That night, the city slowly fell into its usual quiet.
But in two different homes… sleep refused to come.
Tara
Tara dropped her bag beside the small table and sat on the edge of her bed. The room was silent except for the soft whir of the ceiling fan.
Normally, after work, she would scroll her phone or finish assignments.
Tonight, her mind replayed only one thing.
That strange customer…
No.
Not a customer.
That boy.
The one with headphones.
The one who had spoken to the bus conductor for her.
Her fingers curled slightly in her lap.
Why did he help me?
He doesn't even know me…
She lay down, staring at the ceiling.
And why did he look at me like he understood something?
For someone who always kept distance from strangers… she remembered his voice clearly.
Calm. Simple. Certain.
Her eyes slowly softened.
"…Weird person," she whispered.
But for the first time that day…
A tiny, almost invisible smile appeared.
Advik
Across the city, Advik sat on his sofa, headphones resting loosely around his neck instead of covering his ears.
Music was playing.
But he wasn't listening.
His thoughts were stuck at the supermarket counter.
That girl…
Not beautiful in the dramatic way movies showed.
Not loud.
Not attention-seeking.
Just… quiet.
Too quiet.
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
Her mind was different.
That's what bothered him most.
Usually, other people's thoughts crowded his head constantly messy, noisy, impossible to ignore.
But hers…
Sometimes loud.
Sometimes completely silent.
Like a radio switching on and off.
"…What even is that?" he muttered.
He lay back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling.
And why do I care?
He didn't know her name.
Didn't know where she lived.
Didn't even know if he would ever see her again.
Yet somehow…
The world felt slightly more interesting now.
"…Annoying," he sighed quietly.
But he didn't put his headphones back on.
Not for a long time.
Elsewhere…
The night moved on.
Lights switched off.
The city slept.
And somewhere inside the invisible threads of fate…
Two lives that were never supposed to cross…
Had already begun moving toward each other.
Neither of them knew it yet.
But this was only the beginning.