7:00 PM. Cale just walked out of the school after refusing to leave the room for an hour.

Curses slid out of his mouth like water, and he had already flushed his fist from punching every streetlamp he passed on his way to a nearby park.

He refused to come home just yet until 10 PM, so he could cool off, or probably just because he couldn't.

The park playground was empty. Cale dropped his bag onto the rubber ground and sat on the swing, head hung low, with his stomach growling.

He could've taken the coupon, but his rebellion toward everybody, including Akio, was outstanding.

Worse, he didn't take a bath after their training, and he sure felt sticky under his jersey. He took it off and spun it to fan himself.

Now he's hungry, bare-chested, and alone. But he felt as if somebody was watching him from afar.

There was a small forest by the playground. Cale turned his head when he heard the faint crunch of autumn leaves from that direction.

He scoffed. It didn't even take him a minute to spot the person, even in the dark.

In the forest, a guy was wearing the crimson uniform from the city's most expensive private university. Hair, as white as an ermine's fur during the winter, and skin were just as pale as a ghost's.

He's holding a camera up to his face while trying to be sneaky—obviously snapping a photo of the athlete, and didn't seem to realize that Cale had already spotted him.

The pale guy hid behind the tree with his back leaning against the trunk. He scrolled through his shots, cheeks blushing as he looked at the photos of the interesting person he had found on his bicycle ride back home.

"Damn..." he whispered to himself with giddiness in his chest.

He thought he needed more and once again peeked through the tree.

"Huh?"

Cale wasn't around anymore, but his duffel bag and used jersey were still there.

He stood longer, scanning the area to see if Cale was just somewhere in the park, maybe doing some light exercise, but he couldn't see him.

"Let's just call it a day," he mumbled, eyes still on the bag.

He exhaled, already turning his attention away—

Then something in the brush shifted.

The sound behind him didn't register at first until the leaves shifted again.

He turned, and something grabbed him by the shoulders.

His eyes widened, eyeballs shaking from the sudden rise in heart rate. Someone held his shoulders from behind and violently pinned him to the nearby tree.

Blue orbs met the hazel ones, and his cold skin touched Cale's warmth.

Cale tried to snatch the camera, but the sling around the pale guy's neck held it, pulling his face closer to Cale's and almost pressing their faces together.

Cale clicked his tongue and leaned away.

"Who are you?" He asked, brushing his hair up.

The pale guy watched him for a moment before bursting. "I'm Cooper! Cooper Paulsen from Round—"

"Roundline University. Goddamn it, tell me something I don't know." He squeezed Cooper's small face with one hand. "Where do you think you're pointing your junk at? Are you gonna make deep fake por—"

"No! No! I swear!" Cooper raised his arms and looked away. "I'm a photographer, and I think you might be a pleasant subject."

"How so?"

Cooper took a quick glance at Cale's body.

"Your body... it's my dream body." He almost whispered the last part.

There was silence for a minute. Cooper felt uncomfortable around Cale, but he also didn't wanna get away from him.

Cale suddenly chuckled and proudly took a step back.

"Well, of course. Anyone with a helpless body like yours would want this." He flexed in silence and had even invited Cooper to touch him. 

Cooper huffed. The beef in front of him didn't seem to get what he said in the same context.

"You don't wanna?" Cale asked.

"No... thank you," Cooper hesitantly refused.

"I might want more than just to touch."

Cooper, baffled by his own thoughts, pushed Cale further by his chest.

"I think it's time for me to go," Cooper turned his back and made a beeline for his bike, lying sadly on the sidewalk.

Cale watched as the "glow-in-the-dark" person... or Cooper, if he remembered correctly, sped up and disappeared from his sight.

"I could've beaten the hell outta him," Cale mumbled, then turned, ready to grab his stuff and leave the place, when suddenly he heard a tiny beep. 

He looked beneath him, and there was a crimson-colored lanyard with an ID and a glowing device attached to it. 

Cale groaned. "How responsible does he think I am?"