milk tea

01:50

"You're joking, right?" Serene derided and eyed the boy out. "No way are you serious."

"You said that you aspired to raise your rank. You wanted to team up with Yangyang but he refused," Shotaro nonchalantly brought up as he laid his back against the smooth wall. "I'm the best shot you have here, Charms. Take it or leave it."

"What happens if I get a low rank?"

"You either have to work harder because Taeyong will personally watch over you or there's a possibility that you might get killed on your third strike," death easily came out of the male's mouth as if it was an easy topic. "You shouldn't get placed last three times a year or something bad will happen."

"I'll take the chance then if there's a likelihood of death," the determination in her eyes was present which amused the boy who wore pure white eye contacts. Compared to before, she didn't find it that intimidating. Although her intrusiveness peaked whenever she thought of the reasons for those specific eye contacts, she brushed it off and claimed it as none of her business. "I didn't go through everything to just die."

"You really want to live, huh?", the question came out of his mouth as he took a stride forward closer to the girl.

"You don't know what I've been through," the girl simply uttered. "It seems ironic though."

You don't know what I've been through...

"Hey, you, milk tea boy. Can you take me to the nearest bus stop?" she asked without a change in her expression. Her face remained hard to read and emotionless. At that point, even her voice sounded emotionless. "Well, can you?"

'I was someone different the time we first met, but you're still the same' Shotaro thought.

"We'll train for five hours every day until the said date of the execution of the mission," Shotaro apprised which the girl nodded in acknowledgment. "We'll be training in my zone so I'll see you every 11pm to 4am."

"That late?", Serene lost her guard with the unexpected time. "Can't you move it a little earlier?"

"I have to maintain my rank. I can't afford to go down. That's my only free time," the truth came out, which did make sense as maintaining your rank was important. A checklist was handed after his response. "I've composed a checklist comprising the skills that you need to improve. There are also activities there to do during your free time."

Serene took a look at the checklist to find more than fifteen activities to accomplish in one day. The amount already made her body ache by just glancing at it. He noticed the change of emotions on her face.

"I hate checklists," a mutter escaped from her mouth. This perked Shotaro's ears, as he easily heard her complaint.

"Then do you want me to remind you every day?"

"I thought you needed to maintain your rank."

"I can just text you or call. Doesn't really matter to me," he was being blasé about the situation. Serene couldn't figure out if he was being nice or had something up his sleeve. "What do you say?"

"Is there a catch or something?"

"Charms, this is literally just texts and calls," Shotaro clarified, though he too would be suspicious. "It's not like I'm going to plant a tracker in your phone. You already have a tracker in one of your items, everyone has one."

"Fine, give me your phone," the girl held out her hand in front of him. "I'll add my number to your contacts."

He directly handed over his phone that had a black phone case. She typed her number and placed her name as "Serene". Handing back the phone, she pressed the call button.

Ringgg.

She took out her phone and showed it to the male in front of her.

"Here, I didn't put a random number," the girl proved.

"Didn't doubt you," Shotaro uttered. "Anyways, I'll see you later. I have a mission in a bit."

He passed her in rush, then leaving the zone without a single word being uttered. This led Serene to be speechless. She pocketed the checklist, deciding to keep it with her just in case. With that, she left Shotaro's zone and headed to the technical room to help out Haechan and Ten.

🧋

Her worried self started to show her habits. Digging her nails in her palm was one of them. Her head couldn't rest well as she was already exhausted, but she still had her first training with Shotaro. She wasn't good at keeping her nervousness hidden, which is why she developed such habits.

"Hey," Yangyang walked into the living room, noticing the girl's habits in an instant. He had noticed it for a long time but never asked about it because he didn't want to invade her privacy. Serene brought her head up to face the boy who was now in front of her. "Give me your hand."

His hand was held out, anticipating for Serene to place her hand on his.

"What?"

"Just give me your hand."

Reluctantly, she stretched her arm out and Yangyang was keen to grab onto it tenderly. He took out a nail clipper and started to cut her nails. He didn't say anything until he finished.

"Why did you cut my nails?" the foreseen question was asked.

"You know that I notice your habits," Yangyang muttered and got a mesh stress ball out from his pocket. "I bought this on my way back to the base. Instead of digging your nails in your palm, just squeeze this."

"Thanks, but why are you doing this?" yet another question was asked by the girl. Despite being close to him, she still had trust issues.

"Because I'm worried about you."