The Sun and The Moon

On the third floor, two students were walking through the corridor while having a light conversation until they walked through a door. Hearing silence from there, they peeked inside. They flinched when the lecturer hit the table with a long ruler.

"So it's still class time," Brissia muttered, grimacing at the sight of the middle-aged lecturer inside scolding a student.

Gierra, who was standing next to her, brought her palm to her forehead. "Shoot! I forgot my phone! Come in first, Bris!"

"What?! No!" Brissia opposed. "You see who's inside, didn't you?"

Gierra let out a sigh. "I did. Just say that you've been lying in the sickroom or something!"

Her friend's departure left Brissia the only person in front of the classroom door. She looked back at the blue sky.

A few moments ago, she was in the sickroom as Gierra said. No one knew why she was there because even Gierra only came in seconds after she woke up. The best she could remember was her conversation with Harris and Gabriel.

She was about to look for someone who interfered strongly in the matter until someone came from a distance. Her heart skipped a beat. The somber face of the man in the dark blue uniform flashed before her eyes.

When their eyes met, Brissia immediately looked away. It took her two seconds to work up the courage to look back at him, precisely when his shoulder had passed hers.

Just then, the door beside her was opened. Dozens of students walked out of the class without being aware of her existence except for one.

"Brissia! My goodness... where have you been all along?! Are you that scared of the lecturer today?" queried Nicholas while shaking the girl's shoulders as she seemed to be contemplating something.

Gierra stepped aside as the lecturer she saw slamming a ruler onto a desk walked through the crowd of students. After that, she quickened her pace to his two friends. "What the... stop shaking her, Nicho!"

Nicholas froze while looking at Gierra in confusion. His eyes then moved to Brissia who suddenly brushed his hand away and looked at him grimly.

"I'm fine. Aren't we going to the cafe right after this?"

"Oh, right," Nicholas answered then followed her, beckoning Gierra to hurry up and follow them.

"Seriously?" Gierra said. "How come you still remember our appointment when you don't even remember how you fell asleep in the sickroom?"

Instead of paying attention to Gierra's words, Brissia looked up at the bright sky. Her eyes narrowed as she accidentally met the sun's gaze. They were naturally not meant to meet each other's eyes, just like when she ran into him earlier. It made her wonder if the sun ever felt lonely while shining so brightly for the universe.

***

Brissia sipped her drink while looking indifferently at Nicholas and Gierra who sat across from her, joking with each other. For some reason, it made her feel strange all of a sudden. Apart from them, many couples were visiting the cafe that day. Thus, she placed her drink on the table, walked out of the cafe.

Nicholas turned his head as Brissia walked through the door. Gierra stood up, said something to Nicholas while pointing at the cashier, making Nicholas nod. Nicholas got up and rushed out of the cafe when Gierra walked to the cashier.

"Brissia!"

The dark brown haired girl turned her head when she heard Nicholas's voice behind her. The man stopped in front of her.

"What?" Brissia asked in suspicion, noticing that Nicholas looked a bit agitated than usual.

"You don't mind if I go out with Ji, do you? We're not going to leave you alone, I promise."

Brissia fell silent. She glanced at Gierra, who was talking to the cashier. Memories of them laughed warmly played in her brain, followed by memories of when the two of them were playing on the beach sand.

"Bris?"

"Alright, alright, go confess. Why are you so worried about that?" asked Brissia with a gentle laugh.

However, Nicholas's agitated gaze did not go away. Brissia rolled her eyes then patted Nicholas on the shoulder, making the man look at Brissia in surprise.

"Nicho, just tell her."

Nicholas took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then nodded firmly. A relieved smile graced Brissia's lips.

"Come in when you're done talking to nature. I don't want you to catch a cold because I'm going to ask out a girl tonight, okay?"

Brissia chuckled at that, nodding. However, just for a second she saw Nicholas entering the cafe, suddenly someone from behind pulled her hand. She shrieked while letting go of their grips quickly. Her eyes widened and her lips pressed together to see her father and mother standing before her, glaring at her.

Gierra, who recognized the scream as Brissia's, turned her head to the glass door in surprise. Her eyes widened when she saw the presence of Brissia's parents.

"Nicho…."

