“Dance with me?”

— CALE HENITUSE

The creak of the door echoed sharply through the chamber.

"Hahhh…" Cale let out a long, weary sigh before closing the door behind him. He raised a hand to brush his unkempt hair away from his face, an attempt to tame the messy strands.

"Who's celebrating for whom, exactly…?"

Dragging his feet across the floor, he made his way towards the couch and practically collapsed onto its cushions. The weight of his body sank into the plush of the furniture as he settled sideways, stretching out languidly. One arm came to rest over his eyes, shielding them from the room, surrendering himself to the brief comfort of doing absolutely nothing.

He wasn't used to all of this celebration.

The necessity of celebrating one birthday with the opulence of cake, gifts, and merrily-greetings, he'd thought, was exhausting. Cale would rather prefer the solitude of a silent greeting or the change of day with nothing other than the reminder he aged closer to death.

As Rok Soo, it reminded him far too much of three figures—those who had changed his life for the better, only to fade with the passing of time. Alas, fate had always been a cruel companion, hadn't it?

‘Team leader-nim… Jung Soo… and…’

A loud creak interrupted his thoughts, cutting through the nostalgic wave that had been coursing through Cale's mind.

‘Heesu.’