Kaizer's POV
The night stretched outside my window as I sat on my study table.
*The accounts department's...*
A fleeting thought brushed against my mind before it vanished.
I was used to hearing people's random thoughts now.
My gaze suddenly fell upon the photograph on the table. I found it at Kuya's house.
Two young ladies stood their smiling at the camera.
One was pregnant. My mom. She looked so carefree, an expression I haven't seen on my mother's face for a long time.
Kuya stood beside her looking at the baby in the hands of the other woman.
The other woman... No matter how much time it had been, I still remember her.
It was... her mother.
A baby was in her hand, wrapped up in a soft blue cloth.
I don't even need to see her face to recognise who it is.
I looked at the baby for a little longer than usual, then put it into a cabinet.
"Yeah... you came first." I muttered before laying on my bed as I closed my eyes.
---
Iris's POV
Sunlight sweeped in from the window as I slowly opened my eyes.
I sat up and didn't move for a moment, then stretched my whole life out of my body so I don't feel more groggy.
I looked at the clock.
Ok..8:03 AM.
Not late this time.
I sluggishly got out of my bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up.
Yesterday, I slept early at night too. Guess what now I have to do double shift at the cafe.
The water was cold as it touched my skin.
I quickly took a bath and put on the only hoodie I had over a simple white dress.
A pale layer of fog still lingered outside the windows when I stepped out of my room.
The house was quiet.
For exactly three seconds.
Then I noticed him.
Kaizer.
He was standing near the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in his hand.
Unfortunately, he noticed me at the exact same time.
For a brief moment,
Neither of us looked away.
The image from yesterday immediately resurfaced.
The forehead collision.
The awkward silence.
The fact that we almost–
No.
Absolutely not.
I turned around so quickly that I nearly walked back into my room.
"Good morning."
His voice came from behind me.
Normal.
Completely normal.
As if yesterday never happened.
"Morning."
My response came out far less normal.
A suspicious voice suddenly appeared.
"Wow."
I froze.
Lux.
Of course it was Lux.
He was sitting on the sofa with a textbook in his lap.
Neither of us had noticed him.
Unfortunately, he had noticed everything.
His gaze slowly moved between the two of us.
"Interesting."
"What?" I immediately asked.
"Nothing."
"Then stop saying interesting."
"I didn't say anything."
"You literally just did."
Lux looked deeply offended.
"I simply observed a phenomenon."
"Study your biology."
"I am."
"No, you're not."
Kaizer quietly drank his coffee while looking suspiciously amused.
Traitor.
Five minutes later, I left before Lux could become any more unbearable.
---
The café was already busy by the time I arrived.
The warm smell of coffee immediately greeted me.
A few customers occupied the tables near the windows.
I quickly went to Manager Celine.
"Did you meet him?" I asked.
"Hmm." She replied still reviewing the cash.
"So what does he do?"
"A history professor. It went pretty smooth."
"That's good. So he is not too much old, is he?"
"Not much. Just a year or two older than me."
"Well you are old too."
She finally looked up with a disdained look on her face.
"Don't you need to work?"
"Just kidding." I said as I quickly fled to the kitchen.
---
Soon enough, Grace arrived.
"Guess what, they really gave me the job." She said as she came beside me to arrange the cups.
"Wow, congratulations." I said with a smile.
"So when are you joining?"
"From the next Monday. So, I might not be able to continue working at the cafe anymore."
"Well, if it is good for you, then there is no problem in leaving, right?"
"Yeah..I understand."
"So have you met someone there?"
"Not really..." She pondered for a while. "Ohh yes, I met the founder. He took my interview."
"Ohh really? What kinda company have their founder take interviews?"
"It's just a new startup anyway."
"Then it's reasonable."
---
The bell at the cafe door rang a while later.
A woman entered.
Late twenties perhaps.
Maybe early thirties.
One hand held a phone against her ear.
Her voice remained low.
Almost whispering.
Yet there was something desperate hidden beneath it.
"No..."
She paused.
Listened.
Then forced another response.
"I'm fine."
Another pause.
"I'm fine."
Her eyes were already beginning to turn red.
Slowly, she lowered the phone.
The call ended.
For a few moments, she simply stood there.
Trying very hard not to cry.
I approached her.
"What would you like to order?"
She looked up.
For a second, I thought she wouldn't answer.
Then she quietly said,
"Just a coffee."
"Of course."
I nodded and walked away.
A few minutes later, I returned.
Coffee.
A bottle of water.
And a small box of tissues.
I placed everything gently on the table.
The woman looked at them.
Then at me.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"...Thank you."
I simply nodded.
Nothing else needed to be said.
I turned around and began walking back toward the counter.
Then—
A strange feeling settled inside my chest.
I stopped.
The sensation was sudden.
Heavy.
Helpless.
A sadness so deep that it felt difficult to breathe for a moment.
My hand unconsciously pressed against my chest.
What was that?
The feeling wasn't mine.
I had been perfectly fine seconds ago.
Yet suddenly—
I felt like crying.
For no reason at all.
I slowly looked back.
The woman sat alone by the window.
Her hands trembled slightly around the coffee cup.
And somehow—
The heaviness inside me grew stronger.
I looked away immediately.
Confused.
---
The sky had already turned completely dark when I reached home.
The heaviness never left.
For a moment, I just said down at the sofa staring at nothing in particular.
"Iris?"
I quickly turned my face towards the voice. He was standing there, staring at me with a look of question.
"Kaizer..."
"Yeah?" He said as he sat down beside me.
I looked towards him.
"Have you ever experienced sudden heaviness? Like moments ago, you were fine but you suddenly feel down out of nowhere."
I waited for an answer as he thought for a while.
"I don't really know... but sometimes.."
"Hmm..?"
"You pass by someone, who looked completely normal, then you realize they are carrying something you can't see."
That woman came in my mind.
"Ohh.."
"And somehow..." He said slowly. "That feeling stays with you."
I looked at him. He looked at me too.
And somehow the earlier heaviness felt light.
"Do you think people and memories fade away with time?"
He suddenly asked catching me off guard.
Memories. Do I have some? Yeah I do.
Laughing with Anya in high school.
Annoying manager Celine.
Tales my grandma used to tell me when I was 10.
But before that. I never really tried to remember.
"Maybe..."
He glanced at me for a moment before another mysterious smile formed on his face.
"Go sleep."
"Huh?"
"Don't you need to wake up early?"
"Ohh.."
I glanced down before going back into my room.
Why does he always act like he is my dad?
Whatever.