He Chose Everyone Else… Until I Became The One He Couldn’t Ignore

Episode 7: Wrong Timing

I told myself I wouldn’t look again.

But that was a lie.

Because even when I turned my face away, I still felt him there. Like my eyes already knew where to go without asking me.

The corridor was louder than usual, but I wasn’t hearing any of it properly. Just fragments. Footsteps. Laughter. Names being called. Everything mixed together except one thing I didn’t want to notice again.

Him…And her.

Still close, Still talking.

Still acting like nothing else existed around them.

I should have kept walking. I really should have. But my legs slowed anyway, like they were waiting for something my mind hadn’t agreed to.

He looked up again.

This time it wasn’t accidental.

It was direct.

No confusion in it.

Just a pause between us that felt too long to be normal.

I didn’t smile. I didn’t even know what my face was doing. I just stood there, pretending I had a reason to be in that exact spot.

The girl beside him noticed immediately. I saw it in the way her expression changed. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just a shift.

Like she finally saw me clearly.

She said something to him, low enough that I didn’t hear, but I saw his attention flicker back to her for a second.

That should have made me feel better.

It didn’t.

Because he still looked back at me again after that.

And that was the problem.

My friend grabbed my arm lightly. “Let’s go,” she said quickly.

I didn’t move.

Don’t stand here,” she added, softer this time.

“I’m not doing anything,” I replied.

But even I didn’t believe it.

The girl stepped closer to him again, like she was trying to close a space I didn’t even know I had opened. He didn’t move away, but he didn’t lean in either. He just stayed there, stuck in the middle of something he wasn’t speaking about.

I hated how that looked.

Not because of her.

Because of him.

Because of the way he didn’t stop it.

My chest felt tight again, that same feeling I kept getting but refused to name.

Jealousy was a dangerous thing when you had no right to it.

I turned slightly to leave again, but then I heard my name.

Not loudly.

Not clearly.

Just enough.

I froze.

My friend noticed immediately. “Don’t turn back,” she warned.

But I already had.

He was looking at me now.

Properly.

No distraction.

No one else in that moment mattered.

The girl noticed too, and this time she didn’t hide her reaction. Her hand touched his arm again, but this time it felt different. Not soft. Not casual. More like a reminder that she was still there.

Still claiming space.

He didn’t react to her touch.

He was still looking at me.

That silence between us felt heavier than anything anyone around us was saying.

I wanted to move. I wanted to leave. I wanted to stop standing there like I was part of something I didn’t understand.

But I didn’t.

Because for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I was the only one feeling it.

Then he finally looked away.

Not to her.

Not to anyone.

Just away.

Like he was stopping himself from something he hadn’t decided to do.

And that made everything worse.

Because now I couldn’t tell if I was imagining i