Chapter Text
Reality had never been kind.
Teerak felt his lungs burn as he ran barefoot toward the hotel, his shoes clutched tightly in both hands. His hair was a mess, strands flying in every direction, and his once neat clothes now clung to him, damp with sweat and dirt. He looked like he had been running for his life, and in a way, it felt true.
He was late.
Five minutes late.
And his boyfriend was not the kind of man who waited.
Teerak pushed himself harder, breathing through his mouth as he weaved through the crowd. People turned to stare, but he ignored them. His mind raced faster than his feet, building excuse after excuse, none of them good enough. He could already picture the look on his boyfriend’s face, the tight jaw, the impatience, the disappointment.
The thought made his chest tighten more than the run.
At last, the hotel came into full view. Teerak slowed to a stop just outside, bending slightly as he tried to catch his breath. He tapped his chest lightly with the shoes in his hand and tilted his head up. The full moon hung low in the sky, calm and distant, as if it had nothing to do with the chaos below.
What he did not notice was the man standing a few steps to his left.
The man stood still, hands tucked into his pockets, eyes fixed on the same building. His expression was dark, his brows drawn together. There was anger in his gaze, sharp and controlled, like something waiting to snap.
Teerak slipped his shoes back on in a hurry and glanced down at himself. His clothes were wrinkled and stained, far from how he had looked when he first stepped out that evening. He let out a quiet sigh, already bracing for the argument he knew was coming.
Without another thought, he stepped forward.
At the same moment, the other man moved.
They entered the hotel together, but their paths split almost immediately. Teerak turned right. The man turned left.
Neither of them looked back.
A few steps behind where they had stood, another presence lingered.
Hia rested his hands on his hips, a wide grin spreading across his face.
“Finally,” he said, barely containing his excitement.
He clasped his hands together and shut his eyes. “Red string of fate, arise before me.”
When he opened them again, a glowing red thread shimmered into view, stretching into the distance, connecting two souls he had been assigned to guide. His smile returned, bright and satisfied.
For a moment, everything felt right.
Then the air shifted.
A dark sphere of swirling smoke formed in front of him. From it, a tall figure stepped out, his presence heavy and sharp. His eyes were piercing, his expression unreadable.
Real.
The trickster.
“Hello,” Real said, his voice low and flat.
Hia barely had time to react.
“Bye.”
The word came just as quickly. Real stepped back, and the black smoke swallowed him whole, erasing him from sight as if he had never been there.
Silence followed.
Then Hia screamed in frustration.
Before the sound could fully echo, his body was wrapped in soft, glittering white smoke. In an instant, he vanished as well.
And somewhere beyond the hotel walls, the red string trembled.