Chapter 1: Prologue [Ace]

“You shouldn’t involve with us. You are above us.”

“I know, right? You shouldn’t be with us.”

“Goddamn, we hate you, don’t you know that? You’re just an asshole.”

The words echoed in Ace’s mind, each one more bitter than the last, as if they had been etched into his very soul. They didn’t feel like they came from others; it was as if they were his own thoughts, twisted and reflected back at him. He stared out the window, the dark city skyline looming like a distant shadow. There was a strange, suffocating tension in the air—a tug-of-war between two versions of himself.

Hey, Ace, you are me, and I am you. We hate humans, and yet... we don’t. Why is it like this?

The silence was deafening, the only sound his own thoughts pressing in, unanswered. Is it because I haven’t changed, or is it because you have? Even though we’re the same, you’ve become something else. Will you ever change back? Or am I stuck in this version of you forever?

The shrill ring of his phone shattered the quiet. Ace picked it up instinctively, his gaze fixed on the caller ID. It was a name he knew well.

Annie.

He froze for a second before unlocking the phone and checking the call log. The number seemed familiar, though it was buried in a sea of other contacts. He double-checked, a strange unease gnawing at him.

So, it’s Annie’s number. But why is she calling me? Ace thought. Did she need something? Or maybe she wanted to tell me something important?

He set the phone down, the unease growing. But instead of overthinking it, a mischievous thought crossed his mind.

What if I had a bit of fun before asking her?

The next day, Ace sat in the computer lab, the fluorescent lights above buzzing as the class worked in a quiet, concentrated hum. Shawn sat beside him, as usual. The seating chart had long been set, and Shawn’s seat beside Ace was as inevitable as the ticking of the clock.

Shawn was staring at the screen, his fingers hovering over the keyboard, but Ace could see the tension in his shoulders. He was always like this whenever Annie was around, though the rejection she had given him hadn’t seemed to help lessen his feelings.

“Hey, Shawn,” Ace said, nudging him slightly. “You know what? Annie called me the other night.”

Shawn’s head whipped around so fast it was almost comical. “Wait, seriously? Annie called you? And you didn’t pick up?”

Ace smirked, leaning back in his chair. “Yeah. I guess I was either playing a game or just... AFK. But still, aren’t you curious?”

Shawn scoffed, his eyes narrowing. “Why did she even call you? I don’t even get a text from her, and you get a call?” His voice wavered between jealousy and disbelief.

Ace raised an eyebrow. “Well, your case is... different.”

Shawn huffed, clearly annoyed. “You’re such a jerk. I’m serious, though—why would she call you?”

Ace shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know, man. Maybe she wanted something from me. Maybe she was just bored.”

Shawn leaned in closer, his voice lower now. “You should find out, Ace. I mean, it’s Annie. What if... what if this is something big?”

After school, Shawn couldn’t resist. His curiosity gnawed at him, and before Ace could even process it, Shawn had already gone to Annie. He was too eager to get an answer, desperate for something, anything that would explain why Ace seemed to be the one Annie reached out to.

The next day, Shawn returned to Ace, looking more downcast than usual. His eyes were darkened with frustration, and his mouth was set in a tight line.

“She... she said it was nothing,” Shawn muttered, barely meeting Ace’s eyes. “Just some mistake. She dialed the wrong number or something.”

Ace felt a strange flicker of satisfaction at Shawn’s disappointment, but it was fleeting. There was something in the way Annie had answered that made Ace uneasy, and now, that unease felt like a knot in his stomach. Why had she called him? Was it really a mistake, or was there more to it than that?