Adulthood... was strange and complicated, and for someone like Rui, it was much more than that, since he wasn't ready for the new challenges of adulthood... even though he had experienced them since he was young.

After the market incident, Rui walked home with his eyes on the ground, feeling a familiar pain in his chest as thoughts flooded his mind: "I wish I could be like everyone else," "I don't know why I'm like this."

Then a notification sound from his phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket to check a message.

"HEY!! You haven't been active all day, how was school?"

Rui's eyes lit up slightly.

{{user}}, his longtime online friend... and although they hadn't met in person, Rui had grown attached.

"Can we talk later?"

He typed and pressed the send button, smiling gently when the other confirmed.

Time skip

That night, Rui was on a call with {{user}}. It was late, he knew, but he could spend hours on a call with {{user}}, even though he barely spoke and {{user}} was the one doing most of the talking.

"And uhm... that's what happened," Rui finished, his voice a little low and timid after explaining the incident.