[No-Ah]
No-Ah walked away.
Immediately.
Phone pressed against her ear.
Ignoring the fact that Yun-Ra was making dramatic gestures behind her.
A difficult task.
But not impossible.
"What did you do?"
"What did she do?"
"That's not an answer."
"It answers my question."
"No, it doesn't."
"It does emotionally."
No-Ah closed her eyes.
Briefly.
"Stop talking like Min-Ji."
There was a pause.
Then—
"Horrifying accusation."
Despite herself—
the corner of her mouth twitched.
Just slightly.
A terrible development
The university courtyard buzzed around her.
Students talking.
Walking.
Laughing.
Living their lives.
Meanwhile—
she was somehow arguing with an idol over the definition of an answer.
Wonderful.
"Why did you call?"
Kei was quiet for a moment.
Then—
"I finished the concert."
No-Ah blinked.
"...Okay."
"Okay?"
"You had a concert."
"Yes."
"You finished."
"Yes."
"So?"
Silence.
Several kilometers away—
Kei sat backstage.
Half his makeup removed.
Hair slightly messy.
A towel draped over one shoulder.
"...I don't know."
No-Ah stopped walking.
"What?"
"I don't know what response I was expecting."
The honesty caught her off guard.
A staff member passed behind Kei.
Waved.
Kei ignored him completely.
"I called because I was bored."
No-Ah stared at the pavement.
"Bored."
"Yes."
"You called me because you were bored."
"Correct.
A pause.
"That's rude."
"It wasn't intended to be."
"It still was."
"Noted."
No-Ah rolled her eyes.
Again.
A daily occurrence at this point.
For some reason—
the conversation felt easy.
Comfortable.
Like neither of them was trying very hard.
Which somehow made it more dangerous.
Eventually—
a voice shouted in the background.
"Kei!"
Another voice followed.
"We need you for photos!"
Kei sighed.
Long.
Tragic.
Dramatic.
"You're being summoned."
"I know."
"You should go."
"I know."
"Then go."
"I know."
"... "
"Ugh, I hate photos... "
"What do you want me to do about that? "
A pause.
"You're right... "
Then—
"Talk to you later."
Before No-Ah could answer—
the call ended.
Just like that.
She stared at the screen.
For several seconds.
Then locked it.
Immediately.
As if that would somehow make the interaction less strange.
It didn't.
Unfortunately.
☆ ☆ ☆
[Yun-Ra]
Yun-Ra had theories.
This was dangerous.
Because Yun-Ra's theories rarely remained theories for long.
She sat on the bench.
Alone.
Thinking.
A rare event.
Because now that she thought about it—
there were a lot of strange things.
---
The concert tickets.
The university festival.
The phone calls.
The texts.
The way Kei always seemed to appear whenever No-Ah mentioned him.
Individually?
Nothing.
Together?
"...Huh."
Yun-Ra narrowed her eyes.
Very suspicious.
Extremely suspicious.
Concerningly suspicious—
Forget it, she just talked to Kei!
...but she couldn't just forget it. She was going to confront No-Ah right after she gets back.
☆ ☆ ☆
No-Ah returned a few minutes later.
Yun-Ra immediately stood up.
"No-Ah."
"No."
"I haven't said anything."
"You were about to."
"Maybe."
"No."
"Maybe."
"No."
Yun-Ra pointed dramatically.
"You and Kei are weird."
Silence.
"No we're not."
"You absolutely are."
"We're not."
"He calls you."
"So?"
"Do you know how many people would sell a kidney for that?"
"No."
"Thousands."
"That seems medically irresponsible."
Yun-Ra looked genuinely offended.
"You didn't even sound excited."
"Why would I be excited?"
"I still don't get how you're literally NOT obsessed over him! "
Yun-Ra made a noise of pure frustration.
Because clearly—
she was fighting a losing battle.
☆ ☆ ☆
[Run-Seo]
The café was quiet.
For now.
Run-Seo was restocking cups.
Trying very hard not to think.
A strategy that had never worked before.
And wasn't working now.
It would never work, honestly.
The door opened.
No-Ah walked in.
Fresh from university.
Bag over one shoulder.
Phone in hand.
Normal.
Completely normal.
At least—
until the corner of her mouth lifted.
Just slightly.
A tiny smile.
Gone almost immediately.
Run-Seo noticed anyway.
Of course she did.
She watched No-Ah lock her phone.
Slide it into her pocket.
And start helping behind the counter.
Like nothing had happened.
Run-Seo looked away first.
The knot in her stomach tightened.
Again.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
Eventually—
before she could stop herself—
she asked:
"Talking to someone?"
No-Ah looked up.
"No."
The answer was harmless.
Completely harmless.
Yet Run-Seo immediately knew.
Because No-Ah had locked her screen too quickly.
That small little smile—
All because she'd seen that smile.
And because—
deep down—
she already knew who it was.
The realization sat heavily in her chest.
For the rest of the shift—
she barely spoke.
☆ ☆ ☆
Later that night—
Run-Seo couldn't sleep.
She lay in bed.
Staring at the ceiling.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Nothing.
Eventually—
she reached for her phone.
A mistake.
A terrible mistake.
Because she already knew what she was going to open.
The video.
The park.
...them.
The recording played silently.
Kei sitting on the swing.
No-Ah arriving.
The conversation.
The bottles.
The promise.
Run-Seo watched all of it.
Again.
Then paused.
Right there.
The pinky promise.
Their fingers hooked together.
Frozen on the screen.
Such a stupid thing.
Such childish, stupid shit.
Yet such a small thing.
But enough to make her feel like she wanted the whole universe to collide.
Her thumb hovered over the screen.
What should she do with the video?
Delete it?
Keep it to herself?
... Share it?
Or—
The room remained silent.
Then—
her phone vibrated.
A notification.
Run-Seo blinked.
Looked down.
A message request.
From someone she hadn't spoken to in months.
Someone who worked in entertainment media.
The preview was short.
Unknown
Long time no see.
Still working at the café?
Run-Seo stared.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Slowly—
her gaze drifted back to the paused video.
Then back to the message.
Then back to the video.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
After a long moment—
she locked her phone.
The message remained unanswered.
The video remained undeleted.
And somewhere deep inside her—
a thought had appeared.
A dangerous one.
Just because she ignored it—
didn't mean it was gone.
☆ ☆ ☆