I Hate Love - Too close to ignore

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I HATE LOVE — Episode 2: “Too Close to Ignore”

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(Kai Rivers × Jude Parker)

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The next day didn’t feel different.

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Ridgewood High stayed the same—same noise, same chaos, same faces pretending they mattered.

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But Kai Rivers noticed something new.

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Or rather… someone.

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Jude Parker.

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He wasn’t hard to spot.

He was laughing in the corridor, talking too much, moving too freely like the world wasn’t heavy enough to slow him down.

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Kai hated that.

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Not the laughter.

Not the energy.

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Just the fact that he noticed it at all.

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“Hey! Wait up!”

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Jude’s voice came from behind him.

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Kai kept walking.

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He always did.

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But Jude didn’t stop.

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He fell into step beside him anyway, slightly out of breath.

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“You really don’t like talking, huh?” Jude asked.

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Silence.

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Kai didn’t even look at him.

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Jude nodded like that was an answer.

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“Okay… noted.”

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A few seconds passed.

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Jude didn’t leave.

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That alone was irritating.

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Kai finally spoke without looking at him.

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“Why are you following me?”

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Jude blinked. “I’m not following you. I’m just… walking in the same direction.”

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Kai stopped walking.

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Jude almost walked into him.

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That made him pause.

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Kai turned slightly.

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“Don’t,” he said simply.

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One word.

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Cold. Final.

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But Jude didn’t step back.

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Instead, he looked at him properly now.

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Like he was studying something complicated.

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“You say ‘don’t’ a lot,” Jude said quietly. “But you don’t actually push people away properly.”

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Kai’s eyes narrowed.

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That was the first real reaction.

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For a moment, neither of them spoke.

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The hallway around them kept moving, but it felt distant.

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Jude shouldn’t have said that.

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He knew it.

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But something about Kai didn’t feel like danger.

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It felt like restraint.

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Like he was holding himself back from something he didn’t know how to handle.

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“You don’t know anything about me,” Kai said finally.

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Jude gave a small shrug.

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“I know enough.”

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Kai’s jaw tightened slightly.

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That was new.

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No one usually stayed this long in his space.

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No one usually spoke like they weren’t afraid of breaking something.

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Then the bell rang.

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People started moving again.

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Reality returned.

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Kai turned away first.

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Of course he did.

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But as he walked off, Jude’s voice followed him one last time.

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“I think you’re just pretending you don’t care.”

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Kai didn’t stop walking.

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But for a fraction of a second—

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he did slow down.

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And Jude noticed.

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Of course he did.

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That evening, Kai stood alone on the rooftop of the school building.

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Wind cold. Sky fading orange.

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Quiet again.

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The kind he preferred.

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But for some reason—

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Jude’s voice kept replaying in his head.

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You don’t actually push people away properly.

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Kai clenched his hand slightly.

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Annoying.

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Just annoying.

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Down below, Jude looked up at the building without knowing why.

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Like something was pulling his attention there.

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And for a moment—

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their worlds almost aligned.

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Almost.

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End of Episode 215Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZ9qbWXWZq

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