The Choice

CHAPTER-11

The song was released on a Tuesday.

I was sent a link sent through an email thread I’d opened half-asleep, the subject line short and clinical.

Final version uploaded.

By noon, it was everywhere.

Clips spread across social media faster than I could keep up with. Comments stacked endlessly beneath reposts, reactions pouring in from people I’d never met, never would.

The numbers climbed quietly, then all at once.

She sounds different.
This feels more mature.
Her voice has changed.

I sat in the campus library pretending to study, my phone face-down on the table, my heartbeat too loud for the silence around me.

It felt unreal.

And heavy.

Weeks had passed since the night at the park.

Not enough time for the feeling to fade.

But just enough for it to feel like I was creating this distance between us or worse maybe even rejecting him...

Finals season didn’t help.

My schedule became a mess of late-night rehearsals, early exams, meetings with my label that left me drained in ways sleep didn’t fix.

Issei’s exam days clashed with mine more often than not, our free hours missing each other by narrow margins that felt almost intentional.

Almost.

I told myself it wasn’t avoidance.

Just bad timing.

But there were moments I could’ve reached out.

Moments I didn’t.

Sometimes I caught sight of him across campus.

Headphones in, backpack slung over one shoulder and my chest would tighten before I could stop it.

By the time I worked up the courage to wave, he’d already turned the corner.

The distance settled quietly between us.

I didn’t want that to happen but it was happening now and despite being the one in control I felt powerless.

I was probably starting to show signs of weariness at this point.

Minori noticed before I admitted it to myself.

“You’ve been staring at your phone like it owes you money,” she said, dropping into the chair across from me, nudging my tray aside.

“I’m not,” I replied automatically.

She raised an eyebrow.

I exhaled. “Okay. Maybe I am.”

She didn’t rush me. Just waited, patient in that way that always made me talk more than I planned to.

“I think I messed up,” I said quietly.

“With who?” she asked.

I hesitated.

Minori leaned back slightly, studying my face instead of the room. “Message Issei.”

My head snapped up. “-What?”

“He’s more understanding than you think,” she added, casually.

I stared at her. “I didn’t even say his name.”

“You didn’t have to,” she said. “You get quieter when it’s about him.”

Heat crept up my neck. “I didn’t mean to pull away,” I admitted. “Everything just started happening all at once. Finals. The release. Meetings. And I kept thinking I’d reach out later.”

“And now it feels weird,” she finished.

I nodded.

She tilted her head. “So message him.”

“I can’t.”

That got her attention. “Why not?”

“…I don’t have his number.”

For a moment, she just blinked at me.

Then she laughed softly. “Kana.”

“I know,” I muttered. “It just never came up. We kept running into each other, and then suddenly everything felt too important to ask.”

Minori pulled her phone out without another word. “I’ll send it to you.”

I hesitated. “Are you sure?”

She looked up, expression gentler now. “If you weren’t sure about him, you wouldn’t be this nervous.”

A pause.

Then my phone buzzed.

“There,” she said. “No more excuses.”

I stared at the screen, his name suddenly heavier than it should’ve been.

Message Issei.

This time, the choice was mine.

What would I even say?

Sorry I disappeared.
Sorry I was just too busy avoiding you.
Sorry I didn’t know how to exist in both worlds at once.

I closed the app without sending anything.

The song kept climbing.

Interviews were scheduled. Appearances discussed. Conversations shifted subtly but unmistakably image, branding, visibility.

Be careful.

The word followed me again.

Late one evening, walking home alone, I passed the park.

The lights were on.

The bench was empty.

I stopped anyway.

Sat down. Let the cold seep through my coat.

For the first time, I wondered if my silence had already said too much.

CHAPTER-11 END