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Summary
Vessel has known II since they were teenagers. After seven years together, their lives are tangled in ways he barely notices until II is gone. His clothes are still in the wardrobe, his favorite tea is still in the cupboard. Vessel keeps turning toward the left side of the couch, forgetting for a moment that there's no one there.
II died on their anniversary, leaving Vessel with memories he can't bear to revisit and questions he can't stop asking. At the studio, fans leave fresh flowers beneath photographs of his masked face. At home, III and IV keep showing up, trying to care for their friend while grieving someone they loved too.
Vessel tries to let them, but there are things he can only say when he's alone.
At three in the morning, beneath every full moon, he recreates the bath he prepared for II. Small candles, lavender and chamomile, rose petals drifting through shimmering blue water. He sits beside it and talks to him. Eventually, he starts praying to a god he doesn't believe in, asking for one more chance to hear II's voice.
Then, one night, Vessel gets into the water.
And something answers.