him, "this is also the part where I decide whether someone is worth staying for."
She stepped closer.
Not touching him.
Not yet.
"You don't get unlimited chances," June said quietly. "I won't chase you. I won't compete. And I won't wait forever."
XH nodded. "I understand."
June searched his face one last time.
"I'm not leaving," she said finally. "But I'm not leaning toward you anymore either."
The words hurt.
But they weren't a goodbye.
"They mean something different now," XH said.
"Yes," June replied. "They do."
She stepped back, creating space again. "Goodnight, XH."
"Goodnight," he said.
She walked away, not hurried, not hesitant.
Balanced on the edge.
Later that night, Kitty sat on her bed, phone dark in her hands.
Her chest felt tight. Raw.
She replayed the conversation in the hallway again and again.
Not because she wanted him back.
Because part of her still hoped he would have chosen her earlier.
She wiped her eyes angrily.
"I'm not weak," she muttered.
But breaking didn't mean weakness.
It meant something mattered.
Across campus, June sat at her desk, staring at her notes without reading.
She pressed her fingers together, grounding herself.
I stayed, she thought.But I didn't surrender.
And in his room, XH sat on the edge of his bed, head in his hands.
He had chased.
He had spoken.
And still, nothing was fixed.
But for the first time, the story wasn't paused.
It was moving.
Painfully.Unevenly.
Forward.