After what happened that time, I started paying a little more attention to Arga. A little. Not much. At least, that's what I told myself. It wasn't because I liked him. I was just curious. Because all this time, I thought Arga was the kind of person who didn't care about anyone around him. Turns out he could pay attention to other people too. The problem was, he was still annoying.
"Ga." He didn't turn around. "Ga." "Hm?" "Do you have a charger?" "Yeah." "Lemme borrow it." He pointed to the desk beside him. "Take it." I took the charger. "Thanks." He just nodded.
I went back to my desk. Five minutes later, he asked, "What percentage is your phone at?" "Five." "Figures." I turned around. "What do you mean, figures?" "You've been complaining about how slow it is." I snorted. "It's an old phone. What do you expect?" "Replace it." "Buy me one." He looked at me. "Why me?" "I thought we were friends." "Friends aren't sponsors." I laughed. "So cheap." "I'm not cheap." "Then what?" "Logical." "Barely any different." He turned back to his laptop.
I kept looking at him for a few seconds. Sometimes I wondered how someone could answer so briefly and still manage to annoy me.
That afternoon, we ate with a few people from work. I sat at the end of the table, while Arga sat across from me. Our coworker, Rani, suddenly asked, "Hey, did you two head home together yesterday?" I answered right away. "No." Arga, on the other hand, was perfectly relaxed. "Yeah." I turned to him quickly. "Wait, why are you saying yes?" "Because we did go together." "Don't make people get the wrong idea." "What wrong idea?" Rani immediately laughed. "See?" I pointed at Arga. "This guy lives to cause trouble." Arga raised an eyebrow. "I just answered the question." "Answer it correctly." "Wasn't it correct?" I sighed. "All right then."
Rani looked back and forth between us. "You two seem like a good match." "No." My answer came out too fast. Arga, on the other hand, stayed quiet. Rani grinned. "Why'd you answer so fast?" "Because we're not." "What about Arga?" Everyone's eyes immediately turned to him. Arga continued eating calmly. "What about me?" "Are you and Alya a good match?" He chewed slowly. Then he looked at me. I was already bracing myself for an answer that would embarrass me. But all he said was, "You're noisy." Everyone burst out laughing. I kicked his leg under the table. "Jerk." He held back a smile. "I thought you said we weren't a good match." "We're not." "All right then."
For some reason, I went quiet after that. Even though it should've been no big deal. But there was something about the way he'd looked at me that made me feel a little flustered. I immediately shifted my attention to my food. What is wrong with you, Alya? Don't get ahead of yourself.
That evening, the rain came down pretty hard. I stood in front of the office, watching the street. "Did you bring an umbrella?" I turned around. Arga. "No." He lifted the umbrella he was carrying. "All right then." I looked at him. "All right then, what?" "Let's go home." "How?" "Under the umbrella." "Your umbrella's tiny." "It fits two." I laughed. "You sure?" "Why?" "People might think we're dating." He was quiet for a moment. "What's wrong with that?" I immediately lost my answer. He started walking ahead. "Come on." I finally followed him.
We walked side by side beneath a single umbrella. Our shoulders brushed several times. I tried to keep my distance, but every time I moved away a little, he tilted the umbrella toward me instead. Until finally, I realized it. "Ga." "Hm?" "You're getting wet." "I'm fine." "The umbrella's for you too, you know." "You get sick easily." I turned to him. "How do you know that?" He fell silent. "You had a fever before, remember?" I frowned. "Yeah." "That's why." I stared at him for a few seconds. "You remember?" He looked straight ahead. "Why wouldn't I?" I smiled faintly. "It's nothing."
We kept walking. This time, I didn't move away anymore.
When we reached my house, I got off the motorcycle and handed him his helmet. "Thanks." He took the helmet. "Coming in tomorrow?" "Of course." "Don't be late." I furrowed my brow. "Why?" "We have a morning meeting tomorrow." "Oh, right."
I opened the gate. Before going in, I turned around. "Ga." "Hm?" "Thanks, okay?" "For what?" "The umbrella." He nodded. "Yeah." I waited a moment. "That's it?" "What else?" "I don't know." He smiled faintly. "Don't get ahead of yourself." I immediately glared at him. "Who's getting ahead of herself?" "All right then." He put on his helmet. I went inside, still grumbling to myself. "So annoying."
But all night long, for some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about one thing. He remembered that I'd been sick before. He remembered that I got sick easily. He'd even deliberately let himself get rained on so I wouldn't get wet. Maybe he was just like that with everyone. Maybe. I tried to convince myself. But for the first time, I started to wonder. If we're really just friends, why did his little acts of concern feel different?