Chapter 14: Kairus' Defiance

A call from his mother makes Kairus stand up. He quickly grabs his phone, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Avyanna is still asleep. Her steady breathing calms him for just a moment before the familiar tone of his mother's ringtone coils around his nerves. He silently steps closer to the window, cradling the phone to his ear.

“Mom…” he answers quietly, trying to keep his voice low.

“Zhen is waiting. She’s outside your apartment,” his mother says without preamble. Her voice is stern, expectant — the same way she used to sound when he was late for piano lessons as a child.

Kairus closes his eyes for a brief moment and runs a hand through his hair, frustration bubbling under his skin. “I have my own business to deal with right now. I’ll call you later.”

“No, Kairus,” she snaps, a sharpness to her tone that slices through the phone. “Pick Zhen up now. She came all this way. Do not embarrass us.”

He exhales, a bitter chuckle escaping before he can stop it. “Embarrass us? You mean embarrass you. Because I’m not some chess piece you can move across a board anymore.”

“You’re being ungrateful. Zhen is a kind girl, from a good family. She’s patient with you, even when you shut her out. Do you know how many mothers would dream of such a match for their son?”

Kairus glances over at Avyanna again. The soft rise and fall of her chest. The calm she brings him. “Maybe I don’t want someone who fits into your dream, Mom.”

A pause. Silence on the other end. Then—

“You’re choosing her, aren’t you? That girl, whoever she is.”

“She has a name,” Kairus says coldly. “And this isn’t about choosing between two people. It’s about choosing myself.”

“She won’t last,” his mother warns, voice low, icy. “When things get hard, she’ll walk away. Zhen would stand beside you — she’s ready. Can’t you see that?”

“I see a lot of things now,” he replies, almost whispering. “And one of them is that I need to stop letting other people decide what’s best for me.”

He ends the call before she can say more, his hand trembling slightly as he lowers the phone. His reflection in the window stares back at him, half-lit by the soft morning light, and for the first time in a while… he lets himself feel the weight of defiance — and freedom.

Kairus stays by the window for a moment longer, the phone still in his hand, screen gone dark. The silence in the apartment wraps around him again, except now it feels heavier — full of all the things he didn’t say, all the expectations pressing in from the outside.

Behind him, the bed rustles gently.

“Kairus?” Avyanna’s voice is soft, still laced with sleep. “Is everything okay?”

He turns, surprised to find her already sitting up, one hand brushing back her tangled hair, the other gripping the edge of the blanket like she’s trying to read the air. Her eyes meet his — sharp, curious, concerned.

He quickly sets the phone on the nearby table. “Yeah… sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t.” She tilts her head slightly, studying him. “But you’re tense. And you only talk like that when you’re trying not to yell.”

Kairus looks down at the floor, then back to her. “It was my mom.”

Avyanna shifts, drawing her knees up and resting her chin on them. Her voice is even, but there’s a sharpness to it—like she’s already bracing for the answer. “Let me guess… fiancée.”

Kairus freezes, his eyes locking with hers. “What?”

She doesn’t look away. “Zhen. The girl your mom keeps pushing. Isn’t she supposed to be your fiancée?”

He opens his mouth, then closes it again, the words catching in his throat. The confusion in his eyes isn’t just because she said it—it’s because she knew.

“I…” he starts, then stops again, raking a hand through his hair. “It’s not like that. It was never official. It’s… it’s what they want.”

“But not what you want?” she asks quietly.

Kairus stares at her, at the way she’s holding herself together — composed on the outside, but he can see the subtle tension in her posture, the way her fingers dig into the blanket ever so slightly.

“No,” he says, firm now. “Not what I want. I told them that. Over and over. They just… don’t listen.”

Avyanna’s gaze softens a little, but her guard doesn’t lower completely. “You didn’t mention it before.”

“I didn’t think I had to,” Kairus says, regret flickering in his tone. “It’s not a part of my life I want in here. Not with you.”

She nods slowly, but doesn’t respond right away. Instead, she shifts back against the headboard, looking at him like she’s trying to decide how close she’s willing to let him again.

“You can’t keep her outside the door forever,” she says. “Or your mom. Or the expectations. Eventually, they’ll walk in.”

Kairus reaches out, placing his hand gently over hers. “Then let them walk in. I’m not hiding from them anymore.”

Avyanna searches his face for a long moment, her defenses wavering just slightly. “Just… don’t make me feel like I’m the one intruding.”

“You’re not,” he says, quiet but certain. “You’re the only part that feels real.”

She exhales slowly, looking away for a second, like the weight of his words is too much to hold. Then, without meeting his gaze, she says, “Stop what you feel towards me, Kairus. I understand that you just… you just feel attached. That’s all it is.”

His breath catches.

Kairus blinks, trying to process her words, but they hit like a slap. “What?”

Avyanna finally looks back at him, her eyes steady but guarded, voice low. “You’re going through a lot. I was there. That kind of closeness—it can feel like something deeper. But it doesn’t mean it is.”

For a moment, Kairus says nothing. His jaw tightens, a cold fury settling behind his eyes—not because she’s wrong, but because she’s pushing him away without giving him the chance to prove she’s not right.

“Is that so?” he asks, voice clipped, restrained.

Avyanna nods once, slowly. “Yes.”

He stares at her like he doesn’t recognize her anymore, then turns away. “I see.”

His voice is low, distant. He stands up, crossing the room toward the window again. The same place he stood when this day started. But now everything feels different.

The silence between them stretches like a wound—one neither of them is ready to touch yet.

Avyanna watches his back, unsure if she should say more. She wants to protect herself, but the moment the words left her mouth, something in her heart twisted. She didn’t mean to hurt him… but maybe hurting him was safer than being wrong about what this really was.

Kairus doesn't turn around. His voice, when it comes again, is barely above a whisper. “If you really believe that, then you never saw me at all.”