"I've met her once. It was when I bumped into her after dropping you off on your first day of school."
"Bumped into her?" Revan narrowed his gaze. That sounded like an accident.
It was an accident, but a small one.
"I mean I bumped into her while she was walking away from your school. She wasn't paying attention because she was too focused on reading," Valen explained hastily, a bit panicked.
"Couldn't you avoid it?"
Valen smiled. "Me? Of course, I could."
Revan had stopped glaring but now narrowed his eyes again. He furrowed his brow.
"I deliberately let her bump into me. She seemed too focused on reading. There was no one else around at the time. Maybe that's why he didn't watch where he was going. I wanted to see her reaction, and then she was so surprised, which entertained me."
Revan looked at Valen with a bored expression.
Maybe Diana looked surprised earlier because she saw Valen.
"Seeing her so diligent in reading a book, like a bookworm. But what do you think?" Valen asked while looking at Diana, who was approaching with a bag in hand.
"Well, I guess you're right," Revan remembered how Diana always seemed to be in the library.
Diana cleared her throat. "Here's the bag," she said, not understanding the last thing Revan said. And Diana didn't want to know; she wasn't too concerned.
Revan took the bag and then handed over the bag he was carrying. "Here."
"Thanks. I don't know what I would've done with this switched bag if you hadn't come looking for me. I would've had to find your address for that," Diana said.
"No problem. Besides, we came here for dinner anyway," Revan replied.
"Um, how are you?"
"As you can see, I'm fine," Revan answered.
Revan knew what Diana meant. Luckily, Diana hadn't asked about the incident on the stairs.
"This may sound rude, but may I ask what your relationship is..." Diana looked back and forth between Valen and Revan. She was curious and asked without thinking.
"We're siblings. I'm Revan's older brother," Valen answered with a friendly smile.
Diana nodded in understanding. "Alright, I’m off to go back to work," she said, confirming her suspicion.
No wonder I felt familiar with him when I met him at school; he's Revan’s older brother. They do look alike, Diana thought to herself.
Revan nodded and let Diana go.
After Diana left, "Nonsense. You came here mainly because of the switched bags. Why don’t you admit it?" Valen raised an eyebrow.
"But what I said earlier wasn't wrong. We're having dinner here," Revan replied.
It would be very troublesome if my brother found out about the incident on the stairs, Revan thought, feeling relieved.
Luckily, Valen didn’t suspect Diana’s question about his condition. Honestly, Revan still felt a little pain in his head and back.
But Revan could handle it and was willing to see a doctor for this minor injury just to be safe.
"Oh yeah. Her name's Diana, right? She must be a smart kid. Is she your rival at school?"
Revan thought as if he had just realized something. "I don't consider her a rival because I don’t care. But you're right, she's pretty smart; if I'm not mistaken, she’s ranked first in her class."
"Well, imagine if she were in the same class as you, and she took the first-place position you've been holding? Would you still not care?" Valen grinned.
"I’d defend my rank," Revan answered with a slight pout.
"Hahaha. You didn’t answer it correctly. I said, if that happens, would you still not care? But it's fine, I already know the answer."
Revan pouted more because Valen was laughing. "You’re purposely messing with me."
"No, I just asked out of curiosity and was wondering what your answer would be," Valen replied casually.
"You act like a child. Your curiosity is too excessive. Your brain isn’t fully developed," Revan said while pointing at his head, teasing Valen in return.
A vein in Valen's temple throbbed. Valen was annoyed by Revan's words, which he said as if it was no big deal.
Luckily, their food arrived just in time to prevent Valen from throwing Revan through the restaurant’s glass wall.
Even so, Valen wasn’t going to let Revan off that easily.
Wait and see when we head home! Valen started thinking of his revenge strategy.
***
"Has my brother come home yet?" Diana muttered.
Diana had just left a supermarket after buying some groceries. She was walking back to the restaurant to get her bike. The distance between the restaurant and the supermarket wasn’t too far, so Diana decided not to bring her bike.
She just didn’t want to leave it in the supermarket’s parking lot, which was full of motorcycles and cars.
Suddenly, Diana stopped walking.
"The plane is expected to crash at 18:15," a news broadcast appeared on the LED display attached to a building.
Diana watched the news with a heavy breath. Her body started to tremble slowly. She struggled to hold on to the shopping bag, which suddenly felt heavy, even though the items inside weren’t that heavy.
***
Revan cursed under his breath as he walked. He was angry at his brother for leaving him when they were paying for their food. Revan thought Valen had gone outside the restaurant to wait for him, but it turned out Valen had already left in his car.
Revan was upset because Valen hadn’t said anything and just left. Revan wouldn’t have minded if Valen had told him; he could’ve gone home on his own.
It was just that Valen made him waste time looking for him like a fool.
Revan kept walking until he saw someone.
Her? Revan thought as he saw Diana standing still, staring at something.
Revan noticed Diana was shaking. Then, he was shocked by what he saw.
Tears were streaming down Diana’s face without restraint. She was crying silently, her body trembling.
Spontaneously, Revan wanted to approach her. He took a step, but the next step stopped.
He saw Diana stiffen as if holding her breath, and then, a second later, she wiped her tears and turned around.
Revan saw someone behind her, the one who had tapped Diana’s shoulder.
That person said something to Diana, and Diana smiled in response. Then, she spoke to the person as if everything was normal. The person smiled back at Diana.
***
"Hey, that person looks like Diana," Kevin stepped closer to Diana and tapped her shoulder.
She seemed a bit startled by the tap.
"It is Diana," Kevin said.
Diana smiled. "Kevin? I thought it was someone else."
Kevin smiled. "What a coincidence, huh? Seems like this is a sign that we're destined to be together."
Diana’s smile, which had already been forced, now looked even more awkward because of those words.
"I have to go home now. Bye." Diana quickly walked away and continued the journey she had interrupted earlier.
"Alright, take care!" Kevin waved at Diana, though he knew she couldn’t see him. Kevin sighed and also left. He too had to go home.
***
Revan stood where Diana had just stopped. He looked in the same direction Diana had, seeing the news still covering the plane crash. Revan furrowed his brow.
It seemed they didn’t notice me earlier, Revan shrugged.
Maybe they didn’t see me because I was too far away.
That night, Revan, who had never cared much about others, started to feel differently. He had a feeling something unexpected was going to happen.
Revan sighed again. He then tilted his head up to look at the night sky, which was completely void of stars.
Why am I even bothering to think about things that have nothing to do with me? My problems are enough to make me... Revan shook his head.
Revan decided to take his headset from his bag. He then walked toward the bus stop while listening to music. His mind began to calm down.