As they began walking together toward the main gate, the golden light of the evening sun bathed the road in soft warmth. Siya's eyes flicked toward the bicycle parked neatly to the side. Ren casually walked beside her, his hands tucked in his pockets, a calm expression on his face.
"So," Ren said, glancing at her, "how about we ditch walking today? Let's go somewhere new... A change might be nice."
Siya raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Somewhere new?" she echoed.
Ren nodded. "Yeah. You up for it?"
She looked at the bicycle and then at Ren. "Hmm... okay."
Ren moved toward the cycle and sat on the front seat, grabbing the handles. But before he could start pedaling, Siya's voice stopped him.
"Wait!" she said.
Ren looked back. "Hmm?"
"Can I pedal today?" she asked, eyes gleaming with playful determination.
He blinked. "You... want to drive the bicycle?"
She folded her arms. "Yes. I can do it. I can do anything, you little brat."
Ren chuckled. "Did you just call me a brat?"
"Yes," she replied confidently.
They both burst into laughter.
"Alright, fine," Ren said, getting off the seat, "you can drive. But just so you know, this is the first time I'm sitting behind someone on a bicycle. I mean, anyone. Ever."
Siya gave a playful wink. "Don't worry. I won't kill you. Just hold the bicycle tightly."
Ren raised a brow. "'Tightly?' What do you mean by—"
Before he could finish the sentence, Siya suddenly took off like she was launching a rocket.
"WHOA! WHOA WHOA WHOA!" Ren shouted, grabbing the sides of the seat tightly as the wind blasted into his face.
She zoomed down the street like it was a bicycle race in the Olympics. Ren's calm aura was long gone. His hair flew backward, and his expression was pure panic.
"Slow down! Are we flying or pedaling?! Take a left—TAKE A LEFT!"
Siya laughed. "You said tight grip, I thought that was my cue!"
"I meant metaphorically!" Ren yelled, eyes wide.
She darted left, then right, narrowly missing a street vendor, a pothole, and two squirrels.
"THIS ISN'T MARIO KART, SIYA!"
Suddenly, at a crossroad, a sleek black car rolled forward. It came out of nowhere.
"BRAKES! HIT THE BRAKES!" Ren shouted.
With a gasp, Siya slammed her foot down.
SCREEECH!
The cycle skidded and stopped just in time—barely inches away from the car's shiny bumper. The car honked angrily and drove off.
Both of them were frozen for a moment.
Ren's face had turned pale. "Are you... are you trying to send me to an early grave?"
Siya giggled nervously. "Hey, I didn't crash us. That's called skill."
Ren dramatically exhaled. "Skill? That's called flirting with death!"
She rolled her eyes. "At least let me live my short life with style."
He stared at her, still half-panicked. "You're unreal."
"Thank you," she said with a mock bow while still on the cycle.
Ren climbed off the back. "Nope. I'm walking from here. My heart needs a minute to restart."
Siya laughed as she slowly rode beside him. "I warned you. I can do anything."
"Yeah," he muttered under his breath, brushing the wind-tangled hair from his face. "Anything... including launching us into the next dimension."
They both laughed, the tension easing off. There was something about her reckless energy and his dramatic sarcasm that just clicked—like a chaotic symphony that somehow made sense.
As the sun lowered behind them, casting orange shadows on the road, Ren looked at Siya and smiled.
"Next time, I'm driving."
"No promises," she winked.
🦋🦋🦋
The park was nearly empty. A few people were scattered around—someone jogging with headphones too big for their head, a couple feeding birds that didn't care, and one kid chasing a squirrel like it owed him money. In short: perfect.
Ren looked around, nodding in approval. "Huh. Not bad."
Siya stretched her arms and looked up at the sky like she was about to absorb sunlight like a plant. "Finally, a place where I can breathe without school drama, life drama, or random aunties asking why I look tired."
Ren gave her a look, half-smile forming awkwardly like he was trying to remember how humans do casual conversations. "So... uh, how are you?"
She blinked at him. "Ren. I'm not dying."
"What?"
"That tone. That weird smile. That 'how are you' like you're visiting me in ICU with a bouquet of plastic flowers."
Ren rubbed the back of his neck, his laugh nervous. "Sorry, I just... I'm good with presentations, not people."
Siya tilted her head. "You mean like you can talk about mitochondria for ten minutes straight but small talk is fatal?"
"Exactly." He laughed, relieved.
She flopped dramatically onto the grass. "So, Mr. No-Social-Skills, what is this place?"
Ren looked around like he was about to say something mysterious. "This... is my secret hideout."
