[No-Ah]
The ice cream melted faster than either of them ate it.
Mostly because Kei kept talking.
Not about anything important.
Pigeons again.
Apparently one of them had "looked at him with malicious intent."
No-Ah decided not to ask follow-up questions.
The streets had thinned out by now, evening settling deeper across the city while storefront lights reflected against damp pavement from yesterday's rain.
Beside him, No-Ah stayed quieter than usual.
Not silent.
Just—
somewhere else.
Kei noticed after the third time she answered two seconds too late.
After the fourth time she nearly walked into a bike rack.
And especially after she opened the ice cream wrapper wrong and didn't even seem to realize cold vanilla was dripping slowly onto her fingers.
Kei looked at her for a long moment.
Then sighed softly through his nose.
Without warning, he stepped directly in front of her.
No-Ah stopped automatically.
"...What."
Kei didn't answer immediately.
Instead he tilted his head slightly while looking at her carefully.
Studying.
No-Ah immediately disliked that expression.
Too observant.
"I'm trying to figure out if you're possessed," he said finally.
"No luck so far."
"You've been weird for hours."
"I'm always weird."
"Not like this."
No-Ah tried to step around him.
Kei moved with her instantly.
Blocking again.
Annoying.
"Move."
"No."
"Why."
"You keep pretending you're fine."
"I am fine."
"That was your fifth fake answer today."
No-Ah stared at him flatly.
"You counted?"
"You were making it easy."
A quiet breeze pushed through the street between them, lifting the edge of Kei's dark hoodie slightly.
No-Ah looked away first.
Mistake.
Because Kei noticed that too.
His expression softened a little afterward.
Less teasing now.
More careful.
"...Did something happen at work?"
"No."
"Family?"
"No."
"Did somebody upset you?"
Silence.
Tiny.
But enough.
Kei's eyes narrowed slightly.
"There it is."
No-Ah immediately frowned.
"There what is?"
"That face."
"What face?"
"The one where you look like you want to bite somebody."
"I always look like that."
"Yeah, but this one has emotional depth."
No-Ah groaned quietly and tried walking again.
This time Kei let her pass.
But only so he could walk beside her again immediately after.
Persistent.
Very persistent.
For a while neither of them spoke.
Traffic lights flickered overhead while distant conversations drifted from nearby restaurants.
Then quietly—
without looking at her—
Kei spoke again.
"...You know you don't actually have to tell me if you don't want to, right?"
No-Ah blinked once.
Kei kept his eyes forward.
"But you've been carrying whatever it is since this morning."
A pause.
Then more lightly:
"And it's starting to make me feel like I should fight someone on your behalf."
No-Ah looked at him immediately.
Kei looked completely serious.
Which somehow made it worse.
"...You don't even know what happened."
"Details are optional."
"That's concerning."
"I adapt quickly."
No-Ah exhaled softly through her nose before looking away again.
But this time—
the tightness in her chest shifted slightly.
Not gone.
Just...
less heavy.
Kei glanced sideways at her briefly.
Then reached over casually and took the melting ice cream from her hand before it could drip anymore.
No-Ah blinked.
"...What are you doing."
"You're holding it like a divorced father."
"That's not even a real comparison."
"It is in my heart.
He took one bite from his own ice cream.
Then one bite from hers.
No-Ah stared at him in disbelief.
"...You just stole my ice cream."
"You looked emotionally unavailable."
"That doesn't justify theft."
Kei hummed thoughtfully.
"Counterpoint: you weren't eating it."
No-Ah should've been more annoyed.
Probably.
Instead something small and unwilling tugged briefly at the corner of her mouth.
Kei noticed immediately.
His eyes widened slightly in victory.
"There."
No-Ah's expression flattened instantly.
"What."
"Human emotion."
"I hate you."
"No you don't."
Confident.
Far too confident.
Kei handed the ice cream back afterward, fingers brushing hers briefly during the exchange.
Neither of them acknowledged it.
But something quiet settled into the space afterward anyway.
Not awkward.
Not tense.
Just—
there.
They kept walking beneath the city lights together.
Slower than before.
And after a long silence, No-Ah finally spoke quietly.
"...Someone said something annoying earlier."
Kei looked over immediately.
Not pushing.
Just listening.
No-Ah stared ahead at the sidewalk.
"About people getting attached too quickly."
Kei blinked once.
Then:
"...That's such a weirdly threatening sentence."
No-Ah let out a quiet breath through her nose.
"My best friend said it after we fought."
