University ended for the day, and students slowly began leaving the campus.
Katrina walked toward her car while other students chatted and laughed around her.
Not far away, Ethan was standing with his friends.
One of them nudged him.
"Hey Ethan, do you want to hang out with us today?"
Ethan shook his head. "No, I have to study."
But his eyes weren't on his friends.
They were on Katrina.
He watched quietly as she walked toward her car.
His friend noticed.
"What are you looking at?"
Ethan immediately looked away. "Nothing."
Inside the car, Katrina had already noticed him looking.
The windows were dark, so Ethan couldn't see her watching him.
When the car started moving and passed by Ethan, he quickly pretended he had been looking somewhere else.
Ethan's House
Later that afternoon, Ethan reached home.
"I'm home," he called out.
His mother's cheerful voice came from the kitchen.
"Oh, my dear son is back!"
Ethan didn't respond much. He quietly walked to his room.
After freshening up, he sat at his study table and started reading.
Time passed.
Suddenly—
He heard the sound of a door opening from the house across the street.
Katrina's house.
Ethan immediately looked up.
His attention went straight to the window.
He stood and tried to look outside.
And then he saw her.
Katrina.
She was standing outside with a trolley bag and another suitcase.
Ethan's heart dropped.
A sharp pain spread in his chest.
"Not again…" he whispered.
For a moment, he thought she was leaving.
Just like before.
But then he saw someone else step out.
Katrina's mother.
Katrina placed the bags into the car and hugged her mother.
Ethan realized what was happening.
Her mother was the one leaving.
Relief washed over him.
"Oh…" Ethan sighed softly. "Her mother is going."
The car drove away.
Katrina walked back inside her house.
Ethan slowly returned to his bed and lay down, placing one hand over his eyes.
He whispered quietly to himself,
"So… she wasn't going."
He closed his eyes.
And memories from two years ago filled his mind.
Two Years Ago
Back when Ethan was still in high school…
He had just returned home from school one afternoon.
As he walked down the street, he noticed moving trucks in front of the house across from his.
New people were moving in.
Ethan didn't think much of it.
Just then, a car stopped in front of the house.
A girl stepped out with her parents.
It was Katrina.
She looked younger, but just as beautiful.
For a moment, Ethan noticed her—but he didn't pay much attention and walked inside his house.
"I'm home," he said.
His mother greeted him happily.
"Welcome home, honey. Did you know a new family moved into the house across from us? They look very wealthy. We should go introduce ourselves."
Ethan barely listened.
He knew how his mother was.
She was always curious about rich people and opportunities.
So he simply went to his room.
Days Passed
After that day, Ethan sometimes saw Katrina standing on her balcony.
She often stood there quietly, staring at the sky or the street.
Lost in her own thoughts.
At first, Ethan didn't think much of it.
He wasn't the kind of person who fell in love easily.
But days passed.
And every day, he saw her again.
Standing on the balcony.
Her long hair moving in the wind.
Her calm expression.
Before he even realized it…
He had started looking for her.
And before he even understood his own feelings…
He had fallen in love.
Then One Day
Two weeks later, Ethan returned home from school.
As usual, he looked toward her balcony.
But she wasn't there.
He waited that evening.
Nothing.
One day passed.
Two days passed.
Ethan told himself,
Maybe she went somewhere… maybe she's on vacation.
But days turned into weeks.
Weeks turned into months.
Still, she never came back.
Every day Ethan looked at the balcony across the street.
Every day it remained empty.
Slowly, his feelings faded into something quieter.
But the hope never completely disappeared.
And the waiting never truly ended.
Two Years Later
Two years passed.
One morning, Ethan was leaving for university.
"Bye Mom! I'll be late today!" he called out.
As usual, before leaving, he glanced at the balcony across the street.
Something made him stop.
Someone was standing there.
Katrina.
His footsteps froze.
It felt like the whole world had suddenly stopped moving.
The girl he had waited two years for…
Was finally back.