The boy's whole world froze.
Not the kind of freeze that happens from shock or embarrassment—this was deeper, heavier, as if time itself had stopped breathing. The sounds of passing students became muffled, like they were underwater. His heartbeat hammered in his ears.
The girl stood in front of him, her expression calm, her voice echoing in his mind:
**"Will you be my darling?"**
Those words—those impossible, familiar words—cut straight into him.
The boy's lips parted, but no sound escaped. His throat felt dry, his chest tight. His legs trembled so faintly that even he didn't notice.
*This feeling… It's the same. Exactly the same.*
He didn't understand it.
He didn't know why.
He didn't know how.
But the moment she appeared, this strange warmth burst open inside him—like something sleeping had suddenly awakened.
His childhood friend standing beside him practically screamed into his ear, "BRO—WHAT—WHAT DID SHE JUST—?!"
The boy barely heard him.
The girl didn't react to the noise around them. Her eyes were completely fixed on the boy—calm, unwavering, as if he was the only person standing there.
A soft breeze swept between them, rustling her hair, carrying her scent toward him. Something inside him stirred painfully.
"I…" he tried to speak, voice trembling. "I don't understand…"
The girl stepped closer, her expression gentle.
"You don't need to understand," she said softly. "Just answer."
Her words were quiet, but they held a strange gravity—like they were pulling at something far beneath the surface of his heart.
*Will you be…*
Eight years ago, beneath the great tree, she'd said the same thing. Or almost the same. Back then, the sentence was left floating, incomplete, unfinished—a promise that never reached the end.
But now…
She had finished it.
The boy swallowed hard. His voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Have we… met before?"
The girl's lashes lowered slightly, her gaze softening.
"Yes," she said. "We have."
His heart lurched.
"Where…?" he asked. "When…?"
She shook her head faintly. "I cannot explain it. Not yet."
Then she leaned in closer, her breath brushing against his ear.
"But the moment I saw you… my heart remembered."
The boy's pulse raced uncontrollably.
His friend groaned behind him, "Dude, SAY SOMETHING! She's literally confessing on DAY ONE!"
But the boy remained trapped between fear and a strange, overwhelming longing.
"Why me?" he whispered. "Why those words?"
The girl drew back slightly, her eyes shimmering with something unreadable.
"Because those words were always meant for you," she said. "Eight years ago… and even before that."
The boy's breath caught.
Before… that?
Before the banyan tree?
Before they were children?
Before this lifetime?
The girl suddenly straightened, as if catching herself from revealing too much. She took a small step back, placing her hands behind her.
"But you don't have to answer now," she said gently. "I'll wait."
Her voice had changed. The confidence from earlier softened into something delicate.
"But I wanted you to know how I feel," she added quietly. "I didn't want to lose you again."
Lose…?
The boy stared, heart pounding.
Her expression… that sadness hiding beneath her calm smile…
He had seen it before.
A memory flashed— unclear, distant, like a dream half-forgotten:
Warm hands holding his.
A voice whispering his name.
A promise beneath a tree that wasn't from this world.
The boy staggered slightly.
His friend grabbed his shoulder. "Dude—? You good?"
The boy nodded shakily, eyes never leaving the girl.
She took one last step toward him, her presence overwhelming and gentle at the same time.
"When you're ready," she whispered, "I'll be waiting."
Then—
She turned.
She walked past him, her footsteps light, disappearing into the flow of students heading toward the building.
But just before she vanished into the crowd, she glanced back over her shoulder.
And smiled.
A small, fragile smile filled with recognition—
The kind only two souls who had met before could share.
---
The boy stood frozen long after she disappeared.
His friend slapped his back. "BRO. THAT. WAS. INSANE."
The boy didn't answer.
All he could think was—
*Why do I feel like crying?*
Not from sadness.
Not from happiness.
But from something deeper.
Something that felt like relief.
Something like finding something precious that he didn't realize he'd lost.
He pressed a hand against his chest.
His heart hurt.
A strange, aching warmth spread through him, like a memory breaking through the surface.
Eight years ago under the tree.
A half-finished sentence.
Eyes that seemed older than a child's.
A girl who disappeared before he could understand her.
And now she had appeared again.
Older.
Changed.
But undeniably the same.
His friend nudged him. "Dude… what are you gonna do? She literally asked you to be her dar—"
The boy cut him off softly.
"I need to know who she is."
His friend blinked. "Uh—yeah, bro, obviously—"
"No."
The boy shook his head slowly, eyes narrowing.
"I mean… who she *really* is."
Because everything about her—her voice, her presence, the way she looked at him—felt like something more than a simple reunion.
It felt… fated.
Like their lives had once been woven tightly together.
Like their souls had brushed against each other long before either of them was born into this world.
The boy inhaled shakily.
And far away, deep inside memory—or something like memory—he heard an echo:
*"We'll find each other again."*
He didn't know whose voice it was.
But it filled him with a warmth that brought tears to his eyes.
His friend tugged his sleeve. "Come on, bro. First class is starting."
The boy nodded numbly and turned toward the school building.
But in his mind, the girl's voice kept repeating…
*Will you be my darling?*
And for the first time in years—
He answered, in a place she couldn't hear yet:
*Maybe I already was.*
---