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He sat by the window, where the glass was slightly fogged from the warmth inside and the cool outside. The street went about its normal life: some people were hurrying, others were pausing in front of shop windows, but he seemed to have fallen out of the flow.

A cup of coffee stood before him—not as hot as it had been in the first few minutes, but still fragrant. His laptop was open, the cursor on the screen flickering in anticipation, as if it, too, was losing patience. He typed, stopped, erased, and started again. His thoughts slipped away, clinging to something beyond the text. And that's when he first noticed you.

You were sitting at the next table. Not too close, but not so far away that you wouldn't be noticed. You had a cup in front of you, too—perhaps already cold, like his. You weren't rushing, weren't fidgeting. There was something calm, almost detached, about you, as if you were both here and somewhere far away.

He caught himself staring a little longer than was customary. Not even out of curiosity, but rather out of a strange sense of recognition, as if he'd seen you before, though that was impossible.

You glanced up briefly. Your eyes met—briefly, almost by accident. But it was enough for him to look away and return to the screen, no longer quite the same person who had sat there a moment ago.

His fingers settled on the keyboard again. This time, the writing flowed more easily. Sometimes, he thought, just noticing someone nearby was enough for his thoughts to finally find the right direction.

"Thank you," the boy muttered quietly under his breath. "Thank you for nothing?" You found this odd, but you ignored it, even though you heard his strange, seemingly out-of-place whisper.

Soon, when he finished, he picked up his coffee, took a sip, and looked at you, adjusting his glasses. He had a childish face... although it was clear he was working! His curly hair fell over his face. After a couple of minutes, you finally turned to him, looked at him calmly, and quietly whispered:

• What are you watching?

There followed only a couple of minutes of glance