Demian's eyes widened for a brief second before he straightened, his posture stiffening as his glare snapped toward Minho.
"Change it."
Minho blinked.
"Oh—right! I will!" He lifted both hands in surrender, palms out, laughing nervously.
Minho hesitated, eyes flickering between Demian and Serin. "Hey, Serin… can you change it for me? I don't have a lock on my phone. Just—change it."
She always had been the type to get embarrassed over the smallest things. Seeing Demian half-naked in his bath clothes hadn't been anything new to her—back in middle school, at least. But now that she'd truly seen how much he'd grown, how different he was,
She finally realized it. He wasn't the friend she had once treasured anymore. Her fingers curled into the fabric of her skirt.
"Give it to me. I'll record," Evelyn said, taking the phone from Serin's loose grip.
She opened it with her eyes squeezed shut. "Ugh, this sight might actually kill me…"
She quickly switched to the camera and started recording.
From time to time, Evelyn shot quick glances at Serin.
Serin sat stiffly beside her, knees pulled in, gaze drifting somewhere far past the stage. Her thoughts clearly elsewhere.
Evelyn nudged her lightly with her elbow.
Serin blinked, startled.
A few minutes later, it happened again. Another nudge. Firmer this time.
"Hey," Evelyn whispered, "don't zone out."
Serin shifted, adjusting her posture and forcing her attention back to the band.
4 a.m in the morning...
"Take your phone," Evelyn yawned, holding it out toward Minho. "You might have to buy more storage to keep all those videos."
She stretched her arms high above her head, exhaustion clear in every movement after hours of nonstop filming.
"What??" Minho jumped down from the stage and snatched the phone from her hand. "At least tell me I look handsome in the clips."
"Very~" Serin snorted.
The two of them immediately leaned closer, laughing as they scrolled through the clips together, replaying moments and pointing things out like proud idiots.
Jace stood from behind the drums and reached for the last unopened bag near the wall. He unzipped it, revealing neatly packed snacks.
"Damn, Jace—you brought snacks??" Evelyn and Minho blurted out at the exact same time.
Their identical expressions made Jace laugh.
"I always come prepared," he said, tossing drinks to each of them one by one.
Serin laughed softly, then glanced to her side.
Demian was sitting close by, his back against the wall, one leg stretched out while the other bent lazily. His head was slightly tilted down. His eyes were half-lidded, barely fighting sleep, loose strands of hair falling over his face.
She watched him for a moment.
"…Not a night owl, huh," Serin chuckled under her breath, watching him struggle to keep his eyes open.
"Annoying."
Serin blinked. "Huh…?"
"It's annoying."
Demian tilted his head toward her, eyes half-lidded but sharp. "The way you kept staring at me all night." His gaze locked onto hers. "Don't do that."
Serin frowned. "I wasn't staring at you. I was looking at everyone."
She shifted closer, planting both hands on the floor as she leaned slightly toward him. "If you're that desperate to be noticed, just say it. I'll stare at you all day."
Her tone was edged with irritation, clearly unimpressed by his confidence.
Silence dropped between them. Serin waited for him to say something. No reply came.
She turned away with a quiet exhale. "Forget it. Trying to understand you feels like decoding Greek mythology."
She grabbed a chip and munched on it, eyes drifting toward the others as they began packing up their things.
Beside her, Demian didn't look away.
"What is there so hard about me?" he whispered, the words barely leaving his lips. "Why don't you just try for a bit?"
He drew one knee more up, resting his head against it, eyes studying her with an intensity.
After a while, he looked away as he let out a quiet, nervous laugh.
"…Seriously. What am I doing."
Serin scanned the auditorium one last time while everyone stood behind her.
"Okay. All done." She turned around, lifting the key slightly. "We'll have to use the back gate to slip out again."
By the time they finished locking up, it was already five in the morning.
The sun hadn't risen yet, but the sky was no longer completely dark. Pale rays of light filtered through the clouds. The air felt damp and cool, carrying the quiet scent of wet soil and grass. Somewhere far away, birds' soft calls broke the lingering silence of night.
They moved carefully through the overgrown path. Minho kept his eyes glued to the ground this time, clearly traumatized from his earlier fall, lifting his feet a little too high with every step as Revi laughed at him. Jace walked close beside Evelyn, steadying her whenever the uneven ground caused her to stumble.
Serin, however, was struggling. At night, her head had been too full to notice how difficult this path actually was. Now, exhaustion caught up to her all at once. Her foot slipped, and she lost her balance, falling forward—
She was yanked back by the hood of her jacket.
"Ouch—!" Serin gasped, instinctively squeezing her eyes shut, then blinked in confusion. "…Huh?"