Siya raised her brows. "Seriously?"
He backtracked instantly. "No! I mean—ugh—don't picture me crawling through bushes with a flashlight. I just used to come here a lot when I was a kid. Before everything got... serious."
"Ah," Siya said, "before the Great Medical War began and you became Doctor Doom."
He snorted. "Pretty much. I used to come here with snacks, my comic books, and dream of becoming a wizard. And then—boom—cut to 17-year-old Ren memorizing body parts instead of spells."
"That sounds... tragic," she said dramatically, placing her hand over her heart. "A wizard turned into a nerd."
Ren rolled his eyes with a grin. "Thanks."
"No really," she said, sitting up, her tone softer. "I thought you had the perfect life. Always first. Always sharp. Always... intimidatingly on point."
Ren shook his head, staring ahead at the slowly setting sun. "That's the problem. Perfection looks shiny but it's heavy. Everyone expects you to be perfect all the time. You slip once, and the applause dies. People don't like seeing cracks in statues."
Siya was quiet for a second, watching the clouds turn soft pink. "Wow... that's deep. Are you sure you're not also a secret poet?"
Ren smirked. "Don't spread that rumor. I've got a rep to protect."
She laughed, then gave him a sideways glance. "So what's your question, Professor of Sadness?"
Ren exhaled, leaned back, and said, "Why are you so chill?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, you just... live. If I were in your place, I'd be Googling cures, finding forums, calculating life spans on a spreadsheet. But you? You're out here laughing, befriending street cats, making faces at pigeons. What gives?"
Siya blinked, surprised, then started laughing. "Wait—you watch me?"
Ren immediately turned red. "No, I mean—accidentally. Like I don't mean to look, you're just... visible. Loudly."
She was still laughing. "Wow, you really do notice things."
"Apparently more than I thought."
She leaned back again, arms spread, hair fanning around her like a soft brown halo. "You want to know why I don't stress about my future? Because I already know how the story ends. Spoiler alert: it's not a fairytale."
Ren turned to her, his gaze unreadable.
"I know," she continued, voice lighter than her words, "that I'm not gonna live forever. But if I have to go, I don't want to go out like a boring NPC in a video game. I want people to remember me as the girl who laughed too much, danced like an idiot, and said things like 'hello moon, nice cheeks tonight'."
Ren chuckled softly. "That sounds about right."
"And the animals?" She shrugged. "They're pure. They don't lie. They don't ask dumb questions like 'so when are you getting married?' And they don't care if you're sick or healthy, as long as you feed them."
Ren nodded, looking at her with a mix of admiration and confusion. "So you just... talk to plants and animals instead of people?"
"Yup."
"Why?"
She smiled, not at him but at the sky. "Because they'll still be here after I'm gone. The moon, the stars, the trees—they're my diary. My little messengers. They'll remember my laugh. My love. My weird obsession with cheese. And maybe one day, when someone walks this park and sees a squirrel doing the cha-cha, they'll feel something. That's enough."
"That's... oddly poetic."
"Told you I'm an idiot but a romantic one."
Ren didn't reply. He just watched her. Her eyes reflected the purple of the sky, her smile was soft, and her hair caught the breeze in a way that looked unfairly perfect. She was lying there like a girl who had nothing, yet had understood everything. He looked away quickly before he started doing something stupid. Like feel.
"You're one weird human," he muttered.
"And you're one boring perfectionist. We balance each other out."
They lay in silence for a moment. The sun was halfway gone now, leaving behind streaks of pink, lavender, and burnt orange. The breeze carried the scent of grass and distant flowers.
Then suddenly...
"Hey Ren..." she whispered.
"Yeah?"
"This grass is comfy. The sky is pretty. Your company's tolerable."
"Wow. Such high praise."
"I mean it. And also..." Her voice trailed.
He turned his head.
She was asleep.
Just like that.
In the middle of a sentence.
Ren stared at her for a second, dumbfounded. "Did she just... fall asleep mid-dialogue? Who does that?!"
He leaned closer, watching her face relax, lips parted slightly, breathing soft and even.
"She really does love sleeping," he mumbled. "Talking one second, snoring the next. Who are you, Siya?"
He chuckled under his breath, shook his head, then lay beside her, just far enough to not be creepy, but close enough to feel her presence.
He looked up at the sky, now in full violet glow.
"It's peaceful," he whispered. "Really peaceful."
A jacket—his—found its way over her legs, and he folded his arms under his head. For the first time in what felt like forever, Ren didn't care about being perfect. He was just... there.
Existing.
With her....