Ren didn't plan it.
You could tell by the way his hands shook, by the way he kept opening his mouth and closing it again like the words were burning him from the inside.
We were on the school rooftop, the place we went when we wanted to feel taller than our problems.
Yuna stood near the fence, hair lifted by the wind.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asked.
He laughed once. It sounded wrong. "Because I'm bad at timing, and if I don't say this now, I never will."
She turned slowly.
And suddenly the air felt too thin.
"I like you," Ren said.
Not dramatic. Not loud.
Just honest.
"I've liked you since before I knew what liking someone meant. I tried to wait. I tried to be normal about it." He exhaled sharply. "I can't anymore."
Yuna didn't move.
Didn't smile.
Didn't step back either.
"I know you're hiding something," he continued. "I know this summer feels… wrong. Like it's slipping away. But even if it ends—" His voice cracked. "I don't want it to end without you knowing."
Silence swallowed the rooftop.
I watched from the doorway, frozen. Mio stood beside me, eyes wide, hand pressed to her mouth.
Yuna finally spoke.
"Ren…"
She took a step closer.
Then stopped.
"I like you too," she said.
His breath hitched.
"But that's why I can't say yes."
The words landed harder than a rejection.
Ren stared at her. "What?"
She looked away, gripping the fence like it was the only thing holding her upright.
"If I say yes," she whispered, "I won't be able to leave."
Leave.
The word echoed.
"Leave where?" Ren asked.
She closed her eyes.
That's when Mio gasped softly.
And I knew—
Everything was about to spill.
Yuna turned back to him, eyes shining but steady.
"I'm moving at the end of summer," she said. "Far away."
The world seemed to tilt.
Ren took a step back like the ground had shifted under his feet.
"So this is it?" he asked. "You're just… going to disappear?"
"No," she said quickly. "I'll remember. I'll carry this with me forever."
"That's not enough," he said.
His voice wasn't angry.
It was broken.
"I didn't want to hurt you," Yuna whispered. "That's why I kept saying not yet."
Ren laughed softly, bitter. "You hurt me anyway."
She nodded. "I know."
The bell rang in the distance.
None of us moved.
Some confessions don't fix things.
They just tell the truth too late.
That night, no one messaged in the group chat.
The summer had cracked.
And now—
We had to live with the sound.