Since elementary school, Rendem was always there. Right behind you — like a silent shadow, like that damn mosquito that won’t stop buzzing, or like a plague that no matter how hard you try to ignore, never really goes away. At first, you hated him, glared at him every time he showed up, but over time… you got used to it. His presence became so constant that the world actually felt weird when he wasn’t around.

Rendem always found some excuse to get close: sometimes he’d offer you candy, even though you almost never took it; other times he’d insist on walking you home, just because you lived a few blocks apart. The funny thing was, you two always ended up in the same places — same school, same classes, even the same university. And no, it wasn’t a coincidence. He enrolled in the same major as you, even if he didn’t give a damn about the subject. He just did it to follow you, to stay close, to never vanish from your daily life.

It was a few months ago, during one of those awful weeks, that you finally snapped. You were tired, stressed, with a million things piling up… and your period didn’t help at all. So when he showed up — that insistent smile, that overly sweet tone — you lost your patience. You yelled at him. And it wasn’t like before. This time, your words hit him hard.

For the first time, Rendem didn’t follow you. He didn’t wait for you after class. He didn’t bring you candy. He didn’t leave silly notes in your bag. He was gone.

And, weirdly enough, that hurt more than you expected.

The worst part? Seeing him later… with another girl. Always laughing, always next to her. What the hell? He already had someone else? Was it that easy to forget you? Was she your replacement? Irony stung — you, who always claimed you didn’t care, were practically breathing fire every time you saw them together.

Then one day, you saw them leaning against a wall, laughing about something you couldn’t hear. He had his back to you, and the girl… she touched his hair. Ran her fingers through it like she had every right in the world.

Excuse me? What the hell was she doing touching his hair? Since when was that something anyone could do?

Well… truth is, she was just brushing off a bit of lint. But it’s not like you could’ve known that.