The next morning, the cold breeze of January had brought Maple leaves with them. The Sun had already peeped through the little space between the curtains on the Window and was reaching up to his bed and then to his face.[Hummm] he opened his eyes when the rays of sun broke his beautiful dream. He rose up from the bed and stood on his feet.
Stretching his arms, he grabbed for the table containing Lord Ganesha's statue, as well as his grandmother's photograph. "It's my birthday today, Ganesha," he muttered, staring at the statue.
He paused for a moment before murmuring again, "I will take your silence as wishing me a good birthday and blessed me with happiness."
After taking a shower and getting dressed for school, he was walking down from his room by the stairs. As he was walking, A message came on his phone with the sound of "Tung".
He took out his phone from his pocket. A surprised yet perplexed expression took over his face as he saw that massage.
The message was neither from Win nor from his old friend Siddharth. It was from
someone named Sarane, wishing him a happy birthday. He narrowed his eyes and tried to remember who Sarane was[Sarane is Win. No, no Win is wanderlust ] he said to himself.
Then he replied to the message by typing thankyou with a smiling emoji, thinking that it might be someone from the school whom he will come to know by the time and continued to walk down the stairs.
As he walked down, he saw the hall room empty which was as strange as it had to
be occupied by his father at that time. He went into the Kitchen and found nobody there. The day before's dishes were still in the sink and the sticky note he had unstacked was still on the floor
[Maybe they are still asleep] he said to himself in mind he walked into his Patient's room and then to his sister's room but he found nobody there. It made him a little upset as it shows that they had not returned home yet.[Where is everyone?] He said in mind. Suddenly, a smile stretched from his ear to ear as a thought[Maybe they are planning for my birthday party] came to his head.
He then ate an apple since he had no time to prepare breakfast. He wrote "I am going to school. Don't worry I will come back after doing my part-time job. Love you!! " on a sticky note and sticked on the door of the fridge and headed to the school.
*****
On his way, he bought a packet of candy in order to give it to his friend as it is his birthday.
"Good morning" Win greeted him with a smile as he approached him in the classroom.
"Good morning," he said as he placed his backpack on his disk. He took out some candies and turned to Win and said, "Win, Today's my birthday. here take these " while forwarding them to Win.
"Happy birthday My beloved friend" In a dramatic tone Win stated as he took those candies.
As Win began to unwrap the candies more students came to wish him, every time any student wished him a smile stretched from his ear to ear.
"Here, If I had known today is your birthday yesterday then I would have bought a better gift but for now accept this" Win said as he forwarded a small package covered with notebook pages as gift wrap.
As he took the gift from Win's grip a smile stretched from his ear to ear. He didn't waste any minutes and unwrapped the gift in front of Win. as the Pieces of paper fell on the floor Kind's heart was at the pick of joy which could not be expressed in words.
"Thank you Win It is the best gift I ever had till now," Kind said as he found that the gift was a book that he was searching in the stores the day before, though it was already by Win Kind felt special.
*****
Kind had a hectic day, but every instructor and student who approached him wished him a good day. Today, Teacher Limbu also assigned a large number of homework tasks. Kind exited the classroom with his belongings in his book bag. The corridor was busy with pupils making their way to the academy's front door. Kind, like the previous days, walks out of school with Win. They each say their goodbyes with "See you tomorrow."
Unlike yesterday, Kind thought the walk to the cafe was shorter today, maybe because he knew the route so well. The temperature outside the cafe was low enough to cause a fever. Fortunately, Kind had bought warm clothes to wear while working today; even though it was his birthday, he still had to work since he didn't want to irritate his father.
He entered the café with a few steps and walked into the customary staffroom to change from his school uniform to the cafe's uniform. After a few moments, he returns to work, grateful to Jun that from now on, his job would be to make the orders rather than deal with those jerkish customers.
"So, now are you fine working at the desk?"Benita stated that Kind had a little moment to talk as he was in his 5 minutes break.
"Umm," Kind then takes out some candies from his pocket and forward to Benita saying, "Today's my birthday, have these candies" with a little smile.
"Oh, happy birthday," Benita said as she took candies from his hands
"Here have this as your gift" Benita took out a cupcake from the pile of decorated yet edible cupcakes that were kept on the counter.
"Thank you," Kind murmured as he grabbed the cake from her grasp. He then chewed a little piece of the cape cake when a message appeared on his phone's screen. He almost dropped the cupcake from his palm when he looked at the phone.
His fingers froze mid-air.
The half-bitten cupcake lay near his shoes now, frosting smudged on the concrete floor of the café.
On the phone screen—his hallway.his name painted in dark, sloppy letters across the wall.And in the corner… a silhouette. Unmistakably human. Watching.
No message. No sender. Just the image.
His breath came shallow. For a moment, the buzzing hum of the espresso machine disappeared, replaced by the sound of his own pulse hammering in his ears.
He looked around the café.
Benita was busy arranging muffins, her face unreadable. A customer was at the counter, asking something, but the words didn't register.
He backed away. Slid the phone into his pocket like it was burning.
That night, Kind returned home late.
The hallway lights were off. The sticky note he'd left on the fridge was still there, untouched. His father's coat was missing from the hanger. So was his sister's school bag. But the silence in the house was so complete, it felt staged.
He didn't ask questions.
He didn't know which questions to ask.
But that night, he didn't sleep much.
Later that week, in school
In the back row of Chemistry, Kind leaned on his desk, doodling spirals in the margins of his notebook. The lectures didn't reach him.
Something about the school had changed. Or maybe he had changed since the photo. He kept catching stares from students he didn't remember meeting. Teachers acted distant. Careful.
And then there was Jun.
Quiet. Observant. Always around—but never too close.
Kind had once thought Jun was just another bored part-timer. But lately, he noticed things: how Jun always seemed to know which corridor had a broken light. How he always happened to be near when there was trouble. How students avoided him when they whispered too loudly.
And how, that day, when Kind bumped into him behind the library, Jun instinctively reached toward his pocket—where Kind could swear he glimpsed the edge of a badge.
He said nothing.
Neither did Jun.
One week later
Two students didn't show up.
Both from the scholarship program. No family in town. No one questioned it. No announcements. No concern.
Kind noticed.
He remembered one of their names. She'd borrowed a pen from him once in math class. Now, her desk sat empty.
"Where's Mira?" he had asked Win.
Win didn't even look up. "She probably dropped out."
But her bag was still in her locker.
That night, Kind and Jun cross paths in the alley behind the café.
Jun had a box in his hands—sealed, unmarked. His coat was slightly damp, and there was something metallic tucked under his sleeve. Kind stopped when he saw him.
"You live around here?" Kind asked, trying to sound casual.
Jun's eyes flicked toward him, unreadable.
"Why are you always watching people?" Kind asked, finally.
A long silence.
Then Jun smiled faintly. "Because someone has to."