Kei's expression shifted slightly.
"A serious fight?"
No-Ah stayed quiet for a second too long.
"...Yeah."
Kei didn't joke this time.
He just listened.
So No-Ah continued slowly.
"She came to my apartment yesterday. No answer from me. "
A pause.
"Then, she saw us at the ramen shop."
Kei's steps slowed slightly beside her.
"Oh."
"She thought I was hiding you from her."
The sentence sounded strange out loud.
Too personal.
Too revealing.
No-Ah shoved her hands deeper into her pockets.
"Then she started saying I've been acting different lately."
Kei glanced sideways at her quietly.
"Different how?"
No-Ah looked away immediately.
"She said I keep checking my phone now."
Kei coughed softly into his fist.
No-Ah ignored him.
"She said I leave faster after class. That I zone out during conversations."
Her expression tightened faintly.
"And that I stopped feeling present even when I'm there."
The words settled heavily between them.
For once, Kei didn't interrupt immediately.
The city noise filled the silence instead.
Then more quietly, No-Ah admitted:
"She looked hurt."
Kei's gaze softened slightly.
"Yeah," he said gently. "Sounds like she was."
No-Ah frowned faintly at the ground.
"I didn't mean to make her feel like that."
"I know."
The immediate answer made her glance at him.
Kei shrugged one shoulder lightly.
"You don't seem like someone who hurts people on purpose."
Something in No-Ah's chest tightened unexpectedly at that.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
Kei looked ahead again before speaking carefully.
"...But I think people notice faster than we realize when they start becoming less important to someone."
No-Ah went still for half a second.
Because that wasn't what Yun-Ra said.
But somehow—
it was exactly what she meant.
Kei noticed her expression immediately.
"...Sorry," he said quieter. "Too honest?"
"No."
The answer came softer than she intended.
Silence settled again while they crossed another intersection.
Then Kei rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"So..."
No-Ah looked at him briefly.
"...Your best friend thinks I'm stealing you away."
No-Ah deadpanned instantly.
"You're very confident for someone who emotionally fought pigeons this morning."
"Those pigeons knew what they did."
Despite herself—
another laugh slipped out.
Small.
Real.
Kei looked absurdly pleased again.
"There you are," he murmured.
And annoyingly—
that simple sentence made her chest tighten all over again.
But in a different way.
☆ ☆ ☆
The conversation lingered in No-Ah's chest longer than she liked.
Too heavy.
Too honest.
Dangerous territory.
So naturally—
she changed the subject immediately.
"...Our university is holding some stupid festival this weekend."
Kei glanced sideways at her.
"A stupid festival?"
"Mhm."
"What makes it stupid?"
"They shut down half the campus for three days and pretend students enjoy mandatory social interaction."
"Sounds horrifying."
"It is."
Kei laughed quietly.
"What kind of festival?"
No-Ah shrugged lightly.
"Spring arts festival. Music performances.
Food stalls. Club events."
A pause.
"And apparently student suffering."
Kei blinked once.
Then slowly:
"...Wait."
No-Ah frowned faintly at his expression.
"What."
Kei pulled his phone from his hoodie pocket and stared at something on the screen.
His eyebrows lifted slightly.
"No way."
"What."
Kei looked back at her.
"...I'm performing at a university festival this weekend."
No-Ah stared at him blankly.
"So?"
Kei turned the phone around toward her.
An event poster filled the screen.
Her university logo sat directly at the top.
Silence.
Then:
"...Oh."
Kei looked deeply entertained already.
"No-Ah."
"Don't."
"You go there."
"I'm aware."
"I'm performing there."
"I can read."
Kei looked delighted for reasons she didn't understand.
"That's actually insane."
"No, it's unfortunate."
Kei snorted softly.
"Wow. Supportive."
No-Ah looked back at the poster again.
Sure enough—
his stage name sat right there beneath the event schedule.
Saturday night headline performance.
"...You're the main act?" she asked before thinking.
Kei looked offended instantly.
"What do you mean "you're the main act?""
"It sounded surprising."
"You're hurting me."
"I'll survive."
Kei pressed a hand dramatically against his chest anyway.
"No empathy. Cruel personality. Violent tendencies."
"You waited outside my workplace for four hours."
"Romantic."
"Horrifying."
Kei grinned faintly.
The expression faded slightly after a second though, something more thoughtful replacing it instead.
Then slowly—
dangerously—
he smiled again.
No-Ah narrowed her eyes immediately.
"...Why do you look like that."
