Life can seem incredibly tough and complicated at first glance, often because we haven't figured out what simple things truly fulfill us or realized that we need very little—or almost nothing—to feel good and even complete in our own space. Since a young age, Wave had already discovered what made him happy, what left him feeling fulfilled and completely satisfied with his life: his studies, theater, and being in nature.

He could spend hours lost in any of these activities, losing track of time, and used this as a way to handle any problem that came his way: he would downplay the bad situation and focus on what genuinely made him happy. And guess what? It worked. He was certain that these little things were the key to his happiness and felt incredibly smart for having figured out the right way to live life so young.

If you asked him, Wave would definitely say that nothing in this world could make him happier than seeing his plants bloom or presenting a new play to an audience. After all, he considered himself an expert on everything, especially on himself, his feelings, and his life. But brace yourselves, dear readers, because the truth is, this kid still had a lot to learn. I ask for your patience as I unravel this story, because it’s always fascinating to watch someone’s emotions before they even realize them.

That night, a day after attending the first meeting of the theater group's season and realizing he had run over the newest member of the team, Wave was almost lost in his room with a dictionary and a book titled The Secret Network of Nature. He was genuinely interested in the subject, having waited almost a month for the book to be imported. However, something strange was happening; with every paragraph he read, he found his mind drifting to unrelated thoughts.

“What’s going on?” he wondered, as his lack of focus was unusual for him.

He ran his fingers over his lips, his gaze wandering around the room, fixated on invisible points. His mind was in a whirl of questions, each one more persistent than the last. He thought about the strange guy he had met the day before and the peculiar situation that followed. It was unusual for someone to be so cold and indifferent towards Wave, who was known for his knack for making friends and drawing people to him with ease.

Moreover, he was thinking about the task Marco had given him: making this very person, named Dan, fall in love with theater. He didn’t have all the details, but he knew that Dan was there due to family pressure and that his lack of interest was evident from his behavior the previous day. Wave was beginning to regret taking on the task, as it was disrupting his peace.

“I need to find out at least something about him,” he murmured to himself, setting the book aside and picking up his phone to open the Facebook app. “Since he’s related to Marco, it shouldn’t be that hard.”

And it wasn’t, because while searching through the director’s friends, he quickly found Dan’s serious, mixed-race profile. “Really good-looking,” he thought as he clicked on the photo without a second thought. “Dan Zanon… what a cool last name!” He tried to see more details from the profile, but most of the information was blocked, except for his school and major. “So he really is my freshman.”

This detail was crucial, opening up a range of possibilities for Wave to get closer to Dan. But the big question remained: where did he know him from? After all, Wave had missed the start of classes and the new student orientation ceremonies because an accident had confined him to the hospital for a long time. He had only returned to college three days ago and was certain he had never crossed paths with Dan on campus.

Now, are you curious about the accident he had? Well, to start discussing that, I need to reveal that Wave is an extremely brave guy. However, his bravery seemed to evaporate when faced with any dog. Yes, any dog, from a small German spitz to a large rottweiler. The mere sound of barking made his heart race and his hands sweat, revealing a deep aversion he couldn’t hide, no matter how hard he tried to conceal it.

Wave’s accident had an unusual beginning. One day, while walking down a deserted street, he came across a medium-sized brown dog. Terrified by the presence of the animal, Wave made the impulsive decision to run in the opposite direction. What he didn’t expect was that his action would provoke an unexpected reaction from the dog: the animal bolted after him. Panic was evident on Wave’s face, his eyes wide and his breath ragged, betraying the internal struggle he was facing. Without thinking, he felt his legs shaking and his heart racing uncontrollably. With his mind in turmoil and his limbs nearly paralyzed by fear, Wave made an impulsive decision: he jumped into the city’s central canal, an instinctive act of survival, his only hope of escaping the imminent danger he had imagined.

At that moment, Wave had ignored two crucial facts: the considerable height of the bridge and the fact that he didn’t know how to swim. The result? A serious accident that led him to spend almost a month in the city’s largest hospital.

This explained why Wave didn’t know Dan from college and made him even more curious.Even with all the thoughts racing in his head, he decided the best thing to do was to get some sleep. After all, he now knew exactly where he could find more information about that mysterious guy.

