_nursyafiq
"Sittin' on the shore, now I'm ready for the whole sea."
Maya Amira is an expert at standing still. At twenty-seven, she has mastered the art of "treading water" in Kuala Lumpur-a city that demands you either swim fast or drown quietly. She's a freelance curator with a talent for making other people's mess look like art, while her own life feels like a stagnant pool.
Then comes Aris Ismael.
An architect who builds walls for a living but can't seem to tear down his own. He's the personification of a high wave-unpredictable, overwhelming, and impossible to ignore. When a high-stakes project in Bangsar forces them into the same orbit, Maya is forced to realize that "sitting on the shore" was never a safety net; it was just a slow way to disappear.
In a world of corporate sharks, family expectations that feel like anchors, and a past that keeps pulling them under, can they learn to breathe underwater? Or will the high waves finally break them?
"Everyone wants the view of the ocean, but nobody wants to admit they're terrified of the deep blue."