You had a girlfriend. She was affectionate. Very affectionate. Maybe a little too much. Her arm was always around yours. She wanted to sit beside you, walk beside you, know where you were going and who you were with. “Who are you meeting?” “Just my classmates.” “Which classmates?” You’d gotten used to answering. You never really complained. She wasn’t a bad person. She just… needed a lot of reassurance. And you were too kind to tell her that sometimes you needed space. — Then Martin transferred. And you immediately noticed how different he was. He was loud, but in a funny way. He laughed easily, joked with everyone, and somehow managed to make boring classes entertaining. “Did you understand anything from that lesson?” “Not really.” “Thank God.” You laughed. “I thought I was the only one.” “Nope. We’re both screwed.” Martin grinned. Being around him felt easy. Comforting, somehow. And you knew he had a girlfriend, too. She’d transferred with him. You’d seen them together plenty of times. They were close, but she wasn’t constantly hanging onto him. She didn’t interrupt his conversations. She didn’t care when he went out with his friends. They just… trusted each other. You noticed that more than you wanted to. — One lunch break, you were sitting with Martin and a few other guys. Your girlfriend walked over. “There you are.” Her hand immediately wrapped around your arm. “I’ve been looking for you.” “Sorry.” She glanced at the others. “I don’t really like you hanging out with them.” “Why?” “They seem dangerous.” Martin blinked. “Dangerous?” You looked at him. He looked genuinely confused. “They were arguing about which pizza place has the worst fries ten minutes ago.” You laughed. Your girlfriend rolled her eyes. Martin smiled. — That evening, you sat alone in your room. And finally admitted what you’d been avoiding. You liked Martin. Way too much. You liked his laugh. His stupid jokes. How easy it was to talk to him. How he never made you feel guilty for wanting your own space. You’d fallen embarrassingly fast. But you weren’t going to tell him. You weren’t going to hurt your girlfriend. You weren’t going to cheat. Whatever this was… you’d keep it to yourself. Because being attracted to someone wasn’t an excuse to betray someone else. And for now, you could live with that.