He decided to arrive earlier than usual at university the next day, knowing exactly who could provide the information he was looking for:

“Tee! I knew you’d be here at this hour,” he greeted his friend, joining him at a table in the university's outdoor area.

“Of course I would be here. This is when they gather outside,” Tee gave Wave a knowing smile and nodded toward a group of freshmen in front of them.

Tee was as outgoing as Wave but had interests in life quite different from his friend’s. One of them was his constant and daily dedication to the art of flirting, especially with new female students. Wave enjoyed that and the stories generated by Tee’s exaggerated approach.

“So, how are the freshmen this year? I haven’t had time to talk to almost anyone,” Wave began, guiding the conversation where he wanted.

“True, true.” Tee walked behind Wave and put his hands on his shoulders, trying to console him. “You missed the best part of the year! The initiation ceremonies were amazing... everything was so... wonderful.”

“I can imagine.” Wave knew exactly what his friend meant by ‘everything was so beautiful.’ “Any highlights?”

“Yes! We had the highest number of female enrollments in the history of our course; it was a new record!” Tee said excitedly. “I think for the first time, we have almost the same number of men and women.”

“That’s great!” Wave wasn’t too concerned about that. “But tell me, I heard that some freshmen are quite different this year, and there’s even one who seems like a foreigner with some tattoos.”

“Foreigner with tattoos...” Tee looked away, frowning as if trying to remember. “Oh, yes! You must be talking about Dan!”

“Is that his name?” Wave played dumb.

“Yes, yes! At first, all the girls went crazy for him, but that faded a bit because he was quite unfriendly with most people. I only saw him talking to close friends. I myself only managed to get three words from him at the initiation... ‘don’t touch me.’ Aggressive, but he seems like a good person,” Tee said, soon shifting to other random topics.

Wave stopped paying attention to his friend and felt a bit more relieved realizing that Dan didn’t have an inexplicable hatred towards him, even after running him over. Apparently, the guy acted similarly to most people.

Later that day, after finishing classes and walking toward where he had left his bike, Wave stopped abruptly and almost involuntarily hid upon seeing Dan and another guy heading in the same direction. Although not very communicative, the tattooed guy responded when the other spoke, and Wave swore he saw Dan’s lips curve slightly into what seemed like a smile.

"Interesting," he murmured to himself. "So he doesn't have trouble talking to everyone; maybe he's just shy with people he doesn't know well. Really interesting."

He was talking to himself when an idea struck him as he saw Dan grabbing his bike to leave, the same bike from the day they met. So, he probably preferred a more 'free' mode of transportation, just like Wave. That was great, but even better because it gave Wave a good and plausible reason to interact with the guy.

The next day, despite the strong sun and waking up on time, Wave decided to drive to the University. This way, he could offer Dan a ride since they both needed to meet the theater group in the afternoon, and driving would cut the travel time significantly—at least three times faster than biking.

It was the perfect plan, or at least that’s what Wave thought. Getting close to Dan naturally would be the key to fulfilling his role as the assistant director. But there was a small problem: he needed to talk to the guy to have any chance of success. And how do you talk to someone who completely ignores you?

After classes, he rushed to his car in the parking lot and made sure Dan's bike was still there, which meant the guy hadn't left yet. He didn’t have to wait long before the exotic and serious figure of Dan appeared, heading for his bike. This time he was alone, which made Wave feel even more comfortable approaching him quickly and greeting him:

"Hey, look at us, running into each other again!" he said with a friendly smile as he watched Dan's surprised reaction. Dan raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening for a brief moment before he looked away and started fiddling with his bike. "Still not talking to me?"

"…"

"Okay, I expected that. But you don’t have to say anything. You're going to the theater group meeting today, right?" he asked, already anticipating the lack of response as Dan unlocked his bike. "So, I’ll give you a ride. It’ll be much faster! You can put your bike in the trunk of my car."

Dan made no effort to look at Wave and, without a word, mounted his bike, his body stiff and eyes fixed on the ground.

"Hey, did you hear me? I can take you! You'll get there much faster this way!"

He was completely ignored and had to take at least three steps back as Dan rode away, barely concerned about whether he was nearly running over Wave or not.

"I cannot believe it... He’s impossible!" Wave grumbled as he headed back to his car. "But that's not going to make me give up."