That night, Alya didn’t go straight to sleep. She usually watched her favorite K-dramas first. But for some reason, she felt incredibly lazy that night. Alya simply lay there, mindlessly tapping at her phone.
She had been lying down for nearly thirty minutes, yet her eyes were still fixed on the bedroom ceiling. She was only holding her phone without actually using it.
Her thoughts should have been filled with unfinished schoolwork.
She should have been thinking about the uniform she hadn’t ironed yet—the one she would wear tomorrow.
But strangely, the face that kept appearing in her mind was someone else’s.
The face of a young man.
Arka.
Alya sighed. “Why am I thinking about him?” she grumbled.
She turned onto her side and pulled up the blanket.
Her meeting with Arka that afternoon had been completely ordinary. There had been nothing special about it.
It had been very ordinary, in fact.
She had accidentally bumped into him.
Her books had fallen everywhere.
Arka had helped her pick them up.
They had talked for a little while, too.
During break, they had accidentally run into each other again in the garden. Though technically, it wasn’t a meeting. Alya had seen him and called out to him.
Even that had been nothing special.
So why did that guy’s face keep appearing in her thoughts?
Alya picked up her phone, which had fallen when she pulled up the blanket.
She opened social media, intending to post a story about the uncomfortable feeling she was having.
A few seconds later, her hand stopped moving. Her gaze fell on the search bar.
Nimbly, her fingers typed something into it.
Arka Adhitama.
Alya stared at the name. She was bewildered by her own actions. “What am I searching for him for?” she muttered.
She almost deleted it. She even started to.
But her curiosity was stronger.
Several accounts appeared. Alya examined them carefully, continuing to search for the young man’s account.
Alya found one account that seemed to belong to Arka.
It did.
It was Arka’s account. She recognized him from his profile picture.
His profile picture was simple.
Alya tapped the name and entered the young man’s feed.
There weren’t many photos, but Alya didn’t mind.
She opened one of them.
Arka was standing with several of his friends.
Alya zoomed in.
“Why shouldn’t I look?” she muttered, puzzled.
“Wait. Isn’t that Raka?” she said to herself. Alya kept checking to make sure.
She looked at several other photos.
There were photos of Arka with his friends, including Raka.
There were photos from school activities. A picture of his class.
There was one photo of Arka sitting alone and reading a book in a room.
Alya smiled faintly. “So he likes to read.” That was the complete opposite of her. She didn’t particularly like books.
She scrolled again, then stopped.
Alya suddenly realized what she was doing. She was bewildered by herself and immediately set down her phone.
“Oh my God, Alya.” She covered her face with both hands.
“You’ve only known him for one day. One day, Alya.”
Alya shook her head.
“Why am I being so nosy? What am I doing snooping on that guy?”
She picked up her phone again and took a quick look at Arka’s account before setting it down once more.
Less than a minute later, she picked it up again.
Alya let out a small laugh at herself. “This is bad,” she muttered, continuing to laugh by herself.
The next day, Alya arrived at school earlier than usual. She didn’t even know why.
She normally arrived later. Maybe she just didn’t want to be late again.
Alya was at school nearly thirty minutes early.
She sat on a bench near the garden, in the same place as yesterday.
She opened her book and tried to read. One page. Two pages. None of it sank in. She sighed.
Her eyes kept drifting toward the road instead.
“Why am I waiting?” Alya asked herself. There was no answer.
She lowered her head again. A few minutes later, the sound of footsteps reached her.
Alya instinctively looked up.
She sighed again.
It wasn’t Arka. Not the man she was waiting for.
Alya sighed in disappointment. A few seconds later, she suddenly frowned. “Disappointed?”
She didn’t even know why she was disappointed.
Alya opened her book again. She didn’t read it. She just opened it.
Not long after, a voice came from behind her.
“You’re here this early?”
Alya immediately turned around.
Arka stood a few steps away.
He was wearing his uniform shirt beneath an overshirt, which was left unbuttoned.
Alya fell silent, then smiled.
“You.” Her voice came out nervous. She had been looking for him just moments ago, but now, for some reason, she was nervous.
Arka sat on the same bench, right beside her. He wasn’t nearly as far away as he had been yesterday.
“Why?” Arka asked.
“Nothing.” The girl’s answer was brief.
Alya closed her book.
“Do you usually come this early?” Alya asked, turning toward Arka.
“Sometimes,” the young man replied.
“Why?” Alya asked again.
Arka gazed at the garden. “It’s quieter.”
Alya smiled. It was the same answer he had given yesterday. He was consistent, and she liked that.
“So you really do like quiet places?” the girl asked again.
“Yeah.”
Alya nodded, then said without thinking, “Me too.”
Arka turned toward her.
“You said the same thing yesterday. Looks like we have a few things in common,” Arka said.
Alya didn’t answer. For some reason, that simple sentence made her chest feel a little warm.
She lowered her head and played with the edge of her book, a reflexive gesture.
“Did you go straight home yesterday?” Arka asked.
“Why?” Alya asked in return.
“Nothing. Just asking.” Arka smiled.
“Were you curious?” Alya asked, looking straight at him.
“Nope,” Arka replied.
“Are you sure?” Alya narrowed her eyes.
“Sure.”
Arka laughed, and Alya smiled along with him.
Then they fell silent again. But this time, the silence felt comfortable.
Alya turned and stole a glance at him. Arka was looking at the garden. His face appeared calm.
For some reason, Alya wanted to know more about him. Not because she liked him. This wasn’t about her feelings.
At least, not yet. Maybe it was only because they had just met.
Maybe it was only because Arka was different from most of the people she had known.
Or maybe, ever since their first meeting, without Alya realizing it, her thoughts had already begun making a little room for someone named Arka Adhitama.
And Alya didn’t know it yet. One day, that little space would become too large to ignore.