It didn't hurt...?
Demian stood behind her, gripping her jacket firmly.
"Get up. You're heavy," he snapped, his voice sharp with annoyance.
Serin scrambled back to her feet, quickly slapping his hand away. "T-thanks…"
Why did he grab me like I'm some gross insect…
She took another step forward—
And suddenly felt something wrap gently around her arm.
"Eh?" Serin turned, confused.
Demian had moved ahead of her, his palm now closed around her forearm, guiding her forward without looking back.
Her eyes widened, a quiet sparkle of surprise flashing through them.
"Thanks!!" she said brightly, a wide smile spreading across her face.
Demian didn't respond. He just kept walking, eyes half-lidded, probably too sleepy to care. At some point, his hand slipped from her forearm to her wrist—slow, unconscious.
Neither of them noticed.
By the time they reached the back gate, their fingers were intertwined, palms pressed together naturally, as if it had always been that way.
"Oh—let me open it!" Serin said cheerfully, pulling her hand away.
Demian paused.
He stared at her back for a brief second, then slowly lowered his gaze to his hand. The lingering warmth remained. A faint flicker of disappointment crossed his face before Serin spoke again.
"Here we go~"
She pushed the gate open. Rusty metal groaned loudly, slicing through the quiet morning as birds fluttered nearby.
"Fun fact!" Serin added, "This used to be our old main gate."
"Then why'd they shut it down?" Jace asked as he stepped outside.
"Well…" Serin explained, locking the gate behind them as the last person stepped out, "this side is closer to the forest now. But it used to be lively. A few years ago, there was a major truck accident here. The kid survived, luckily. But her parents complained. Too many trucks, too close to the road. So the authorities sealed it."
Minho visibly shivered. "Don't tell me we'll get hit too."
"If you want to, I can arrange that with pleasure," Evelyn replied sweetly.
"Alright," Revi said as they started walking again. "Demian looks like he might fall asleep standing up. Minho, take him home in Jace's car."
"I'm not drunk…" Demian muttered, rubbing his eyes. The exhaustion was obvious.
"Yeah, yeah," Jace laughed, nudging him excitedly. "I'll take care of your bike. Can't wait to drive it again."
Revi turned toward Serin while walking. "You want to come with us in the car?"
"Oh me??" Serin glanced at him, then shook her head. "It's okay. I'll go with Evelyn. We have some things to do."
"This early?" Minho frowned. "Oh! Come to the think of it, We don't go to school. But what about you two? How will you pull an all nighters everyday with us and attend school?"
"We will be fi—" Serin started, but Evelyn clamped a hand over her mouth.
"No, we will not be fine," Evelyn said firmly, glaring at her. "We are NOT joining you guys regularly. Are you trying to die from exhaustion?!" she hissed.
Serin bit Evelyn's finger.
"Ow—AGH! You damn biter!" Evelyn groaned, shaking her hand.
"But we'll still keep an eye on you all from time to time," Serin added quickly, flashing an innocent smile. "So you better not do anything weird to the auditorium!"
The café bell chimed softly.
Serin barely reacted as she massaged her shoulder while stretching, eyes dull as she stared at the coffee machine. Attending school right after staying up until dawn took all her energy, so doing even a simple task felt like a huge chore to her.
She yawned, covering her mouth she wiped one of the tables of the cafe.
"Serin."
She flinched.
Rin flopped down on a chair nearby. "Why do you look like you fought a war and lost?"
Serin straightened instantly. "I'm fine. Has Mia contacted you yet?"
Rin stared at her.
"…Forget Mia! You said that yesterday and the day before..."
Serin's eye twitched.
She threw the cleaning cloth on the table, exhaustion finally winning. "I might have… not slept."
Rin sighed, already getting up from the chair and pointing at it. "Sit, before you pass out."
Serin obeyed without argument. "now tell me, is Mia really ok? she rushed out so fast the other day and the only massage I got from her was her telling me to keep the cafe alive until she is back."
Rin sat on the table with a worried face "same thing here. She just told me to give the cafe more time till she returns. Heck I didn't even know what her situation was until u told me about it."
Serin lowered her head, both tiredness and worry kicking in. "She must be so busy over this whole thing..." serin says quietly "I hope she is ok."
rin notices her mood and clicks her tongue "she will be ok! You look like a lifeless creature right now, do you know that.."
"I am sorry.."
"I didn't tell you to apologies!!" rin leans forward "Oh gosh you really need to rest! stay here and just tell the customers that the shop is closed if any come ok? I will go fix the back door's light, its glitching so bad."
"ok."
Silence fell as rin went out of the cafe. Serin didn't even realize she dozed off on the cafe table.