The alarm rang.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKM9cE7pHlU
Loud. Relentless. Annoying.
Jade groaned and buried his face deeper into the pillow. His hand searched blindly across the small bedside table, knocking over a pen, his phone, and the crumpled pages of yesterday’s notes before finally hitting the alarm clock.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
He slammed the button. Blessed silence filled the room.
For a long moment, he just lay there, staring at the pale cracks in the ceiling of his small dorm. The faint hum of the fan above him mixed with the muffled sounds of life outside: footsteps in the hallway, laughter of roommates from the next door, the familiar chaos of a university morning.
But mornings always felt heavier for him. Not because he hated school no, he loved studying. It was the reminder that came with every sunrise, every breath, every dull ache in his chest.
That secret.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPceyZQSPt
That sickness.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqyg5VNHNt
The shadow that clung to him no matter how much he tried to ignore it.
His hand lingered on his chest for a second longer than necessary. He whispered, “Not today.”
He had made a promise to himself: the sickness would never define him. He would not let it take away what little control he had.
That was why he had chosen this path20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYp9L0X0cZX
Bachelor of Secondary Education, Major in English.
A future teacher. A shaper of minds. Someone who could live on through words, even if time refused to grant him forever.
By the time Jade stepped onto campus, the sun had already climbed high, spreading golden light across the courtyard. Students rushed past him in clusters some half-asleep, clutching coffee, others already laughing about last night’s group chat memes.
Jade adjusted the strap of his worn bag and quickened his pace. He always arrived early. It gave him time to settle into the classroom before the noise began.
The College of Education building greeted him with familiar walls covered in posters about seminars, student organizations, and volunteer opportunities. He barely glanced at them.
He wasn’t here to socialize.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zyNmcwxHX
He wasn’t here to join clubs or stand out.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNFd5SLak4
He was here to study, to survive, and maybe—just maybe—to leave something meaningful behind.
The classroom buzzed as always when he arrived.
Aizen and Blake were in the corner, whispering about a crush from the Engineering department. At the back, Nics and Skyler were arguing about who forgot their part of the group assignment. Near the door, a trio of boys played music on a phone, too loud for the hour.
Jade slipped quietly to his usual seat by the window. The chair squeaked as he sat, and he pulled out his notebook, doodling absentminded lines while the noise around him swirled.
It wasn’t that Jade disliked his classmates—he just didn’t belong to their circles. He was the type who blended into the background, the one people noticed only when attendance was called. And for him, that was enough.
When the professor entered, the classroom settled.
“Good morning, class!” boomed Professor Hyun, a tall man with thick glasses and a smile that was far too energetic for Monday. He carried an armful of books that looked older than half the students in the room. “Today, we begin with Shakespeare. I trust you’ve all done your reading?”
Groans echoed. Nics whispered a desperate prayer. Skyler tried to hide her unfinished notes.
Jade only smiled faintly. Unlike the others, he had read ahead.
Literature was his refuge. Stories were safe they didn’t judge, didn’t turn away, didn’t ask questions he couldn’t answer. Books asked only to be read, to be felt.
The lecture flowed. Professor Hyun spoke about love in Shakespeare’s works, about passion and tragedy, about characters who lived and died for love that could not last. His voice was a steady rhythm, carrying the weight of centuries-old words.
Jade scribbled quickly in his notebook, until one line caught him and held him still:
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.”
He wrote it down carefully, then stared at the words.
What did Shakespeare know of love? Was love truly a matter of the mind? Or was it something crueler, rooted deep in the fragile heart where reason could not protect it?
A soft ache pulsed in his chest again. Jade pressed a hand there quickly, covering it with his notebook so no one would notice.
The day slipped by, one lecture blending into the next. By late afternoon, Jade’s schedule brought him to the university clinic for his monthly check-up.
He hated these appointments. But his doctor had insisted.
So here he was, sitting on the wooden bench outside the clinic, tapping his pen against his notebook, trying not to feel like a patient.
The sky above was soft with the hint of rain, clouds slowly gathering, the air thick with the scent of an incoming storm.
That’s when the door opened.
And out stepped someone who would change everything.
He was in a crisp white uniform, a stethoscope hanging around his neck like it belonged there. His ID card swung lightly against his chest: College of Allied Health Sciences.
He carried a stack of files in his arms, laughing at something his classmate had said. His laughter was warm, easy, the kind of sound that carried in the air like sunlight breaking through clouds.
Jade froze. His chest tightened not from his sickness, but from something he couldn’t name.
As if sensing his gaze, the boy looked over.
Their eyes met. Just for a second.
But it was enough.
The boy said something quickly to his classmate, then walked over.
“Hey,” he greeted, his smile easy and natural. “You’re here for a check-up too?”
Jade blinked, caught off guard. “Uh… yeah.”
The boy shifted the files against his hip, his expression light. “I’m Danielle. MedTech intern. Sorry if I look like a mess—these papers never end.” He chuckled, and it was the kind of laugh that pulled people in, like he was letting them share a secret.
“Jade,” he replied softly.
“Nice to meet you, Jade.” Danielle’s smile widened. His eyes were bright, curious. “So… Education major?”
Jade nodded. “English.”
“Cool. Must be nice to spend your days with books.” Danielle tilted his head, thoughtful. “I spend mine chasing blood samples and reports.”
Something about the way he said it made Jade laugh quietly, but genuinely.
Danielle noticed. His grin grew. “Hey, I made you laugh. That’s a win.”
Jade looked down, embarrassed, pretending to focus on his notebook.
“Well,” Danielle said after a moment, shifting his files again, “I should get back before I get scolded. But maybe I’ll see you around?”
Before Jade could answer, he was gone disappearing back into the clinic with his classmate.
The space felt strangely empty without him.
Jade lowered his eyes to his notebook and scribbled beneath Shakespeare’s line:
“And sometimes, the sun finds you even in the darkest corners.”
He stared at the words for a long time.
He didn’t know why he had written them, only that the moment felt different.
He didn’t know it then…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJtZVy9y8u
But that fleeting encounter, that brief smile it was the beginning of something he wasn’t ready for.
Something that would change everything.
ns216.73.216.136da2
and then Add to home screen.