ZigZagkers

Enix and Nki. Long time ago both were lost in their own corners of the world, surrounded by noise yet trapped in silence. Neither of them had ever believed in soulmates, let alone digital ones. That was, until a quiet night, under two very different skies, they met, by the unlikeliest accident of all.

It was the bug that started it all

It all started with a glitch.

Enix had been gaming late into the night, headphones hanging off one ear, the blue screen of his cheap laptop lighting up his face. The game? A broken horror MMO that maybe three people on Earth still played. The chatbox was full of bots talking nonsense, and Enix was about to log out when suddenly.

[System Error: You have entered a restricted zone. You are now connected with Player #NkiSpits.]

"...Huh? What? And what a weird username?." Enix blinked.

At first, he thought it was another bug. But a small pixelated avatar blinked into existence in the corner of the ruined virtual mansion. It was a player—an actual human one—and she was just as confused.

"WHO ARE YOU?! WHY DID YOU SPAWN IN MY BATHROOM?!" the message popped up.

Enix blinked. "This is your bathroom? Looks more like a zombie apocalypse kitchen."

"THAT'S MY TOOTHBRUSH ON THE WALL."

"…Y'all got weird hygiene habits."

Thus began the strangest chat in Enix's life. The other player, Nki, typed in all caps, was incredibly sarcastic, and had a weird obsession with calling every NPC "Greg." But she was funny. Real funny.

After about twenty minutes of arguing whether or not the ghost in the game was just a "hungry grandma," they ended up laughing so hard they forgot the game had no save feature. Enix asked if she had Discord. She hesitated. But shared it.

Just like that, the glitch became a lifeline.

They started talking every night. Somehow they understand what each them say to each other like they have the same mind, they slowly started getting closer they started telling each other about their daily life they started sending each other pictures voice mail. They started caring for Each other.

"Why do you always wear that oversized hoodie?" Nki had asked one night, brushing her short dark hair behind her ears.

"Because it makes me look mysterious," Enix smirked, leaning back on his creaky chair.

"No, it makes you look like you live in your mom's attic and talk to spiders."

"Well, one of those is true," he laughed.

Their banter became a routine. Enix would cook instant noodles while Nki braided her hair and ranted about teachers. Nki once spent two hours trying to explain why pineapple pizza was a metaphor for modern society.

"What if it's like… people judging what they don't understand?" she said, half serious, half full of pizza crust.

Enix raised an eyebrow. "So your dad eats pineapple pizza because he's deep?"

"No. He just eats what's left. Even the box."

They laughed until they couldn't breathe. But underneath the jokes was something fragile.

Enix lived in a quiet apartment with his mom. His father had died when he was just a child. A car crash. The kind of story people whisper about but never talk about. His mother, Mira, worked two jobs and rarely smiled. Enix learned not to ask why.

Nki's life wasn't easier. Her mother had passed away during childbirth. Her father, Thad, was a blacksmith—not literally, but the man looked like he could forge swords in a volcano. Gruff, silent, and built like a fridge.

"Do you ever talk to your dad?" Enix asked once.

"Yeah. Yesterday I asked if I could have coffee. He said, 'Yes.' That was the whole conversation."

"That's deep. My mom talks in sighs and disappointed glances."

But they both knew they were lucky to have what they had. Even if it was hard.

Their first real video call happened one rainy day. Enix had just failed a math exam, and Nki was grounded for painting her bedroom wall black.

"Why black?" Enix asked, sipping cola.

"Because I'm dramatic."

"Respect."

He turned on his webcam for the first time. His hair was a mess. His eyes were tired. But when Nki popped up on the screen, her face lit up like summer.

"Damn," she said, "You're real."

"You sound disappointed." Enix replied.

"No, I just thought you were secretly a forty-year-old catfish named Gregory."

He laughed, but inside, he was nervous. Seeing her made things feel different. Real. And terrifying.

Growing Closer

Months passed.

They shared secrets.

Enix told her how he used to sit outside his dad's old car, imagining what his voice sounded like.

Nki told him how she kept one of her mom's old scarves hidden in a box, because it still smelled like her.

They cried sometimes.

Sometimes they just stayed silent on call, listening to each other breathe.

Once, during a winter storm, Enix stayed up all night talking to her because she was afraid of the dark.

"I'm here," he whispered. "You're not alone."

That night, she drew a sketch of him. Smiling, hoodie up, surrounded by stars.

Time passes by and one day.

It was around 1:43 a.m.

He was lying upside down on his bed with the laptop balanced on his chest, headphones barely clinging to one ear. On the other side of the screen, Nki was bundled in a blanket like a sleepy burrito, her cheeks flushed from laughing too hard ten minutes ago over something dumb. Something about ducks in sunglasses?

