It started with texts.
Not the kind that filled up conversations, but the kind that made her pause and smile for real — small, sharp, unexpected.
Yuvi [11:43 AM]
> your column spacing is off
but that doodle on the side’s cool
Vanya [11:45 AM]
> wow okay thanks for the shade
also it’s not a doodle it’s my boyfriend lol
Yuvi [11:45 AM]
> ouch
boyfriend has antennae?
She didn’t answer that one — but she laughed. And didn’t fake it.
---
They didn’t hang out in the traditional sense. Just… found each other.
Lunch breaks where she sat with her gang and he joined randomly, offering half a fry to Atharva just to annoy him. The studio sessions where he’d lean back, feet on the desk, and whisper smartass remarks only she could hear.
She found herself noticing his presence first in every room. Noticing when he wasn’t there.
But she didn’t let it grow. She had Shrey.
Right?
Except…
One afternoon, she was smiling at her phone — half-curled on the bench outside the studio, sunlight warming her face — when her phone buzzed with a call.
Shrey.
She picked up, still mid-laugh.
“Hi,” she said brightly.
“Who were you talking to?”
She blinked. “What?”
“You were smiling before you picked up. Who is it?”
A pause. “It’s nothing, just—college stuff.”
His voice tightened. “Vanya, are you hiding something?”
There it was again.
That familiar knot in her chest. The twisting of trust. The constant need to defend her honesty.
“I’m not,” she said, softer now.
“Send me your location.”
“Shrey—”
“Do it.”
She sent it.
But the smile she had from before?
It didn’t return.
That evening, Yuvi passed her in the corridor.
He wasn’t walking with his usual swagger — just calm, quiet, and when their shoulders brushed, he stopped.
She didn’t.
So he called gently, “Hey.”
She turned, tired eyes meeting his.
“You okay?” he asked, the teasing gone.
She shrugged. “Just tired.”
He didn’t push.
But he did say, after a long beat, “If you ever want to talk about it… I can shut up and listen.”
Her throat tightened.
And this time, when she smiled — it wasn’t fake.
It was grateful.
YOU ARE READING
The one day he stayed
RomanceYuvi is the kind of guy who drifts through college like a breeze-rarely present, always unpredictable. He's laid-back, effortlessly charming, and never one to chase after things or people. With a sharp wit and an observant eye, he notices details ot...
