Chapter 9 – Part 1 [Ace]

December 14, Sunday

The phone rang, cutting through the silence of my room. I reached for it, glancing at the screen before answering.

"Hey, Annie. What happened?"

Her voice came through, calm but direct. "Are you free right now?"

I frowned slightly. "Why? What’s up?"

"We’re meeting up for a team discussion. It’d be great if you could join us."

I hesitated. I already knew what my answer was going to be.

"Umm… sorry, Annie. I won’t be able to join you guys." I paused, then forced a small chuckle. "I’ve got tournament matches. I play games competitively, remember?"

A lie.

A pathetic excuse.

"I’m really sorry," I added, even though the apology meant nothing.

In reality, I could have gone. But if I did… things might change. And I wasn’t ready for that.

I let out a quiet sigh as I put my phone down. My head felt heavy, and my thoughts were spiraling, so I decided to take a short nap—just enough to clear my mind.

A few minutes later, I was drifting in and out of sleep when I heard a voice.

"Hey, why didn’t you join them?"

My half-asleep mind responded instinctively. "Because I don’t want to disturb their current relationship."

"But that’s not for you to decide, right?"

I frowned. Even in my own thoughts, I was being questioned. "It might not be, but there’s a girl who will get caught in that mess. I don’t want that to happen."

"Why? Did she become that precious to you, or… are you just using her as an excuse?"

"Precious, huh…?"

I muttered the word, letting it linger in the air.

But before I could figure out the answer, sleep pulled me under.