milk tea

02:50

"Where are you headed?"

Yuta, who was hanging out in the tech room where the three usually stayed, asked Serene. Viewing the clock, it was late. He couldn't help but be curious about where she planned to head to.

"I want to tell you, but I think I'm not allowed to," Serene returned honestly. She didn't want to lie, so that response was the second-best choice. "Also, don't follow me. My legs still hurt from the wounds, but it's manageable."

"I'll respect your choice," Yuta smiled. He glanced at her once more before she left. "Stay safe, Serene."

"Will do, Yuta," Serene smiled back. Her head turned to Haechan and Ten who silently worked on their missions. "You two, stop stealing my snacks while I'm away. Yes, I'm looking at you Haechan."

No response came from the two, meaning they would still steal snacks from Serene. Sighing, Serene closed the door and headed to the center of the base. Waiting for her as he laid against the wall, Shotaro guided the girl up the stairs.

"What did you want to talk about?" Serene asked directly. Shotaro, on the other hand, let the walls go down so that the stars could be seen.

"Did you know that today is the Penumbral Lunar eclipse?" Shotaro parried, his eyes stopping on her. His face was sullen in appearance. The corners of his lips were drooping down.

"What's that?"

"It's when the moon moves through the faint outer part of the earth's shadow," Shotaro informed. He took in a deep breath before speaking again. This time, he fully faced Serene. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? For what?"

"I should've checked on you when I heard the bullets. I ended up brushing it off. I didn't think that you were the one who was shot," Shotaro, who had his head lying low, spoke with regret in his voice. "I'll make sure I'll do a better job. For someone who ranked 3rd, I'm ashamed of my actions."

"Taro, if it weren't for you, I might've ranked last. Not every mission needs to be perfect, there are always gonna be flaws when starting," Serene boosted the guilty boy. "I'm glad it was my first mission. A lot of experiences at once. So, don't blame yourself too much."

"Still..."

"Also, Doyoung told me that you stayed outside of the infirmary the whole time I was recuperating. Did you even eat? Shower? Do missions?" Serene could feel her worrisome heart taking over her emotions. "Look, I get that you felt guilty, but you did your best. At least you assisted me a lot."

"I asked Yuta to bring me food whenever he delivered food to Doyoung," Shotaro answered. The rest of the other questions, he left unanswered. "I can't believe that I planned the whole thing to be about apologizing. I ended up getting scolded in the end."

Serene snickered.

"You're cute. It's kind of interesting to me how you can be so cold but close at the same time, you know?" Serene looked up at the stars. The moonlight hit her face as she raised her hand. She had her hand in front of the moon and tried grabbing onto it. In the end, her hand was closed in front of the moon. Her eyes then stopped at Shotaro, who was quietly staring at her. "There are some things in life that are impossible to escape from, but we still try to. You wanna know why?"