Chapter 10 - Her Name Was Hana

Chapter 10: Her Name Was Hana

The trip to Johor Bahru was supposed to be simple.

A weekend escape. Good food, cheap massages, and enough bubble tea to power ABIX for another semester. Ivan had planned the itinerary. Crystal was on shopping duty. Isabelle handled the accommodations.

Aleem just tagged along. Not because he had any specific need to go — but because he needed the distraction.

That week, he had felt it again — the ache that surfaced whenever he saw someone laugh at their phone screen. The quiet pang of watching his friends come alive in their relationships while he felt like a character stuck between chapters.

He didn’t expect her.

They were at a small café in Mount Austin, sipping matcha lattes after a long day of walking. The place was warm, tucked into a quiet corner of the street — rustic wood interiors, old film cameras displayed behind the counter.

She was at the next table. Alone. Reading.

Hana.

Aleem wouldn’t have noticed her if she hadn’t looked up at the same time he laughed at something Ivan said.

Their eyes met — briefly.

Then again, two minutes later.

And then a third time, when Crystal accidentally knocked over a spoon and it clattered across the tiled floor. Hana didn’t flinch. She just smiled faintly and passed the spoon back.

It was a small thing.

But sometimes, the universe doesn’t shout.
It nudges.

Aleem struck up a conversation at the cashier.

She was Malaysian. Came to JB often. Worked remotely. Spoke softly, but clearly. Wore glasses that fogged when she drank hot tea.

They talked. Nothing flirtatious. Just questions and easy answers — local recommendations, shared opinions about overpriced desserts, her book.

She didn’t ask if he was single.
He didn’t ask what she was doing alone.
It was just… real.

Something in her gaze felt different — not curious, but seeing.

Not impressed. Not amused. Just… present.

Back at the Airbnb that night, Aleem couldn’t sleep.

He wasn’t giddy. He wasn’t nervous.

He just felt… calm.

And it had been a long time since anyone made him feel that way without asking for anything in return.

He looked at the photo they took — the one where all of ABIX crowded outside the café, and Hana was just a blur in the corner, barely in frame.

But he knew.

Her name was Hana.
And that single moment — unforced, unchased — was the beginning of something that didn’t need fixing, just… unfolding.