“Have you heard of Khem today? I waited for him in the first break, but he didn’t show up,” Keb asked Ford when they left the building their previous class had taken place in. “Is he not feeling well today?”

“Nah, don’t think so,” Ford answered Keb’s last question. His eyes continued to be fixed on the screen of the phone he was holding in his hands. He hadn’t looked at much else ever since leaving the classroom, but he still paid enough attention to have a conversation with his friend. “I think I saw him with the new student earlier today. Remember the guy he wouldn’t stop talking about and was so excited to meet? One said today’s his first day here.” Keb’s worries about his friend disappeared with this explanation. He should have thought about this possibility. None of them had imagined Khem to spend the new student’s first day with them. They all knew that Khem would be more interested in that new guy than in his closest friends. They weren’t mad or disappointed. There were many other days and breaks the four of them could spend together, and they were sure the new student would be well off with Khem.

“But,” Keb continued to speak after they had sat down at one of the empty tables outside the cafeteria and he had sorted out his thoughts. They hadn’t talked any more to each other on their way to this place. While Ford had been busy texting someone, Keb had continued thinking about the new student and what Ford had answered to all his questions. In the past week, he and Khem had talked about this new student a lot. Something amazed Keb about that unknown person and made him even more interested than Khem, but he just couldn’t explain what it was. “How do you know Khem was with the new student? Did you talk to them?” Ford sighed. He finally put down his phone and turned his head to face Keb.

“Trust me, I know all of Khem’s friends. I can tell who is new and who isn’t. And besides, it’s pretty obvious who the new student is.”

“Why? Does he look that different?”

“See it for yourself,” Ford just answered and gestured to two people walking towards them. Keb turned around to look at what Ford was pointing at. He immediately recognized one of the two. He would recognize Khem anywhere. Once his eyes wandered from his friend to the person walking next to him, his heart stopped beating. He knew those eyes although they looked so much different now. Those eyes didn’t seem as scared as they had done at the airport. He didn’t seem as terrified of the world as he had done when they had first met each other a few days ago. He didn’t seem as lonely and little. Keb still remembered the boy he had met at the airport, hadn’t stopped thinking about him ever since he had had to watch him turning his back and leaving. The boy he remembered had trembling legs and hands. He didn’t sit straight as if he wanted to hide from the world. That boy could never be the person walking in his direction now. That boy could never be the new student everyone had been talking about the past week. The new student, Moon, looked like he had come to university straight from a runway. His clothes didn’t fit to what Keb was used to see. But he didn’t think Moon looked weird or ugly. Quite the opposite, he had never seen anyone more beautiful. It was like Keb fell for Moon the moment he saw him walking towards him. Keb fell for the smile Moon showed, for his hands that slightly moved each time Moon took a step, for his quite long and straight hair which bounced up and down with every step he took, for the confidence he showed, for the way he showed how comfortable he was in his own skin. But most importantly, he fell for his eyes. Not for the peach-colored eyeshadow around his eyes or the little gems under his right eye. Keb fell for those dark brown eyes which held so much more than he could see in the very moment Khem and Moon arrived at the table. Keb fell for Moon. Keb fell for that broken soul which hadn’t been loved in so long.

“This is Moon. The new student in our faculty,” Khem introduced the strangers to one another. Keb still couldn’t take his eyes off Moon, watched his every movement closely.

Moon smiled at the two guys sitting in front of him. He lifted his hand to wave with a smile before he bowed with his hands put together and greeted them, “Hello.”

“This is Ford,” Khem said to Moon and pointed at the tall guy facing them. Ford smiled at Moon and put his hands together as well. “And Keb.” Moon’s eyes fixed on the familiar person, who had turned around to look at them, now. Their eyes met and for a few seconds, Moon got lost in them. He remembered the words Keb had told him at the airport clearly, he still heard his soothing voice in the back of his mind. And now, he looked at those deep and comforting eyes again.

“Hi,” Moon whispered now, “it’s great to see you again.”

Moon’s quiet voice ended Keb’s thoughts again as if a part of his body was always prepared to bring him back to reality once he heard Moon’s voice saying something to him. As if his body was always ready to listen to him.

“Hey,” Keb greeted him as well. “Did you come home safely that day?” Moon nodded and smiled brighter. But for the first time today, Khem noticed this confident and happy person turning shy. Khem had introduced Moon to so many people today already, but he had never acted like this around any one of them. He had always kept his chin high up and had looked at the people’s mouths while they were talking to him as if he needed to read the movements of their lips to understand what they were saying, as if he was too afraid to look into their eyes. But now, Khem realized immediately that things were different between Keb and Moon. Moon looked straight into Keb’s eyes, his fingers played with each other nervously, and his cheeks were a little redder than usual. Something was different between his two friends and Khem knew he would be the first person to find out about it.

“You two know each other?” Ford asked surprised after listening to their short conversation.