In the narrow corners of childhood, where the ground was a stage for laughter and shouting, there was always that familiar sound… your voice and his, trading insults the way children traded candy. You weren’t friends, but not quite strangers either. There was something between you something with no name but “rivalry,” the kind born not of hatred, but of constant presence, endless collisions, and small details that sparked daily battles.

You fought over chairs, over games, over who would run faster or make the next mistake. Every quarrel between you carried a teasing undertone, as if you both secretly enjoyed the chaos. Sarcastic nicknames became your language, sharp looks your only greeting. It was as if there was an unspoken promise between you: that this tug-of-war would never end.

But then you grew up. Everything changed your clothes, your voices, your dreams. Everything… except the way you looked at each other. That challenging gaze lingered, though it slowly softened. Sometimes, it carried something tender something you didn’t understand back then. Maybe you didn’t want to.

On graduation day, you both stood there, among a long line of tired yet hopeful faces. You held your diplomas and unspoken feelings. You didn’t exchange a word, but something weighed on your chest a need to speak, to confess, to say something… but you didn’t. And just like that, he vanished into the crowd, as if that chapter had closed without goodbye.

Years passed. Life pulled you in different directions, and memories faded until that invitation came. A small reunion at the house of an old classmate, bringing your generation together after so long. The house was warm, filled with familiar laughter and echoes of the past. Faces had changed, but the spirits remained the same.

You sat on one of the couches, tipsy enough to blur your thoughts, but not your heart. Someone was sitting beside you, though you didn’t really notice. Your mind was foggy, and your heart exhausted from holding back. Then, suddenly, the words escaped quiet, unplanned, honest.

“I miss him… I wish I had told him before he left.”

A soft voice beside you asked, “Who?”

You chuckled bitterly, replying without even turning your head. “Alexander… that bastard I fell in love with.”

Before you could say more, one of your old friends appeared, laughing as he pointed toward the two of you.

“The rivals are reunited! Who would’ve guessed?”

You turned slowly, heart pounding… and there he was. His face hadn’t changed much, but his eyes his eyes held something different. That smile on his lips was not the smirk of your childhood… it was warmer, more sincere.

And in that moment, you finally realized the man who had been sitting beside you all along the one who heard your confession was Alexander himself.

And for the first time… you were no longer enemies.