The video call had been running for four hours now.

"…And then the guy actually says, 'That's not a giraffe, that's my uncle!'" Enix finished, snorting.

Nki wheezed into her blanket. "Stop. STOP. My lungs aren't built for this. I'm crying."

"Same. Why are uncles in jokes always weird? I swear, no one has a normal uncle anymore."

"My uncle sells antique forks. Does that count?"

Enix stared. "Do they… have powers?"

"No. But he swears they've stabbed at least three historical figures."

There was a short silence.

"…Okay but why is that kinda cool?" Enix said, genuinely impressed.

"I know, right?" Nki grinned, rolling over and propping her head up on her arm. "If I die early, I'm leaving my soul in a spoon."

"Please do. I'll keep it in my cereal drawer."

They both laughed again, but this time the air quieted a little faster. That kind of stillness that happens only late at night, when the world feels like it's forgotten you're awake.

Enix tapped his fingers against the keyboard. Then stopped. Then tapped again.

Nki noticed. "Hey," she said, blinking sleepily. "What's with the drum solo?"

He hesitated. "Nothing. Just… thinking."

"Uh-oh."

"What do you mean 'uh-oh'?"

"Enix, whenever you say 'just thinking' it either means you're about to drop a conspiracy theory, or you've overanalyzed a TV show theme song again."

"Okay, first of all, the Phineas and Ferb intro has layers, alright—"

"Enix."

"…Okay, okay. No conspiracy. No theme song."

He exhaled. Then sat up and shifted the laptop so she could see his face better. His hair was a mess. There was a small sticker of a potato on his cheek—probably from dinner.

Nki squinted. "Do you have something on your—wait, no. What are you doing? Why do you look like you're about to drop a mixtape?"

He smirked. "I'm trying to be serious for once."

"Okay, but your camera's tilted so you look like you're in a budget horror movie."

Enix groaned, fixed the angle, and paused.

Then said, "Alright, I'm gonna say something. And you're not allowed to make a fart joke right after."

Nki held up three fingers. "Scout's honor."

"You were never a scout."

"Fine. Burrito honor."

"…Close enough."

He took a breath, and suddenly the jokes weren't crowding his throat anymore.

"I like you, Nki."

Silence.

Then—

"I like like you," he clarified, because somehow his brain thought it was still 2012. "Like, heart-screaming, stomach-stupid, can't-stop-smiling-like-an-idiot-every-time-we-talk kind of like."

More silence.

Nki blinked.

"…Damn."

Enix panicked. "Okay that was a bad opening line. Should've gone with something cooler. I had a whole metaphor involving toaster strudels, I swear."

"No. No—shut up."

She pulled the blanket tighter around herself, like she needed insulation from the emotions suddenly leaking into the call.

"You like me?"

Enix gave a crooked smile. "Yeah. I mean—how could I not? You're funny and weird and smart and somehow you understand every shit thing i speak.."

She laughed, but it cracked halfway through.

"It was terrifying. I thought you were interrogating your molars."

More laughter.

Then she bit her lip, her eyes watery now. "You seriously like me?"

"I seriously like you." he replied.

"But we've never even met." she said in a small voice.

"I know. That's what makes it crazy. I haven't even held your hand, and still, some part of me feels like it's already home when I talk to you."

She didn't respond.

So he kept going, words tripping over each other now like they were afraid to be too late.

"You make me feel… seen. Not like I'm some guy wasting space, or another blank face in school, or a 'maybe next time' for someone else. You talk to me like I matter. And I don't know what that is but—I like it. I like you."

There was a long, full pause.

Then Nki looked directly into the webcam, eyes glassy but shining.

"I like you too, you idiot."

Enix froze.

Nki smiled, soft and nervous and totally, painfully honest.

"I thought it was just me," she whispered. "Feeling all… mushy and annoying whenever you say my name. Thinking about you when I'm supposed to be doing math homework. Wanting to see you even though I'm scared I'll trip and fall on you the second I do."

He laughed, relief crashing into his chest.

"You'd probably fall on purpose just for drama."

"I absolutely would."

They both went quiet again, but this time it wasn't awkward. Just warm.

Enix leaned forward a little. "So, what now?"

"Well," Nki said, brushing hair from her face, "now I keep liking you. And you keep liking me. And we keep sending each other weird memes until one day I actually get to flick your forehead in real life."

"You better."

"Oh, I will."

"Promise?"

She smiled and said.

"In Burrito's honor."

Enix laughed, looking at her with soft eyes, she looked back at him with same softness and together they say...

"I Love you."