The noise at the door turned out to be nothing more than a delivery slip for the teacher, but the interruption was enough to scatter the quiet, heavy moment between Kai and Velithra.
Still… even after the classroom settled again, the air didn't.
Velithra tried to focus on the worksheet in front of her. She traced the lines of her pencil over the question numbers, but her mind refused to sit still. Every thought kept drifting back to the same thing:
Kai's closeness.Kai's voice.Kai saying her name like it was something precious.
Her heart wouldn't slow down.
She glanced sideways without meaning to—and found him already looking at her.
Not staring.Just watching quietly.Like he was trying to figure her out without touching the fragile parts of her too hard.
Velithra felt heat rise in her face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Kai blinked once, expression unreadable. "You're quiet."
"I'm always quiet."
"Not like this."
Velithra looked down, her fingers tightening around her pencil. "Then… how am I being?"
Kai hesitated—not because he didn't know the answer, but because he was choosing his words carefully, gently.
"You look…" He paused again. "Different."
"Different how?"
Kai leaned his elbow on his desk, turning toward her fully.
"Like you're thinking a lot," he said softly. "And… feeling a lot."
Velithra swallowed. "Is that bad?"
Kai shook his head. "No. It just… makes me want to ask what's going on in there."
He tapped lightly—not on her hand, not too close—but on the edge of her desk, close enough she felt the vibration.
"But I won't push," he added quietly. "You talk when you want to."
Velithra's chest tightened. Not painfully—just full.
She didn't know how to explain the swirl inside her. The warmth. The confusion. The trembling she didn't understand but didn't hate. So she said nothing.
But Kai didn't seem bothered. He simply went back to working on the assignment, his calm presence anchoring her thoughts.
Velithra watched the way his fingers moved—steady, sure, precise.The way his brow furrowed when he concentrated.The way he sat slightly angled toward her without realizing it.
She didn't notice until he spoke again.
"Velithra."
She looked up, startled by how gently he said her name.
Kai held out his notebook a little. "You can copy mine if you're too distracted."
Velithra blinked. "How did you know I wasn't paying attention?"
Kai raised an eyebrow, almost amused. "You wrote the same number three times."
Velithra glanced at her page.
She had.
She let out a soft breath—half laugh, half embarrassment—and hid her face in her hands for a moment. "Oh my god…"
Kai chuckled quietly, the sound low and warm. "It's okay."
Velithra peeked through her fingers. "It's not."
"Hey." His voice softened. "You're fine. Really."
She lowered her hands slowly.
Kai was looking at her again—calm, steady, but with something new flickering underneath his expression. Something warm. Something careful.
Something she wasn't ready to name.
But she didn't look away this time.
Not until the bell rang, snapping the moment in half.
The class erupted into noise.
Kai stood, picking up his bag. "I'll walk with you."
Velithra hesitated only a second before nodding.
And when they stepped into the hallway together, the world around them felt louder—but somehow easier to move through.
Because for once…neither of them was walking alone.