My Last And My Only

Chapter 75: Quiet Chemistry

The first Wednesday passed more quietly than either of them expected.

Multimedia Laboratory Three became their meeting place almost by accident.

Every Wednesday after class, the room belonged to the Documentation and Publicity committees. Most of the volunteers only stayed long enough to receive instructions before leaving to accomplish their assigned tasks elsewhere on campus.

Eventually...

Only Aiah and Khae remained.

The first time it happened, neither of them commented on it.

Khae sat across from Aiah with her laptop open, reviewing publicity captions while Aiah sorted through photographs she had taken around the campus earlier that morning.

The silence between them wasn't awkward.

It simply existed.

Occasionally, one of them would ask a question.

"Will the orientation banner be printed in landscape?" Aiah asked without looking away from her monitor.

Khae checked the layout on her laptop.

"It has to be. The standee dimensions won't fit a portrait design."

Aiah nodded.

"I'll crop the photos differently."

"Okay."

That was all. No unnecessary conversation. Just work. And somehow... It worked.

By the second meeting, they had already fallen into an unspoken rhythm.

Aiah always arrived first.
Khae always brought coffee.
Not intentionally.
It just happened that way.

When Khae walked into the laboratory that afternoon, she was carrying two paper cups.

She stopped halfway.

"I..."

She looked at the extra cup before letting out an embarrassed laugh.

"I forgot."

"What?" asked Aiah.

"I bought two."

Silence.

Khae scratched the back of her neck.

"I used to."

The sentence hung between them. Because it was true.
She used to buy Aiah's coffee without asking. She still remembered the order.

Medium iced latte.
Less sugar.
Extra espresso.

She had ordered it out of habit.
Without thinking.
Without meaning to.

Aiah stared at the cup for a moment before smiling gently.

"I still drink that."

"...I know." Khae swallowed.

Neither of them knew what else to say.
Finally, Aiah reached for the cup.

"Thank you."

It wasn't an acceptance of the past.
Nor was it a promise for the future.
It was simply gratitude.
And somehow... That was enough.

The following week demanded more from both committees.

The University Fair was getting closer.

Campus organizations had begun submitting publicity requests one after another, leaving Khae buried beneath approval forms while Aiah's memory cards filled with hundreds of photographs documenting rehearsals, booth preparations, and meetings.