The final bell rang, a shrill, jarring sound that cut through the quiet. Rhay's mind, which had been lost in the weight of a single, simple word—home—was snapped back to reality. He watched as Vye, with a confident flourish, signed her name on the empty line. She then capped the pen and held it out to him.
"You're up?" she asked, her voice a little softer than before.
He took the pen, his fingers brushing hers for a brief, electric moment. The subtle contact was enough to send a shiver through him. It was a simple pen, but in that moment, it felt like the final step in a perfectly executed strategy—the one he had painstakingly planned to make their paths finally, irrevocably cross.
With a swift movement, he signed his name, the letters a firm, solid statement of intent. He folded down the chessboard and latched it, then tucked it into his bag. As he stood up and walked to the register desk, he looked at Vye and said with a genuine smile, "Glad you decided to join the Chess Club. Now I don't need to halfheartedly join a club, like Photography or something."
A soft, easy laugh escaped Vye as she shook her head. "No, you don't." She stood and waited as Rhay put the sign-up paper back to its place.
"Let's go?" Rhay asked her with renewed happiness. She just gave him a slight nod, her eyes finding his. In that brief second, everything was there: the trust she was giving him, the relief he felt, and the unspoken promise that this was the start of something. They walked out of the club room together, a comfortable, almost practiced silence settling between them.
The moment of peace was brief. As they reached the bustling hallway of Vye's dormitory wing, they were met by a tight-knit group of girls, with Fray leading the pack.
"Vye, there you are!" Fray said, her face lighting up as she approached. "We went to find you at the Lit Club, but you weren't there. We thought you decided against it, but then we saw your name at the very top of the list! What a surprise!" The other girls in the group chimed in, their teasing voices full of friendly shock.
Vye smiled. "Well, I guess I'm full of surprises." She looked at Rhay and gave him a knowing smile.
After a few more minutes of light-hearted banter, Fray's gaze settled on Rhay, a silent message passing between them. It was a meaningful, direct cast of her eyes, a look that said, "we need to talk."
Rhay watched as Vye and the other girls turned to go inside the dorm. He took a single step back and gave Vye a quick, private smile.
"See you at dinner?" he asked.
"Wouldn't miss it," she replied, a sincere smile on her face before she disappeared inside.
Rhay then turned to Fray, who was still waiting for him. They walked down the long corridor, away from the bustling main hallway, and found an empty corner where they could speak privately.
"Rhay," Fray began, her voice low and serious. "I've been giving you some space, you know? But what's with Vye? Are you... are you using her?" She paused, her eyes searching his. "As a rebound? Because if you are, I can't let that happen. It's not fair to her."
Rhay was utterly confused. The words didn't make any sense. A rebound? From what? He had a new purpose, and his new life had already started. He couldn't connect her accusation to anything he was currently feeling. A cold knot of anxiety tightened in his stomach. He wasn't sure what Fray was talking about, and that scared him.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, his voice filled with genuine confusion. "Why, why are you asking me something like that?"
Fray, hearing what she took as feigned ignorance, stared deeply into his eyes. Her frustration was replaced by a genuine surprise. She shook her head in disbelief. "Are you serious right now? You don't know what I mean? What else would I be talking about, Rhay? Claire! Have you already forgotten about her? In just two days?"
"What? Claire?" Rhay asked, not needing a confirmation, but more to himself as he tried to grasp the foreign feeling that came with the name. The name felt like a piece of a puzzle he had already solved. He thought back to the past he had lived, the past that had brought him to this very moment. He needed to understand what this younger version of himself was supposed to be feeling.
A memory, a stark and painful contrast to his present serenity, flashed through his mind. He remembered the long, quiet struggle, the nearly two years he had fought for Claire's heart, a silent battle he had shared only with Fray and June. The sweet victory of their secret relationship, a stolen world of whispered words and shared glances. Their love story was so smooth that they had even planned to continue it here, in this school, together. They had secured the first and second ranks in the entrance exam, a shared triumph that seemed to promise a perfect future.
Everything seemed to be going so smoothly, until two days ago. It was Sunday afternoon, the first day of the dormitory term after a long vacation, just a day before orientation was set to begin. Rhay, filled with excitement, had been eagerly looking for Claire to start this new chapter of their love story. That was the exact moment Fray came to him, her face a mask of sadness. She told him the shocking news that Claire had withdrawn her application because of her family circumstances.
Fray had seen how broken he was at that moment, how his excitement had dissolved into a quiet distance, a profound and heavy sadness. This was also the reason why June had let him be when Rhay responded to him in silence on the first day of orientation. June had understood his broken heart and had given him space. But as his best friend, it was also his duty to push him forward, knowing that life must go on. He had insisted on Rhay moving forward on the first day, only to leave him to his own devices on the second day, confident that he was stable enough to move on alone.
The memories didn't bring sadness now, but a quiet, profound sense of gratitude. Claire was the reason he had lost the chance to break past the platonic relationship with Vye in his previous life, the reason he had wasted so much time mourning a love he couldn't have. But in this new timeline, the memory of Claire was a confirmation, not a curse. It was the ultimate proof that he had made the right choice by abandoning his careful plan, by leaving the past behind, and by choosing Vye. His heart, which had been at peace just a few minutes ago, now felt a new kind of certainty—a profound relief that he was finally, truly, in the right place, at the right time.
This led to the current situation. Indeed, Fray's questions made sense. The Rhay she knew was supposed to be in pieces, heartbroken and lost. The irony wasn't lost on him. The Rhay she saw was the one who had already found peace and had moved on, all because of the very person Fray was worried about. He was stuck with Vye, and this return to the past was a blessing from the universe to have another chance with Vye, not Claire—as he already had peace with her and was moving on.
He looked at Fray's face. Her concern was a familiar and painful sight. He knew she was right to be worried, and he knew he couldn't give her the real answer. How could he explain to Fray that his feelings for Vye weren't a rebound, but an even deeper, more profound connection that was already tangled in a web of secrets and past lives? How could he tell her that his life was a tapestry of memories he had already lived, when for the first time, he was finally ready to weave a future of his own?