Nicholas stared unblinkingly at how Brissia had repeatedly refused to be touched by them. He and Gierra rushed out of the cafe, ignoring the shocked gazes of the other visitors. Just seeing her parents trying to grab Brissia by the shoulders was enough to make their blood boil.

"Let her go, please!" Gierra exclaimed, pulling Brissia aside. "She's here with us to do group assignments."

"That's right. She isn't lazing around so please be gentler with her," said Nicholas solemnly.

The glamorous woman next to the man in the suit who was grabbing Brissia's hand chuckled sarcastically, saying to them, "Don't lie. Brissia has never studied in a public place."

Nicholas and Gierra were staying still, not letting go of their grip on Brissia's hand, nor did their wary glances at the glamorous man and woman.

"Go home, Brissia. I had heard the disappointing news from your academic supervisor."

At that moment, Brissia felt as if the world had stopped turning. However, she was sick of being a mass spectacle. Thus, she let go of Nicholas and Gierra's grip, causing them to turn their heads in surprise to Brissia.

"Brissia! Don't!" Gierra whispered in panic.

Brissia smiled briefly to her and Nicholas before followed her parents to a car parked across the street. Nicholas was staring at her worriedly until he received a message from someone.

"Good luck with your first date. Don't worry, I'm used to this." — Bree.

Nicholas clutched his cellphone as the car carrying Brissia drove farther and farther away from the area. He turned to Gierra, who looked uneasy. He took her shoulder carefully, leading her back to the cafe. Gierra couldn't take her eyes off the direction Brissia's parents' car left until she sat down across from Nicholas.

Meanwhile, a man in a checkered shirt who was sitting in a different corner of the cafe, stared out the window with a deadpan look.

"No way… that's the girl who made a fuss with you in the campus corridor, right?"

The man sipped his coffee quietly before returning to typing on his laptop keyboard, making the sweater-clad man sitting next to him stare at him in surprise. Out of excitement, he closed the checkered-shirt man's laptop without warning, making him stare intently at the asker.

"You saw her expression, didn't you? You know exactly how ruined a student's life is if their grades are ruined as well?" whispered the man wearing the sweater. However, the man in the checkered shirt didn't react, causing him to let out a long sigh.

***

"How many times have you got a D this semester?"

Brissia remained silent in front of her parents, who stood with cold eyes fixed on her. The white marble floor under her feet didn't calm her in the least, not even the luxurious furnishings around her.

"Look around you, Brissia. This house and all the facilities that I bought with such difficulty are not for you to enjoy if you only intend to embarrass us!" snapped Brissia's father, making Brissia squint her eyes.

"Answer me, Brissia. Are you purposely causing trouble because you don't like being in your major?"

Her father's question ignited Brissia's emotions. However, all that came out of her mouth was, "No."

Brissia flinched as her mother stepped toward her, making her back away. "Both of you never cared about what I like, yet wished me to accomplish your goals?! I have feelings too!"

Both her parents were shocked to hear Brissia scream at them. Seeing his wife shaken, Brissia's father walked over to Brissia and swung his hand toward Brissia's cheek. But Brissia quickly picked up a pillow that was on the sofa behind her, aimed it at her father's palm so that it was blown away with flying feathers.

"Achoo!"

"Dear!"

Brissia's father watched in panic as her mother sneezed when pillow feathers flew nearby from the huge fan above the living room. The girl immediately walked away, glancing through the pillow feathers flying in the air about how her father was worried about her mother. She flinched when her mother pointed at her, making her quicken her steps toward the stairs.

"BRISSIA! HOW DARE YOU!"

She ignored her father's voice that echoed in every corner of the room, quickly climbed the stairs.

Clack!

"Hah...," she sighed as soon as she locked her bedroom door. Then she walked over to the bed, slamming her back against it. Her eyes stared emptily at the blue sky behind her bedroom window until her phone vibrated, showing notifications of the daily assignments for the Financial Accounting course.

Brissia closed her eyes for a moment before reaching into her bag, pulling out her laptop. Accompanied by the evening sky and a feeling of tightness in her chest, Brissia started typing numbers into her worksheet. However, her finger stopped as soon as she remembered someone in the cafe with a familiar posture. Even though she only caught a glimpse of it from outside the cafe while talking to Nicholas, she recognized the figure of a man in a shirt sitting in front of the east window of the cafe and typing on a laptop.

"Why do they have to look the same?"