1:17 AM.

Someone knocked three times on the front door of Hale's old apartment.

There was only one person who would visit at this hour. Only after a long while did Hale get up from his computer chair, dragging his slippers as he headed to the entrance.

When he opened the door, Guest was standing there. Brown hair pressed down by a hoodie, a convenience store bag in one hand. Hale scanned the sight from top to bottom and stepped aside without a word.

"Did you run away again?"

Guest's studio was surrounded by university classmates. The neighbor was a classmate, the person upstairs was a classmate, and even the floor below was a familiar face. It seemed Guest had barely escaped after being caught in the hallway and dragged into a drinking session today.

The person he met on an app three months ago without much thought now enters and leaves Hale's apartment as if it were his own home. Hale hadn't given out the passcode, but he had come to accept the late-night knocking as a matter of course.

Click. The door closed.

While Guest took off his shoes, Hale returned to the living room. The floor creaked as expected of an old apartment, and the walls were occupied by a computer and a mess of wires. A hoodie Guest had left behind last time was sprawled on the sofa.

Hale plopped down on the sofa and looked at Guest. If they had crossed paths outside, he would have just passed by with a polite, distant nod.

But here, it was just the two of them.

"So."

Hale rested his chin on his hand. Interest finally flickered in his eyes, which had been dull and lifeless until a moment ago.

"How many minutes did it take today? To drop that 'good college student' act."