CHAPTER 3 - The Confession

The more I talked to Tiar, the more I realized one thing about him. He was annoying. But somehow, he was annoying in the most enjoyable way possible. He had this strange talent for turning almost everything into a joke. Even when I was complaining about work, he always found a way to make me laugh. One afternoon, I was telling him how exhausted I was. “Work is killing me today.” His reply came almost immediately. “Then quit.” I laughed. “Easy for you to say.” “Fine. Don’t quit.” “Then what?” “Marry your boss.” I stared at the screen. “What?” “Problem solved. You don’t have to work anymore.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re ridiculous.” “At least I’m useful.” “How?” “I give solutions.” “Terrible solutions.” “Still solutions.” I laughed again. That was Tiar. Sometimes his jokes didn’t even make sense. Sometimes they were so bad that I couldn’t understand why I was laughing, but somehow, I always did. He had a way of making conversations feel easy, light, and comfortable. I could talk to him about something serious, and a few minutes later we would be laughing about something completely stupid. He made ordinary conversations feel special. And the more often we talked, the more I realized that I liked the feeling he gave me. I liked how he always had something to say. I liked how he could make a tiring day feel a little lighter. I liked how he could make me forget whatever had been bothering me, even if only for a few minutes. Sometimes my phone would vibrate while I was working, and when I saw his name on the screen, I would already be smiling before I even opened the message. It was ridiculous. I knew it was ridiculous. But I couldn’t help it. Somewhere along the way, Tiar had become the person I looked forward to hearing from, and I didn’t even know when it happened.

At the same time, Mike still occasionally contacted me. Not every day. Not like before. But enough to remind me that our relationship hadn’t completely disappeared from my life. Sometimes he asked if I had eaten, sometimes he asked how work was going, and sometimes he sent random messages as if nothing had ever happened between us. At first, seeing his name still felt strange. After all, Mike had once been a huge part of my life. I had loved him. I had waited for him. I had imagined a future with him. There had been a time when his messages could completely change my mood. But now, everything felt different. I no longer waited for his messages. I no longer felt the need to reply immediately. I no longer felt anxious when he disappeared for days. And then, one day, I heard something about him. Mike was getting close to another girl. I remember the moment I heard it. I didn’t say anything. I just stared ahead for a moment. “Oh.” That was all I could say. “Oh.” A few months earlier, that news might have destroyed me. I might have cried. I might have wondered who she was, how long they had been talking, or felt like someone had taken my place. But that day, I didn’t. There was a small sting, of course. He had once been someone I loved deeply. It was impossible for the past to disappear completely just because a relationship ended. But the feeling passed. I took a breath and continued with my day. Maybe because, deep down, I already knew. Mike and I were over. Not because he was a bad person. Not because I hated him. Not because one of us had done something unforgivable. I simply couldn’t see a future with him anymore. I had loved him once, but love wasn’t always enough. And hearing that he was getting close to someone else somehow made me even more certain that I had made the right decision. I didn’t want to go back.

Because now there was something new in my life. Or rather… someone. Tiar. The more we talked, the closer we became. We started learning things about each other that we hadn’t known before. I learned his habits, what made him annoyed, what made him laugh, the kind of jokes he liked, and how he could suddenly send me a completely random message with absolutely no context. And somehow, he started learning me too. One day, I replied to one of his messages with a very short answer. “Yeah.” A few seconds later, he asked, “What’s wrong?” I frowned. “Nothing.” “You’re answering differently.” “How?” “Short.” I smiled. “Maybe I’m just tired.” “No.” “No?” “You’re usually more talkative.” I laughed. “So?” “So something’s wrong.” I stared at the screen. How did he know? I hadn’t told him anything. I hadn’t complained. I hadn’t even hinted that I was having a bad day. I had simply replied with fewer words than usual, yet somehow, he noticed. “I’m fine,” I typed. “Liar.” I smiled. “How do you know?” “Because I pay attention.” I stopped. For some reason, those words stayed with me. Because someone was paying attention to me. Not because I had asked them to. Not because I had explained myself. He simply noticed. And that meant more to me than I wanted to admit. I was becoming comfortable with his attention. Maybe too comfortable.

Until one night, our conversation suddenly changed. There were no jokes, no teasing, no random conversations. Tiar suddenly called my name. “Laya.” “Yeah?” “I want to tell you something.” I immediately became curious. “What?” There was no answer for a while. I watched the typing indicator appear. Tiar is typing… Then it disappeared. A few seconds later, it appeared again, then disappeared. I started wondering what could possibly be so difficult to say. Finally, his message came through. “Actually, I’ve liked you for a long time.” I froze. Completely froze. I stared at the screen. I read the sentence once, then again, and again. I’ve liked you for a long time. My heart started beating faster. I didn’t know what to say. My fingers hovered over the keyboard. Was he serious? Was this a joke? Was he talking about now? Or… was he talking about before? Finally, I typed the only thing my brain could come up with. “Reallyyyyy????” I didn’t even know why I added that many letters. I was genuinely shocked. He replied, “Yeah.” “Since when?” “Since school.” I immediately covered my face with both hands. Oh my God. Since school? I looked at the screen again. Then again. I couldn’t believe it. Tiar had liked me since school? All those years ago? How had I never known? In my memory, we had simply been two kids in the same classroom. I had never once imagined that he might have feelings for me. I never thought I was someone he noticed in that way. And now, years later, he was telling me that the feelings had been there all along. I couldn’t stop smiling. I felt this strange warmth spreading through my chest. It wasn’t just because Tiar liked me. It was because the feelings I had only recently started discovering in myself apparently weren’t one-sided. I wasn’t the only one who felt that there was something between us. He felt it too. Maybe he had felt it long before I did.

