Chapter 35:

When Eyes Speak Louder

Soft Chords, Loud Hearts

Sometimes, life comes to a halt.

It doesn’t move forward, it doesn’t rewind.
It just... flows slowly.

After the final exams and the concert, that’s exactly how my life felt.
It was holiday season. Everyone was either traveling or "traveling" on social media.

And me?
I was just resting.
And I guess... thinking.

Lately, my conversations with Lyra had dwindled.
They had dwindled so much that sometimes I even wondered,
"Am I the one creating distance?"

Then I'd find myself holding my phone for hours, realizing no message was coming from her side either.
I didn’t know the reason.
Maybe... I didn’t want to know.
And just as I was thinking all this, of course, my life’s most classic move struck again:

I got sick.

Not just a little sniffle either.
I mean hooked up to an IV at the emergency room, collapsing back into bed the moment I got home kind of sick.

I didn’t feel anything anymore.
No hunger, no exhaustion, no excitement.
I was just a ghost under my blanket.

Lying at home with a 39°C fever, absentmindedly scrolling through videos, my phone buzzed.

“We're coming to visit you today, are you available?”
It was from Ray.

The fact that he said "we" meant he wasn't coming alone.

“I’m available, but you don’t have to come.” I texted back.
Honestly, I didn’t even want to get out of bed.
I would have preferred to stay home alone until my parents returned later in the evening.

“Nope, we can't be sure you won't just drop dead. And it’s not just me and Yasu. There's someone else too.”
Ray's message made me sit up slightly.

“Who?”
"You’ll see when we get there. Though, I’m pretty sure you already know."

Yeah, it was pretty clear.

But why?
And how did they even know I was sick?

I wanted to tell them not to come.
But the thought that Lyra would be coming...
I was curious.
Curious about the coldness that had suddenly grown between us lately.
Yet here she was, coming to visit me.

I pulled the blanket over my face.
For some reason, I felt both excited and anxious.
I just hoped the house wasn’t too messy.

35 – 2

About two hours later, the doorbell rang.
The medicine had kicked in, and my fever had dropped.
But my body was still ridiculously weak.

When the door rang, I had to hold onto the walls to walk.

I opened the door.

Standing there were Ray, Yasu, and... Lyra.

They were holding a bunch of bags and looking at me with a strange expression.

"Get well soon, idiot," Ray said with a grin.
Yasu had a half-smile on his face too.

Lyra, though...
She was just looking at me with those eyes.

"T-thank you," I stammered, overwhelmed. "Please, come in."

"If you’ll excuse us..." They all entered.

Now... was I supposed to play host?
What was I going to do in this state?
And Lyra was here too...

"Have you eaten anything?" Ray asked, concerned.
"No."
"What about breakfast?"
"Umm... nothing."
"What? You’re sick and not eating?! Are you stupid or something?" Ray stared at me in disbelief.
The other two listened silently.

"I didn’t have the strength," I said flatly.
(Okay, maybe I did, but I was just too lazy.)

Ray sighed deeply.
"Is the kitchen free?" Yasu asked, holding the bags.
"Yeah."
"Then go back to the living room and wait for us."
"T-totally..."

The three of them headed to the kitchen, and I... was sent to the living room.
I was being treated like the guest here.

35 – 3

I sat listening to their voices from the kitchen.
They were definitely cooking something.

Then I heard Ray's voice:
"Lyra, there’s nothing more for you to do here. Yasu and I will handle the rest. Could you stay with Yuta?"

Just hearing that made my breath hitch and sent a stupid rush of excitement through me.

"T-okay," Lyra said, coming out of the kitchen and sitting down across from me.

We didn't speak at first.
Lyra kept glancing at me, scanning me up and down with worried eyes.

"How’s it going?" I asked, trying to spark a conversation.
It had worked with Emi, after all.

But Lyra remained silent.
Silent...
Silent...

Finally, after swallowing and stammering, she replied:
"I-it's okay, I guess."
She even turned her face away.
Then she asked, "H-how are you feeling?"

I smiled.
I didn’t know why things felt so awkward, but I could talk—
(hopefully I wouldn't pass out mid-sentence.)

"Eh, I’ve had worse days," I said casually, spreading out on the couch and looking at the sweet, innocent girl sitting across from me.

Silence danced between us.
With every exchange, a calm would settle around us again.

Even though it was fragmented, we continued talking.

Ray and Yasu took their sweet time in the kitchen.
What the heck were they doing in there anyway?

As we talked, the conversation somehow drifted to the concert I had gone to.

"How was the concert?" Lyra asked, curious.
"It was great, actually—no, it was amazing," I said sincerely.
It really was the best Lyola concert I had ever seen.
The piano, the vocals, the musicality—everything had been perfect.

"I see. I’m glad..."
But instead of her usual sparkle, Lyra’s face fell.
Her voice sounded flat and sad.

I went quiet.
I wanted to dive deeper, but Lyra’s body language screamed at me to say something.

She seemed hesitant, like she was wrestling with something inside.
Finally, she took a quick, sharp breath and spoke:

"You ran into Emi at the concert too, right?"

The atmosphere grew heavier.
I didn’t know what this weird tension was, but it was thick now.
I had never seen Lyra like this before.

"Yeah, we ran into each other in line.
Then, thanks to Ray’s... um, mediation, we actually made up."
Thinking back, that idiot Ray really did help me patch things up with the one person I’d fallen out with.

"What do you think about that?" Lyra’s voice was sharp and cold.

"Think about what?" I asked, genuinely confused.

I heard her swallow.
"Does she have feelings for you? Or... d-do you...?"
Her sentence trailed off awkwardly, but it went exactly where I thought it would.
So she had been wondering.

I paused, but answered truthfully:
"Nah, I don’t think so. And I don't have any feelings for her either. I never really did."

Lyra looked straight into my eyes.
So deeply that it felt like she wasn’t looking for the answer in my words—
She was searching my soul.

"Then why were you carrying her on your—"
"We’re back! Food’s ready! Let’s all eat together!"

Ray barged in and cut her off.
She never finished her sentence.
Lyra shrank back into herself.

"I mean, I’m sick—what if you guys catch it too?"
"Hmm, good point. In that case, you eat at the coffee table and we'll eat at the dining table."
"O-okay..."

We ate, chatted briefly.
I was exhausted.
Noticing this, they decided to leave soon after.

I walked them to the door.

"Take care," Yasu said, giving my shoulder a light pat.
"Yeah, don’t die or anything," Ray joked.
"I’ll try," I smiled weakly.

Then it was Lyra’s turn.
"Take care of yourself," she said, her eyes full of concern.
It felt like she wasn’t entirely happy, but I didn’t have the energy to figure it out.

"O-okay."

After they left, I dragged myself upstairs and collapsed onto my bed.
I picked up my phone.
My fever was spiking again, and I was so sleepy.

I don’t even know what I did next exactly—
The last thing I remember is looking at my chat with Lyra.
Then somehow seeing the red “End Call” button...
and the timer counting upwards.

I accidentally called her?

"Oh no, I should hang up..."

But I couldn’t move.
I was frozen.

Maybe I fell asleep for a short while.

The next thing I remember—
was opening my eyes just a crack.

I was lying on my back.
The blanket half-covered me.
The sunset’s red light was streaming into the room.

And someone was sitting beside me.

Looking at me with deep seriousness and concern.
I felt the warmth of a hand gently holding my right hand.

When I barely opened my eyes,
the thing I saw—
were shining emerald green eyes.

And those eyes...
were looking right at me.

Lyra was sitting there, right beside me.

I think she said something like,
"Yuta, why did you lie to me?"