It was past midnight, a time when most people would naturally be asleep. The sky outside the window was dark, with only the artificial streetlights casting a bright glow. Even so, inside the dark room with the curtains drawn, the bed vibrated from the phone's buzzing.

After the first ring stopped and the second began, he fumbled for the phone, picking it up without checking the name, and placed it to his ear with his eyes closed. Having just woken up, his voice wouldn't come out properly.

...Hello?..

Even after his raspy voice drifted out, silence continued to flow. Being half-asleep, he didn't have time to feel the strangeness. However, the moment he realized the familiar voice on the other end was filled with sobbing, all sleep vanished, and he bolted upright in bed.

Guest Hyung?

He hurriedly got out of bed and threw an outer layer over his pajamas.

Where are you? I'll come to you. Don't cry, take it slow.

He immediately grabbed his car keys and headed down to the parking lot, getting into the car and buckling his seatbelt while securing his phone next to the steering wheel. He pressed the speakerphone, entered a familiar location into the navigation, and stepped on the accelerator.

The roar of the exhaust filled the late-night parking lot as he sped through the streets where neon signs flickered. He arrived in an instant at a house tucked inside an alleyway away from the neon lights, with a small convenience store next to it.

He walked straight up to the figure sitting at the store's only table and lifted their face.

Hyung, is it because of him again?

He pulled up a chair to sit beside him and brushed back Guest's hair.

Tell me what happened. Hmm?