“But why didn’t you tell me back then?” I asked. “Because I wasn’t brave enough.” “You were scared?” “Yeah.” I laughed. “Tiar was scared?” “Of course.” “Scared of what?” “That you’d reject me.” I went quiet. There was something incredibly sweet about hearing him say that. The same person who now seemed so confident, the same person who could tease me endlessly and make me laugh without even trying, had once been afraid too. He had liked me. He had noticed me. And he had been afraid that I wouldn’t feel the same way. I didn’t know what to say. I just smiled at my phone. That night, I felt incredibly happy. Not only because Tiar liked me, but because I suddenly realized that maybe this connection between us wasn’t something I had imagined. There was something real here. Something that had existed before either of us understood it. Maybe our reunion wasn’t just a coincidence. Maybe there was a reason we had found each other again.

But after the excitement settled a little, another thought entered my mind. Certainty. I liked Tiar. I knew that. He liked me. He had just admitted that he had liked me since school. We talked every day. We cared about each other. We made each other happy. But… what exactly were we? That question had been sitting quietly in the back of my mind for a while. I didn’t want to repeat the past. I didn’t want to be in another relationship that went nowhere. I had already experienced what it was like to love someone without knowing where the relationship was heading. I had already stayed too long because I was afraid of losing someone. I didn’t want to do that again. This time, I wanted clarity. I wanted intention. I wanted something that actually had a direction.

So that night, even though I was nervous, I finally asked. “So…” Tiar replied, “So what?” I took a breath. “Are we just going to stay like this?” “Like what?” “You know…” I hesitated before continuing. “Talking every day.” “Yeah.” “Knowing we like each other.” “Yeah.” “But without any certainty?” I pressed send, then stared at the screen, waiting. A few seconds passed. Then I saw the familiar words. Tiar is typing… I waited. Then his answer appeared. “Don’t worry.” I frowned. “Don’t worry about what?” “I’m going back to City Y tomorrow.” I read the message. Then another one came in. “And I’ve already prepared dinner.” I raised an eyebrow. “Dinner?” “Yeah.” “Then?” He didn’t answer immediately. I waited. My heart was beginning to beat a little faster. Then his next message appeared. “I’m going to propose to you.”

I froze. Again. But this time, it was different. I stared at the screen as if the words might change if I looked at them long enough. I’m going to propose to you. My heart immediately started pounding—hard, fast, loud. I read it again. And again. I had only asked about certainty. I had only wanted to know whether we were going to keep talking like this without knowing where we stood. And his answer was… a proposal? He had already prepared a dinner. He was planning to propose to me. Tomorrow. I put my phone against my chest and stared at the ceiling. I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry. “Are you serious?” I finally typed. His answer came quickly. “Serious.” I closed my eyes. There were suddenly so many thoughts running through my head. I had only just learned that he had liked me since school. Now he was telling me he wanted to propose. Tomorrow. Wasn’t that too fast? Wasn’t this too much? I didn’t know. But strangely… I wasn’t scared. I was nervous, yes. Very nervous. But beneath the nervousness was something much stronger. Happiness. A kind of happiness I couldn’t explain.

I started imagining the dinner. Where would we go? What would I wear? What would he say? What would I say? And most importantly… what would my answer be? I already knew I liked him. I knew I was happy when I talked to him. I knew I wanted to keep getting to know him. But a proposal wasn’t a small thing. It was a decision. A promise. A step toward something much more serious. And somehow… I didn’t want to run away from it. Instead, I found myself smiling. Maybe because, for the first time, I felt like someone wasn’t just choosing to stay in my life. He was choosing me for his future. And there was something incredibly comforting about that.

I knew everything was happening quickly. Maybe too quickly. But that night, I didn’t want to overthink it. I just wanted to enjoy the happiness—the happiness of knowing that someone had chosen me, the happiness of knowing that someone didn’t just say he liked me but was willing to do something about it. Tiar. The boy who had once been nothing more than a childhood classmate. The man who now made me laugh every day. The person who had secretly liked me for years. The person who had renamed my contact Dopamine because I made his days happier. And now… he wanted to propose to me.

That night, I could barely sleep. I kept opening our chat, reading his confession again, then reading his message about dinner. Every time I reached that part, my heart started racing all over again. “I’m going to propose to you.” I smiled. Then I imagined what my life would look like if I actually said yes. Maybe this was what I had been looking for. Someone who didn’t just come into my life to fill an empty space. Someone who didn’t just tell me he liked me. Someone who was willing to say that he wanted me in his future.

I had spent so much time worrying about whether I was making the right decisions. About my career. About my finances. About my future. About whether I was falling behind everyone else. And now, for the first time, I felt like maybe I didn’t have to figure everything out alone. Maybe I had found someone who wanted to build something with me.

I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. I didn’t know what that dinner would look like. I didn’t know what Tiar would say when we finally sat across from each other. And I didn’t know exactly how I would respond when he asked me the question I had never expected him to ask. But one thing was certain.

Tomorrow, everything might change.

I turned off my phone and tried to close my eyes, but I was still smiling. “Tomorrow…” I whispered to myself. “…I might become Tiar’s fiancée.”

The thought made my heart race again. And for the first time in my life, the idea of becoming someone’s future didn’t feel frightening. It felt like something I had secretly been waiting for.

Tomorrow, Tiar would return to City Y. Tomorrow, we would meet. Tomorrow, there would be dinner. And maybe… tomorrow would be the day our story finally stopped being undefined. Maybe tomorrow, there would finally be an answer to the question I had been too afraid to ask.

What are we?

Perhaps by tomorrow…

we would finally become us.