What if the greatest love story of your life was never yours to begin with?

He wasn't the most popular boy in school. He wasn't the one who made everyone laugh. He wasn't the one standing beside the girl he loved.

He was simply... the side character.

From the quiet corner seat of a classroom, he watched Ahana become the centre of a story he was never truly part of. Every smile, every borrowed pen, every ordinary conversation became unforgettable to him—while, to her, they were just moments that quietly passed.

Side Character is a deeply emotional coming-of-age novel about silent love, missed chances, loneliness, hope, and the painful beauty of growing up. It explores what it feels like to love someone from a distance, to overthink every small interaction, and to realise that not every heart gets to be chosen.

If you've ever loved someone who never knew, waited for someone who never came back, or felt like a background character in someone else's story, this book will feel uncomfortably familiar.

Because sometimes the hardest heartbreak isn't losing someone...

It's realising they were never yours to lose.