Morning arrived.Bright ☀️Fresh 🌿Unforgiving 😐
Inside the café—
Three heroes of the impossible lay defeated…not by demons 👹not by curses 🩸but by alcohol 🍺💀
Hawk slept on a chair 🪑one leg hanging off like it had resigned from life 🦵❌
Walter was on the floor, hugging an empty bottle like a teddy bear 🧸🍾murmuring nonsense in his sleep 😴
Barfi lay flat on his back, staring at nothing even while asleep 😶as if his brain was rebooting after trauma 🧠🔄
On the table—
Three empty bottles 🥃🥃🥃standing proudly.Victors.Judging them.
Waiting ⏳📱
At college, Miko checked her phone 📱
No message.
She checked again.Still nothing.
Her brow twitched slightly 😠
"…That's strange."
She waited outside the classroom 🚪looked down the hallway 👀checked the time ⌚
Nothing.
A bad feeling crept in.
The Discovery 😶🌫️
That afternoon, Miko pushed open the café door 🚪
🔔 Ding
No voice.No greeting.
She stepped inside…
And froze. 🧊
"…What."
The trio lay scattered like casualties of a war against common sense 💣
Empty bottles everywhere 🍾a messy tablesnoring that violated basic human rights 😴
Miko slowly placed her bag down 🎒
She walked to the counter.Filled a jug with water 🚰looked at them once 👀twice 👀👀
Then—
SPLASH 💦 Resurrection ⚡
"AAA—!!" 😱"WHAT—!?""WHY IS IT RAINING INSIDE!?"
All three jumped up at once 💥
Walter slipped and nearly died dramatically 🤕Hawk almost punched a chair on instinct 👊🪑Barfi sat straight up, blinking rapidly 😳
Miko stood there calmly 😌
"Good morning."
Hawk wiped his face 💧
"…You poured water on a police officer."
Walter coughed violently 😵
"Violence.Pure violence."
Barfi blinked again.
"…I overslept."
Miko smiled sweetly 🙂the kind of smile that scares grown men
"You think?"
Back to Life 🚶♂️📚
Ten minutes later—
Barfi adjusted his bag strap 🎒
"I'm sorry."
Miko sighed.
"Just walk faster."
They headed toward college together 🚶♀️🚶♂️
Hawk grabbed his jacket 🧥
"Duty calls."
Walter flipped the café sign—
OPEN ☕
He stretched dramatically 🙆♂️
"What a night."
The café door closed behind them 🚪
Life resumed.
Classes 📖Work ☕Routine 🔁
But under it all—
Three men shared a secret no one else would ever understand 🤐
And a boy who once felt nothing…
Was late for college. 😅
Library — Something Has Changed 📚✨
The library felt lighter today 🌤️
Sunlight spilled through tall windows ☀️dust floating like it finally had permission to exist ✨
Barfi sat at the long wooden tablebooks spread out 📘📕📗
He laughed softly at something Walter texted him 😂📱
A real laugh.
Not polite 😐❌Not forced
Real 😄
Miko sat across from him, pretending to read 📖but watching him more than the pages 👀
Her chest felt warm 💗
He's back, she thought.He's really back.
"You're distracting the entire library," she whispered 🤫🙂
Barfi grinned.
"Sorry," he said—not sorry at all 😏
Miko had never seen him like this.
And she loved it. 🌸
The News Reaches Chichi 🌧️
Across the room, two girls whispered urgently 👭
"Have you seen Barfi today?""He's smiling.""Like… actually smiling.""And laughing."
Chichi froze mid-step 🧍♀️
"…Laughing?"
Her chest tightened 💔
"That's impossible," she said quietly.
"He never laughed like that with you,"one friend said—then instantly regretted it 😬
Chichi followed their gaze.
And saw him.
Barfi.
Relaxed 😌Alive 🌱Laughing with Miko 😄
Something inside Chichi cracked.
The Confrontation ⚡
Chichi walked straight to the table 🚶♀️
The chair scraped loudly 🪑💥
Miko looked up first.
"Chichi—"
Barfi looked up next.
His smile faded.
Not into pain 😢Not into anger 😠
Into calm 😐
"Yes?"
Chichi's voice trembled.
"So… now you laugh?"
Barfi blinked.
"Yes."
"With her," Chichi added sharply 😤
"Yes."
The answer was simple.Too simple.
Chichi laughed bitterly 😞
"Wow.So it wasn't that you don't feel emotions."
She leaned closer.
"You just didn't feel them with me."
Silence. 🧊
Miko's fingers curled into her book 📖✊
Barfi stayed quiet for a moment.
Then answered honestly.
"I didn't feel them with anyone."
Chichi shook her head.
"Then why now?Why her?"
Barfi looked at Miko 🌸then back at Chichi.
"Because I almost lost myself," he said calmly."And she stayed."
Silence again.
Students nearby pretended not to listen 👂❌They all listened.
Chichi swallowed hard.
"So all I was… was a phase?"
Barfi didn't dodge it.
"No."
That surprised her.
"You were important," he said softly."But you wanted me to change what I couldn't give up."
He paused.
"And when you asked me to choose…"
"…I chose myself."
Chichi's eyes filled with tears 😢
"You chose her."
Barfi shook his head.
"No.""I chose life."
That broke her. 💔
Tears slipped free.
"I hope you're happy," she whispered.
Barfi waited a second.
"I hope you are too."
Chichi walked away 🚶♀️
Not defeated.Just… wounded.
Aftermath — Healing 🌱
Miko exhaled slowly 😮💨
"That was… intense."
Barfi nodded.
"Yes."
She smiled gently 🙂
"But you handled it well."
Barfi looked at her.
Then smiled again 😄
"I felt… sad for her," he admitted.
Miko's heart skipped 💓
"That's empathy," she said softly.
Barfi blinked.
"…It is?"
She nodded.
"And it means you're healing."
He leaned back in his chair, thinking 🤔
Outside—life continued 🚶♂️🚗
Inside the library—
A boy who once felt nothingwas learning how to feel again
And that…
was the hardest battle of all. 🌱❤️