Kael's POV
Kael sat on the edge of his bed, elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped loosely as he stared at nothing. The hum of the ceiling fan circled the silence, brushing over the pages of a half-read textbook left abandoned on the desk.
Days had passed since Monday—since the last time he had stood in that lecture hall under the neem tree's shadow and told Amara the truth that could not be untold.
Bound.
The word still lingered in his throat like iron. He had not gone back since. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't afford to. The more time he spent near her, the more the bond tightened and deepened, and the more it became obvious to anyone looking that something tied them together. He could not risk that. Not yet.
The door creaked open behind him. Kael didn't move.
"You brooding again?"
The familiar, light-hearted voice belonged to his roommate. Alex leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed casually, a grin playing on his lips as though Kael's silence was its own kind of entertainment.
"I wasn't brooding," Kael muttered.
Alex raised an eyebrow, kicked the door shut with the heel of his sneaker, and tossed his bag onto his bed. "Right. You were just… staring into the void like it owed you money. Big difference."
Kael didn't reply. He knew Alex well enough by now—silence only encouraged him. And Alex, with his endless supply of words, seemed to have made it his life's mission to chip away at Kael's walls.
"You've been skipping lectures," Alex went on, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it carelessly onto the bedpost. "You know people notice, right? Especially since you've already got the new-student spotlight on you. Not the best look."
"I'll manage," Kael said flatly.
Alex snorted. "That's your answer for everything. Cold. Flat. Unbothered. I'm starting to think you were raised by wolves."
At that, Kael almost smiled. Almost.
---
Flashback
His first memory of Alex wasn't exactly pleasant.
The day he arrived at the hostel, Kael had walked into the room carrying only one bag. His steps were measured, guarded, his gaze sweeping every corner of the small space as though danger could be hiding in the wardrobe or behind the curtains.
The room was neat. Two separate beds with equal space between them, two desks, two wardrobes and another door that probably led to the toilet. And on one bed sat a boy with short curls, humming while arranging a stack of books.
Alex.
"Hey," Alex greeted easily, flashing a smile that seemed far too warm for a stranger. "You must be the transfer student."
Kael froze in the doorway. His eyes narrowed, the weight of his caution heavier than the bag on his shoulder. "How do you know?"
Alex blinked, then laughed lightly. "Because nobody told me I was getting a new roommate, and you're standing there with luggage. Pretty obvious, don't you think?"
Kael said nothing. He walked in, set his bag down on the empty bed, and kept his back straight, movements precise.
Alex studied him curiously. "I'm Alex. What about you?"
Kael hesitated, his name heavy on his tongue. Names had power. Names bound people. He weighed the risk, then finally let it slip. "Kael."
"Kael," Alex repeated, rolling the sound like he was testing how it fit. Then he grinned again. "Cool. Welcome to the jungle."
No handshake. No clap on the shoulder. Alex didn't push, even when Kael's silence turned sharp and unwelcoming. But something in his easy demeanor made Kael more unsettled than if he had been hostile.
Friendly people were harder to predict.
---
Present
Now, 2 weeks later, Kael almost hated to admit that Alex had grown on him. The boy was reckless with jokes, sometimes too nosy for his own good, but he was also steady. Someone who could fill silence without suffocating it.
Alex pulled on a fresh shirt, sat at the edge of his own bed, and glanced at Kael. "You've got that face again. The one that screams, I'm plotting the downfall of mankind. Should I be worried?"
"No."
Alex grinned. "Good. Then at least invite me when it happens."
For a moment, the corners of Kael's lips twitched. But it faded when his mind slipped back to Amara—the way her eyes had widened when she first saw the glow, the way her hands trembled when he spoke the word bond.
He could almost feel the mark on his wrist even now, hidden under his sleeve, pulsing faintly in rhythm with hers.
Distance is safer. He told himself that every day. Yet safety felt like a lie. The bond didn't loosen with space; it coiled tighter, drawing him back to her thoughts even in silence.
Alex leaned back on his elbows. "So… about that girl."
Kael's head snapped toward him. "What girl?"
"The one everyone keeps whispering about. You know, the one you were seen holding hands with last week." Alex raised his eyebrows knowingly. "Don't play dumb. Word spreads fast in this school."
Kael's jaw clenched. "It's not what you think."
Alex smirked. "It never is. Still… you should know, when you disappear from lectures after being spotted like that, people start making stories of their own."
Kael looked away, his chest tightening. Stories were dangerous. Stories drew eyes, and eyes invited questions.
And questions could expose everything.
---
That evening, Kael left the hostel, ignoring Alex's playful "don't vanish on me again" as he slipped into the quiet corridors. The campus was quieter than usual, students tucked away in hostels or huddled in groups over textbooks.
He kept his stride measured, his presence muted, until a voice called from the side.
"You're the transfer student, right?"
Kael turned.
A tall figure leaned against the railing of the staircase. His white lab coat marked him instantly as a medical student. His expression was calm, but his eyes were sharp—too sharp.
"Yes," Kael said carefully.
The student studied him for a long moment before speaking again. "You should be careful. People here are… observant. More than you think."
Kael's body stilled. "What do you mean?"
The student gave a faint smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Just a word of advice. This place has its ways of noticing things others want to hide." He adjusted the strap of his bag, then walked past without another word.
Kael stood frozen, the warning echoing in his ears long after the footsteps faded.
---
Back in his room, the lights dimmed, Kael leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling.
Alex was asleep already, breathing steady, a book still open on his chest. The sound should have been grounding, but Kael's mind was far from calm.
Amara's face rose again behind his eyes. Her confusion. Her fear. The way she had tugged at her sleeve as though she could deny the mark written into her skin.
He closed his hand into a fist. The bond wasn't fading. It wasn't weakening. If anything, it was growing stronger.
And if others were starting to notice…
Kael's chest tightened. He had wanted to keep her safe, to keep himself hidden. But the world around them was already whispering, already circling.
The threads of the bond were pulling tighter, weaving them into a pattern neither of them fully understood.
And in the shadows of campus corridors, danger was already watching.
What will happen next??