9:00 AM .
[Mital's home]
Mrs. Mital got up, rubbing her eyes, and headed to the kitchen.
Charlie was already there. Seeing Mrs. Mital, he greeted politely,
"Good morning, aunty."
Mrs. Mital smiled.
"You're always up so early! How do you do it?"
Charlie, chopping salad with one hand, handed her a cup with the other. Smiling, he said,
"But it's already 9:00, aunty."
"What?"
Mrs. Mital looked at the clock and pressed her hand to her forehead.
"Oh noooo! Today we had a program!"
Handing the cup back to Charlie, she hurried toward her room.
"Daniel! Daniel! Honey... wake up! It's 9 ! We have an invitation today-get up!"
She tried shaking Mr. Mital, but he was still deep in sleep, mumbling incoherently.
"Asss... msss... ssss..."
Mrs. Mital brought her ear closer, trying to understand.
"Yeo... yeo..."
She was stunned.
"Huh!"
Taking a deep breath, she straightened up and gave Mr. Mital a firm tap on the cheek.
"Huh... huh..." he gasped, startled, sitting upright.
"What's happening? What's happening?"
He looked around frantically.
Mrs. Mital waved her hand dramatically.
"There's fire in the house!"
"What?! Where? Where???"
Mr. Mital jumped out of bed, looking around.
"Where? Where?!"
"On your head!"
She gave him a little push on the forehead.
Mr. Mital blinked in surprise. Mrs. Mital laughed at his expression.
"What happened? You're laughing?"
"Looking at your face... ha... ha... he... he..."
Mr. Mital frowned, annoyed, and sat back on the bed.
"Hmm...laugh..laf.. what time ..?"
Mrs. Mital squinted.
"Not too late-it's only 9:00."
"Whaaa... oh no... our program!"
He ran off toward the bathroom.
"Yes, I've been calling you since 9... go, go!" Mrs. Mital said, chuckling from behind.
By 11:00, Mrs. Mital was dressed in a blue outfit.
In the dining room, she called Charlie,
"Charlie!!! How do I look?"
Charlie, sitting on the sofa, turned with a smile. But the moment he looked at her, his smile faded.
"What's wrong? Am I really that pretty?"
Mrs. Mital did a full turn so he could see-the blue matched perfectly with her eyes, with a small, delicate blue rose at the waist.
"You look.Like her." He whispered.
"Huh?" Mrs. Mital looked at him, confused.
Charlie blinked quickly.
"Uh... I mean... you look like him... like Geone."
"I know... but it's not right," she laughed.
"I don't look like him... he looks like me..."
Laughing again, Mrs. Mital went back to the dressing table to check her outfit and put on her earrings and kept calling Mr Mital,"Hey, come on. Get out of the bath already. How much time do you need? Look-Charlie is speechless seeing my beauty!"
After a little adjustment, she kept knocking on the washroom door.
"Coming..coming,5 minutes.."Mr Mital replied from the washroom.
"We're going to be late... come... Now."
Charlie left the TV and went back to the room.
Geone was still asleep.
Charlie sat beside him on the bed,looked at Geone, his big eyelashes hold Charlie's eyes. He whispered,
"She's right,Geone... she's beautiful."
…𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵.
Charlie reached out his hand toward Geone. As he went to touch Geone's lashes, Geone quickly grabbed Charlie's hand and tugged. Charlie moved closer to Geone's face.
Geone opened his eyes and looked at Charlie."Charlie! Is she really that pretty?"
Charlie met his eyes,raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Hu..h!"
Geone's warm breath brushed against Charlie's skin.
A cold breath escaped Geone. His nose brushed against it, and he instinctively closed his eyes.
"Oh... your breath is killing me."
"Huh?"Charlie is to shocked too understand.
Geone opened his eyes and laughed.
"It's sO cool..."
He left Charlie's hand and pulled the blanket up to cover himself.
"Ooooh... cold!"
Charlie got up and sat straight, with hesitation,
"Are you feeling cold?"
Geone laughed dramatically.
"Today, I'll sleep, Charlie. Nobody can wake me up. He... he!"
Charlie stood by the bed and said with confidence.
"I hope so... but Suga and Minase are coming. Good luck!"
Geone's laughter faded, 𝘚𝘩𝘩𝘵… 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.
– – – – – – –
[Withman's home ]
Beep... Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
Five minutes passed, yet no one opened the door.
The sound finally dragged Toha out of sleep. Irritated, he stepped out of his room-and the moment he did, shards of broken glass scattered across the dining floor caught his eye.
"Not again."
Anger surged through him. He strode to the front door and flung it open-
-Instantly, the anger disappeared.
He shut the door at once.
Someone was standing outside.
A white dress-probably georgette. A dance practice dress. The kind Era used to wear.
Without thinking further, Toha turned away and went back to the dining area, crouching down to clean the broken glass. Outside, Era stood frozen, stunned by the door slammed in her face, unsure whether she should leave.
"Chee..."
Toha opened the door again.
For a single second, their eyes met-her strangely vivid green eyes against the stark white of her dress. Then he looked away.
Era glanced at him once before stepping inside the house.
"It's been a long time," Toha said quietly as he pulled the door shut.
"Then... should I leave?" Hira asked from behind, turning toward him.
Toha's gaze hardened.
"This is your friend's house. You can do whatever you want."
"Really?"
Era held her eyes.
Toha's jaw tightened as he stepped closer.
"You still hate me that much?" he demanded.
The softness in his eyes ignited into something sharp and volatile.
Era broke eye contact. "I... don't."
She brushed past him and walked straight into Hira's room.
Toha stood still for a moment-then abruptly left the house.
Outside, the cold air burned his lungs as he breathed heavily.
"You don't... huh..."
He laughed-a strange, fractured sound.
"You don't... heh... that's funny, Era. That's really funny."
The wind felt like stone against his skin.
Her voice echoed inside his head.
I hate.. you, Toha.
He looked up at the sky and took a long breath.
"I loved you," pain in his voice.
"I really did. In that dress. Even before that dress."
Continues....