"Like what."
"Like you're about to create problems."
Kei pointed lightly at her.
"You have a friendship crisis."
"No I don't."
"You absolutely do."
No-Ah looked away.
Annoying.
Kei shoved his hands back into his hoodie pockets while walking.
Then casually:
"I can fix it."
No-Ah looked at him flatly.
"You are the problem."
"Exactly. That's why I'm uniquely qualified."
"No."
"You didn't even hear the plan."
"Because I already know it'll be terrible."
Kei gasped softly.
"Unbelievable lack of trust."
"Earn some."
Kei ignored that immediately.
"Here's the deal."
No-Ah immediately disliked those words.
"No."
"You don't even know what it is yet."
"I can feel the future getting worse."
Kei laughed quietly before continuing anyway.
"I perform at your university festival."
"I'm unfortunately aware."
"And during the performance..."
He glanced sideways at her.
"I invite your best friend onstage."
No-Ah blinked once.
"What."
Kei looked disturbingly confident now.
"VIP treatment. Cool photos. Exclusive experience. Free album. Boom."
"Boom?"
"Friendship repaired."
No-Ah stared at him like he'd lost his mind.
"That's your solution?"
"It'll work."
"No, it won't."
"People love exclusive experiences. Besides, I'll give you credits."
"Are you serious, Kei? Yun-Ra is upset emotionally, not economically."
Kei snorted.
"Okay, fair point."
No-Ah rubbed tiredly at her forehead.
"This is a horrible idea."
"You don't actually know that."
"I know enough."
Kei walked backward briefly so he could look directly at her while talking.
"What if I'm right though?"
"You aren't."
"What if I am."
"You sound unbearable when you're confident."
"I usually am correct when I'm confident."
"That somehow makes it worse."
Kei grinned.
Then after a second:
"...Also I think she mostly wants reassurance."
No-Ah's steps slowed slightly.
Kei noticed immediately.
"You said she felt replaced, right?"
No-Ah stayed quiet.
"So give her proof she isn't."
The teasing tone disappeared completely during that sentence.
And annoyingly—
that sounded far more reasonable than the rest of his ridiculous plan.
No-Ah frowned faintly at the sidewalk.
"...You thought about this too much."
"I get bored easily."
"Liar."
Kei smiled a little to himself at that.
Caught.
Then he lifted one shoulder casually.
"So?"
"So what."
"Deal or no deal."
No-Ah looked suspicious immediately.
"...What do you want in exchange."
Kei's eyes lit up instantly.
Which was already a terrible sign.
"Hm."
"No."
"I haven't even said anything yet."
"You made that face."
"What face."
"The manipulative one."
Kei looked genuinely delighted now.
"Wow. You know my expressions already."
"Unfortunately."
He pretended to think deeply for a moment while they walked beneath another row of glowing streetlights.
Then:
"If I successfully help fix things with your friend..."
No-Ah waited cautiously.
"You have to come to one full concert willingly."
Silence.
Then immediate disbelief.
"...That's it?"
Kei looked offended.
"Excuse you. Tickets are expensive."
"You literally perform there."
"Exactly. Premium access."
No-Ah narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"That's your deal?"
"Mhm."
"You're scheming."
"Always."
No-Ah stared at him for a long second.
This entire arrangement sounded ridiculous.
Manipulative.
Potentially disastrous.
And yet—
Kei was looking at her with that irritatingly confident expression again.
Like he'd already decided she'd agree.
Annoying person.
"...One concert," she said finally.
Kei's grin appeared immediately.
"But if your plan makes things worse—"
"It won't."
"—I'm blocking your number."
Kei gasped dramatically.
"You wound me."
"I'll survive."
"You really like saying that."
"You keep surviving things."
Kei laughed quietly under his breath.
Then held one hand out toward her casually.
"Deal?"
No-Ah stared at it.
Then at him.
Then sighed softly through her nose before shaking it once.
"...Worst decision I've made this week."
Kei's fingers curled briefly around hers before letting go.
Warm.
Annoyingly warm.
Kei looked entirely too pleased afterward.
"No-Ah."
"What."
"I just realized something."
"I already hate this conversation."
"You technically agreed to attend my concert voluntarily."
No-Ah immediately let go of his hand.
"I take it back."
"Too late."
"You manipulated me."
"You walked directly into it."
No-Ah groaned quietly and started walking faster again.
Kei followed beside her immediately, laughing under his breath the entire time.
Persistent.
Very persistent.
☆ ☆ ☆