After everyone had left the observatory — after the laughter quieted and the rooftop dimmed — Noel and Evan found themselves walking alone under a dome of midnight stars.
It was a quiet path winding from the science building toward the main dormitories, framed by old trees and low, humming streetlights. Neither of them said much for the first few minutes.
But it wasn't awkward.
It was… peaceful.
Noel walked with his hands in his coat pockets, his eyes not on the sidewalk but the night sky.
Evan walked beside him, watching him.
"So," Evan said finally, "you always this poetic about planets?"
Noel gave a soft hum of amusement. "Not really. Most people don't care enough to listen."
"I could listen for hours," Evan said, too sincerely to be casual.
Noel turned to him, that unreadable look in his eyes again — the kind that made Evan feel like he was being scanned for truth. "Why?"
Evan hesitated. Then shrugged, looking up at the branches swaying gently above them.
"Because when you talk about stars, you stop hiding."
Noel stopped walking.
Evan did too, a step ahead, then turned back.
There it was again — that pause, that moment between them. Not quite confessional. But thick with the possibility of one.
Noel looked at the ground. "You make it hard to stay distant."
Evan's heart kicked hard in his chest. "Is that a bad thing?"
Noel didn't answer.
Instead, he said, almost too quietly, "Good luck tomorrow."
Evan smiled, even though his chest was tight. "Will you come?"
Noel's hands twitched in his pockets. "…Yeah."
And that was enough for now.
The opposing university's pool was fancier. Sleek bleachers. Gleaming tiles. Loud, cocky swimmers in matching jackets. Banners everywhere, like they were trying to drown the visiting team in arrogance.
Evan stood by the lockers, stretching out his arms. His friends circled him like armor.
"This place reeks of desperation," Minsoo muttered.
"Don't let it throw you," Levi said, clapping Evan's back. "You've got this."
Tariq added with a grin, "Just don't trip and fall into the pool like that guy last year."
"Thanks," Evan said dryly.
Up in the bleachers, Noel sat between Ren and Jun, gripping a small thermos of tea Ren had shoved at him. His knee bounced — not from the cold, but nerves.
"They're loud," he said under his breath.
Ren squinted at the rival team. "And ugly."
Jun muttered, "Speak of the devil…"
Because just then — in walked Blond Guy.
Smirking. Confident. Surrounded by a few other athletes, laughing too loudly. He caught sight of Noel and waved, as if they were old friends.
Ren flipped him off behind the thermos.
Jun looked like he was calculating the legal threshold for murder.
"Do you think he's connected to this school's team?" Noel asked, uneasy.
Ren narrowed his eyes. "Wouldn't surprise me. He seems like the kind of trust fund brat who'd cheat at poker and cry if you called him out."
Noel glanced back toward the pool just in time to see Evan step toward the diving board. His heat was up.
The board shimmered under the fluorescent lights.
Evan jogged up, confident, graceful.
And then—
A crack.
Too small to register at first.
But as he pushed off, the board shuddered unnaturally — screws giving way. The leap faltered.
Evan's foot slipped sideways.
And in that split second of imbalance, something sharp — a loose bracket? — sliced across his foot.
He twisted in the air, the perfect dive ruined, and slammed awkwardly into the water below.
Noel shot to his feet. "Evan?"
The surface broke in white foam.
Then still.
Too still.
"No," Ren breathed.
From the deck, Minsoo was already moving. Levi and Tariq dove in without waiting for permission. The referee shouted, but the crowd didn't react — yet. It wasn't until Minsoo surfaced, dragging Evan up by one arm, blood trailing in thin red ribbons behind him, that the arena froze.
Evan was conscious, but limp — foot bleeding, disoriented, coughing hard.
Levi swam under his other arm. "We got you. You're okay."
Tariq cursed under his breath, kicking to help keep Evan's head up.
Noel didn't remember moving. One minute he was watching helplessly. The next, he was running down the bleachers.
By the time Evan was pulled up to the pool edge, wrapped in towels and surrounded by his team, Noel was kneeling beside him.
"Don't move," Minsoo said sharply. "Foot's cut. Deep."
"Where is he?" Tariq growled, scanning the opposing team. "That smug little bastard."
Coach barked orders, demanding a stretcher and emergency wrap kits. The diving board was being examined — and sure enough, the screws were loose. Not an accident. Not at all.
As Evan grimaced, teeth clenched, Noel gently touched his shoulder.
Evan blinked up at him. "You came."
"You told me to," Noel said, voice too even for someone whose hands were shaking.
"Didn't think I'd make such a dramatic entrance," Evan muttered, wincing.
"You nearly drowned," Noel said, his eyes dark and unreadable. "That's not dramatic. That's terrifying."
Their eyes met, and Evan could see it now — plain as the sky. The fear. The worry. The feeling.
Not buried.
Not hidden.
Real.
Before anyone else could crowd them, Ren stepped in, motioning the coach over. "Medical team's almost here. We'll take care of him."
Noel didn't move from Evan's side.
Not when they lifted him onto the stretcher. Not when they wheeled him out of the humid, echoing arena. Not even when the rival team began to finally realize what was happening.
Because in that moment, with blood still dampening Evan's towel and the image of his fall burned into everyone's mind—
Noel realized something frightening and absolute:
If he had lost him, it would've broken something inside.
And Evan, watching Noel's face through the haze of pain, knew:
He's not distant anymore.