#3 : too fast, too bright, too much.

The mountains looked better at night.

Dim lights scattered below like lazy fireflies, the city lights weren't there like the good old times. Seth sat on a flat rock, elbows on his knees, quiet for once. I leaned against the bike, helmet dangling from one hand.

We didn’t talk for a while. That was the best thing about him—he never needed to fill the quiet.

“I used to think this place was the whole world,” Seth finally said, his voice low, like the mountain might echo if he raised it.

“You used to think chewing gum was currency,” I replied.

He laughed. “Yeah, well. I’ve grown.”

“Barely.”

He threw a small rock at me. Missed. “You ever wonder what’s next?”

“All the time,” I said. “Usually when I’m elbow-deep in a cadaver’s chest cavity.”

“Charming.”

I looked at him. The glow from the city lit the edge of his jaw, soft but sharp. He looked calm. Too calm.

“That’s what you brought me out here for? Existential dread under the stars?”

Seth shook his head. “Not exactly.”

I waited. I knew the shift when it came—his shoulder straightened, his knee stopped bouncing. Whatever it was, it mattered.

“I’m leaving,” he said.

I blinked. “Leaving where?”

He looked out at the lights. “The US. In two weeks.”

The dim lights were suddenly put out. Or maybe I just noticed it now.

“You got in?”

He nodded. “Full acceptance. I’m gonna study architecture there. My parents filed for citizenship not long after I was born. Got approved last year. I’ve been sitting on it.”

I nodded slowly, lips pressed together. “That’s… good.”

“It’s something.”

“Are you upset?” he said slowly, pronouncing every words in a particular manner as if he wanted me to say “Yes”

Before I noticed, I had already let out the grumpy, annoyed expression of mine.

“You always wanted out,” I said finally. “Always said you’d build something somewhere brighter.”

“I just didn’t think it’d feel this weird.”

I sat down next to him. The rock was cold.

I looked up to the night sky “Maybe we'll just have too different lives under the same sky. ”

“You'll become what's you've been working hard all along. And I... maybe I'll be saving lives in the refugee shelters. ”

“I look the most attractive in white coat if you hadn't see me yet. ”

He laughed, and then looked at me, serious this time. “I don’t want to disappear on you.”

“You won’t.”

“Even if I suck at texting?”

“I’ll text for both of us.”

He nodded. “We’ll meet again. After all this—whatever it is.”

“We better,” I said. “Otherwise I’m suing.”

“For what?”

“Emotional damage.”

He smiled, and it was real this time. The lights flickered down below. A dog barked somewhere far off. The moment settled, solid and strange.

I stood up and stretched. “Come on. I’ll drop you off before I change my mind and chain you to a rock.”

“Romantic,” he muttered, following me back to the bike.

We didn’t talk on the ride back. Didn’t need to. The engine roared, the wind hit sharp, and the city rolled past like it always did—𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩.

When we pulled up to his gate, he hopped off and looked at me like he wanted to say something more.

“Thanks for the ride,” he said instead.

“Always.”

He gave me a half-salute, turned, and walked inside. No drama. No big ending.

Just two weeks left, and a silence that stuck to my skin.

I revved the engine, like that could drown it out.

Didn't work.

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