Morning 7:00 .
Through the window, the last traces of the night's mist still lingered.
Mrs. Mital woke up and went to wash her face and hands. After that, she made herself a cup of coffee and sat down to drink it.
Just then, her phone rang.
She set the cup on the table and walked over to answer.
"Hello."
"Hello, dear. How are you?" Mr. Mital's voice came warmly from the other end.
She smiled faintly.
"You're not at home. How do you think I'm doing?"
"I'm sorry, honey. I've been busy and couldn't call earlier. How are Geone and Charlie?"
"They're fine. They go to school every day. But I stay alone at home all day—you should think about me sometimes too."
"I know," he replied gently. "I'll come home in two days."
"Okay. Did you have breakfast?"
"Yes, I did."
"That's good. Take care."
"You too, honey."
After the call ended, Mrs. Mital returned to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
-----------
Geone stirred awake, the morning chill seeping into his bones.
Charlie sat quietly on the floor beside the bed, leaning back against the frame, still half-asleep.
Geone's eyes lingered on him—without his glasses, Charlie looked a little different, somehow softer.
With a gentle hand, Geone ran through his hair, ruffling it playfully.
𝘚𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴… 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.
A small smile curved Geone's lips as he draped his blanket over Charlie, tucking it around him carefully.
Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Geone rose. His head still felt heavy, and his movements were slow.
He made his way to the kitchen for a glass of water. Mrs. Mital was bustling about, preparing breakfast, and Geone tried to slip by unnoticed.
"Geone, come here," Mrs. Mital called, her voice firm.
He hesitated, shuffling forward.
"Oh! Actually… Mom…"
Mrs. Mital's gaze was serious.
"How late were you home last night...? Hmm?"
Geone's cheeks warmed as he lifted a glass.
"I honestly don't remember," he mumbled.
Mrs. Mital's eyebrows lifted.
"You don't remember? Did you drink?"
"Uh… it was just a little," Geone said, glancing away. "Minase and Suga… I only had a bit. Not much."
"Geone!" she scolded lightly.
He drank his water, then shrugged.
"Okay, I'm leaving. I have practice at eight," and headed upstairs.
Charlie was still asleep. Geone paused, watching him. He'd never seen Charlie like this .
A playful thought struck him. He picked up a pen from the table and knelt in front of Charlie, gently adjusting the blanket. With a tiny, mischievous mark above Charlie's upper lip, he mimicked a little Charlie Chaplin mustache.
"The great Charlie Chaplin… he he," he whispered, a soft chuckle escaping him.
As he was about to put the pen back, his eyes fell on Charlie's sketchbook.
He opened it, pencil still in place, and paused, surprised by the drawing.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵… 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? He thought . 𝘐𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥? 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮?
𝘕𝘰… 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
𝘈𝘮 𝘐…? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.
𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘢𝘮.
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦? 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵… 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴.
Geone leaned slightly closer to Charlie and said under his breath.
" I am not gonna talk you first until you do."
8:00 AM .
Practice had already begun.
On Geone's side: Suga, Minase, Jon, and Mik.
Opposite team: Toha, Harry, Barun, Morn, and Kavin.
Even if it was only a practice match, the air felt sharp—competitive, heavy. Both teams played like they had something to prove.
In the end, Geone's team won. He and Toha finished with identical scores.
As soon as the match ended, Toha tossed him the ball.
"Need to talk to you," he said, short and clipped.
Geone followed him into the sports room, sweat clinging to his skin.
Toha didn't waste time.
"Listen. Fix whatever's going on between you and Barun before the next match."
Geone scoffed.
"What's going on? The problem is in his head, not mine."
"It's affecting the team," Toha shot back.
"So what do you expect me to do?" Geone muttered, irritation rising.
"Someone has to compromise." Toha pulled off his jersey, breathing hard.
Geone switched into his school uniform, jaw tight.
"Well, don't expect it to be me. Tell him."
He turned to walk away, but suddenly clutched his head, bending slightly as a wave of pain washed over him.
"Ugh—Toha…you and your sister is frying my brain. I just… oooh… f*ck!!" he murmured, staggering out.
----------
Suga and Minase were already in the classroom when they spotted him.
Suga immediately rushed over, grabbing his shoulder.
"Dude, what happened to you?!"
Minase added,
"We literally won today. Why do you look like you want to kill someone?"
Geone shook his head.
"Nothing."
Suga frowned sharply.
"Toha again? Barun never takes the blame for anything."
Geone collapsed into his chair. Suga hopped onto the desk like he owned it.
Minase unzipped his bag, glancing at him sideways.
"Those siblings are getting too bold these days."
Suga nodded.
"Someone needs to put them in their place."
Geone dropped his head onto the table.
"My head feels so heavy…"
Minase laughed.
"Well, duh. You drank so much yesterday you didn't even know what planet you were on."
Suga raised a hand proudly.
"Hey! I drank too. And I'm the one who dropped you home. First we left Minase, then you cried about wanting to go alone. Drama king…"
"Oooooh!…" Geone groaned.
Minase smirked.
"You remember nothing, do you? Good...."
Suga flicked Minase's forehead.
"At least he wasn't flirting with his girlfriend the whole time."
"Suga! Shut up!"
Geone's eyes drifted to Charlie's empty seat. His fingers brushed the edge of the chair.
"He's still not here…"
Suga asked softly,
"You two fought?"
Geone shook his head, voice faint.
Minase leaned forward.
"Then why did you ignore him yesterday?"
"I didn't ignore him. I was just… bored."
But the slight tremor in his voice betrayed him.
Before Minase could tease him again, Suga suddenly pointed toward the door.
"Oh—look. Charlie's here. And Hira's... with him. They came together. Oops…"
Geone's head jerked up immediately.
Charlie was talking with Hira, both smiling lightly. Hira's foot was wrapped—probably talking about that.
But the sight dug into Geone's chest.
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨?
He shot up so fast his chair screeched across the floor.
Both Charlie and Hira turned at the noise.
Geone strode up to them, grabbed Charlie's arm, and demanded,
"Why are you so late?"
Charlie opened his mouth, but Hira casually slipped a book into his hands.
"Maybe you two didn't get to talk today?"
Geone's jaw tightened.
"Huh… You seem to know a lot about us!"
Hira didn't blink.
"Fuck off. I'm not interested."
Geone smirked, sharp and provoking.
"Why? Forget our deal already? You're supposed to be my servant."
"Servant! my foot..."
"Your foot—yeah, it's broken. He..he..."
"Yeah...! And you enjoyed that way too much," Hira shot back, eyes flashing.
Before the tension could snap into something worse, the math teacher walked in.
"Students, take your seats," Kabir Sir announced.
But the fire in Geone's and Hira's eyes didn't die. Both of their hands remained balled into fists.
Geone pulled Charlie toward their seat. Hira returned to her bench, but Geone kept glancing at her—
each look sharp enough to cut.
Continues....