It's not what she expected 8!

December arrived, a month typically brimming with cheer, yet Sebastian's shadow lingered—a hollowed-out version of himself. Rian, ever the stubborn optimist, refused to let him drown. He'd become a reluctant witness to Sebastian's unraveling: the untouched meals, the sleepless nights, the way his laughter now sounded like shattered glass.

One frost-tinged afternoon, Rian cornered Putri in the library, her usual haunt between towering shelves of weathered textbooks. "Hey, Put. It's been long—long time no see, how's you been doing lately? " he began, forcing casualness as he slid into the seat opposite her.

Putri glanced up, her brow furrowing. "Assignments. You know how it is. Anyway, What's up? I know you need something to discuss, right? Because you always got me if you need something"

Rian leaned in, his voice dropping. "your guess is right. You know, It's Sebastian and Dewi. They're… broken. Something's off with Dewi. She's not the same."

Putri's pen stilled. "Wait— Sebastian and Dewi? The ones glued at the hip back at the old hotel building? What… happened?"

Rian's laugh was bitter. "That's what I'm trying to figure out. Two months ago, she swapped Sebastian for Emeka's crew. Now she acts like he's air."

Putri's eyes widened, memories flickering. "But they were… everything to each other right? I mean, they always sit to each other like... you know, glue"

"Not anymore," Rian muttered. "And I'm out of ideas. Help me fix this, i can't stand with Sebastian depression. It's make my heart feel hurt when i see him like that"

Outside, snow began to fall—soft, silent, and relentless.

Putri hesitated, her thoughts tangling like knotted thread. "I'm sorry, Rian. It's not that I don't want to help, but…" She gestured to the avalanche of textbooks and half-coded spreadsheets devouring her desk. "Sixth semester's swallowing me whole. Next year's thesis prep—I just… can't."

Rian nodded, the weight of her words settling like ash. "I get it," he said, though his voice clung to a sliver of hope. "But if things shift…?"

"I'll try if i have free day," she lied softly, already burying herself back in formulas.

"thanks,.. So, i gotta go because i can't leave him alone" he said, with wearing shoes outside

"oke, see ya later"

After that, Rian trudged to Sebastian's place, which is in his dorm, the corridors eerily quiet. Every creak of the floorboards echoed his gnawing dread: What if he's hurt himself? What if he's gone?

He found Sebastian slumped by the window, dusk painting his silhouette in bruised hues. Unwashed coffee cups littered the desk; a half-empty bottle of painkillers glinted in the fading light.

Rian's throat tightened. Some fractures, he realized, teetered on the edge of a precipice.

"Hey… what are you doing?" Rian asked, his voice frayed with worry as he stepped into the dim room.

Sebastian didn't answer. His eyes were swollen, raw with a hopelessness that had long since hollowed him out. Tears streaked silently down his cheeks, glinting in the weak light. Rian crossed the room in two strides, pulling him into a tight embrace. "I'm here," he murmured, his voice a steady anchor in the storm. "Always."

For two months, these words had been their ritual—a fragile lifeline. Sebastian's trembling eased, his breath slowing as he sank into the warmth of Rian's arms. Eventually, exhaustion claimed him, his head resting heavy against Rian's shoulder.

"Let her go," Rian whispered to the silence, though the plea felt futile.

—

Across campus, Dewi sat stiffly in the cafeteria, Farhan leaning across the table with a raised brow. "So… what's up with Sebastian? You promised you'd patch things up."

Dewi's fingers tightened around her soda can. "That was… ages ago. I already told you everything I know about him"

Farhan's gaze sharpened. "And now? You two used to be glued together. What's is that changed? I mean, it's been two months and i didn't see you two go together again like before"

Dewi choked on her cola, coughing violently as the question struck like a dart. "I—I can't," she rasped, avoiding his eyes. "Just… drop it, okay?"

Farhan leaned back, studying her. "You're hiding something, aren't you? "

She said nothing, the hum of the cafeteria swelling to fill the void between them.