Julian never dreamed of anything big.
He was just a regular 19-year-old guy — calm face, a slender frame that didn't draw much attention, but with a quiet kind of beauty he never tried to show.
In his small room, he sat on his bed browsing the website where he'd been publishing articles for over a year. To his readers, he was known by a completely different identity: a fictional girl named Layla.
Under her name, he had written articles that made people cry, laugh, and even fall in love.
He never really understood why the words came out so naturally when he wrote as Layla — but deep down, he never questioned it.
And that night, just as he was about to close his laptop, a new message flashed in the inbox of that account:
"Hello Layla,
Your words stopped me tonight…
I felt like you were speaking directly to me.
I don't know why I'm writing this, but…
I think I'm falling in love with you."
— Adrian
Julian stared at the screen for a long moment.
He swallowed slowly, as if the message had been meant for him — Julian, not Layla.
He tried to laugh.
"Oh, poor guy… he's been tricked."
Then, he slowly closed the laptop…
And went to sleep without replying.
⸻
The Next Morning
The alarm rang like it had a personal grudge.
Julian looked at it with silent resentment, then sat up, stretched lazily, and dragged himself toward the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, he stepped out — hair wet, eyes half-closed, his clothes barely presentable.
He grabbed his bag and left for his first college lecture.
On the way, he passed through the university square.
Students were laughing, others were running because they were late. The chaos felt strangely warm.
Suddenly, he saw them.
A couple — a guy and a girl — sitting on the stone bench near the trees.
She was laughing, and he held her hand gently, leaning in to whisper something that made her blush and look down shyly.
Julian stopped walking without realizing it.
His eyes stayed on them, quietly.
There was something about them… something simple.
Something real.
It was like their presence together filled a gap neither could fill alone.
He flinched when a voice called out behind him:
"Julian! Why are you standing there like a statue? The lecture already started!"
He turned. It was his friend, Sami — waving at him while chewing on a sandwich.
"Oh, nothing… I was just…"
"Just? Staring at a love story that's not yours? Come on before we get kicked out!"
Sami laughed and dragged him along.
⸻
Inside the Lecture Hall
Julian sat in his usual corner — third row by the window.
The professor was explaining something in sociology, but Julian's mind was stuck on one thing:
Adrian's message.
He could hear the words echoing in his head, as if spoken in a warm voice.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and let the thought settle:
What if… what if that message wasn't a mistake?
What if I'm… not who I think I am?
"Julian?"
He opened his eyes.
The professor was standing right in front of him.
"Huh?"
"I asked: Give me an example of human relationships based on Maslow's hierarchy!"
"Um… Maslow… was he in a relationship?"
The class burst into laughter, and Julian's face turned bright red.
Sami beside him was nearly choking from laughing:
"Professor, clearly Julian's stuck in the belonging needs. Very obvious!"
The room roared with laughter, and even the professor smiled:
"Sit down, and focus, or we'll make a case study out of you."
Julian sat down with a shy smile…
But inside him, something was shifting.