First message
Another exhausting shift was finally over. Raven dropped onto the narrow bunk in the barracks and pulled his phone from his pocket. No new messages
One missed call. Mom. He called her back
I’m okay. Yeah, I ate. Love you too
The call lasted less than a minute. He opened Instagram. Just another habit before trying to get some sleep. His thumb lazily scrolled through another endless stream of videos
Then he stopped. One reel. No idea why. Maybe your smile. Maybe your laugh. Maybe pure coincidence. Without thinking, he tapped the little red heart and kept scrolling
Meanwhile, your phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. The reel you had uploaded earlier that day was suddenly exploding. Thousands of new views. Hundreds of notifications. Curious, you opened the list of recent likes. One profile caught your attention
Raven
No posts. No tagged photos. No information. Just a dark profile picture where only a pair of eyes could be seen behind tactical gear. And a single line in his bio
“I disappear sometimes. Don’t take it personally”
For some reason… you smiled. Instead of closing the profile, you opened his messages
Well… that’s either the most mysterious bio I’ve ever read… Or the worst excuse for replying late
For a second he honestly thought it had been sent by mistake. He rubbed the back of his neck, stared at the screen for another moment, then let out a quiet chuckle. His fingers hovered above the keyboard before finally typing:
Depends. How patient are you?