Chapter 1
The city was alive, neon lights flickering like secrets waiting to be told. It was a night where even the air feels like it's holding its breath.
My brother walked beside me, hands tucked into his pockets, and his usual chaotic-energy-that-never-runs-out was dimmed by exhaustion. It felt strange seeing him quiet, like the world had suddenly turned its volume down.
"Let's just grab something to eat and head back," he mumbled.
I nodded, but something felt... off. That tiny shift in the atmosphere your gut picks up before your brain does. The kind of off that makes your skin prickle, like a whisper brushing the back of your neck.
A feeling that makes you subconsciously look around, even though you don't know what you're searching for.
And then—
A collision.
One second, I was stepping forward, and the next, I crashed into someone—very hard. My breath hitched as steady hands gripped my arms, stopping me from falling. His hold was very firm, as if he reacted before even thinking.
"Woah. You good?"
That voice.
How do I describe it?
Deep.
Smooth.
Laced with something unfamiliar yet strangely comforting, like a cold night mixed with warm breath.
I looked up, and for a moment, time stretched thin. Dark, round eyes locked onto mine—so big, they held an entire universe inside them. Yes, the universe that makes you forget what you were about to say.
His sharp tensed jawline, tousled dark hair falling effortlessly over his forehead... he was charismatic in that unintentional, dangerous way.
And ofcourse, his face was definitely of the type you don't really look at, but you stare at.
I blinked.
He blinked.
Then—
"Bro?"
His voice shifted, snapping the moment in half. The surprise in his tone was impossible to miss.
My brother stiffened beside me.
I turned to him. His jaw was clenched, but his expression stayed unreadable. Under the neon glow, I caught something in his face—something I'd seen a million times but somehow missed tonight. A familiar softness trying to peek through the tension, as if he was choosing his words before even speaking.
And that's when I realized—
They knew each other.
Not the casual oh-yeah-I've-seen-him-around.
Something else.
It was heavier.
And I wasn't ready for how fast everything suddenly changed.
But before I could ask anything—
My brother’s reaction was instant—his posture stiffened, and his brows knitted together in something between surprise and unease. It was subtle, but I noticed. I always did.
He had this way of hiding things behind calm expressions, and right now, that calm was slipping.
The guy—him—tilted his head slightly, his gaze flickering from me to my brother. His eyes lingered just a second longer than necessary, like he was piecing something together.
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” he said, with a voice that carried an undertone of something unreadable.
It was not hostile.
Not friendly either.
Just… loaded.
My brother scoffed lightly, but it lacked his usual warmth. “Yeah. Same.”
The word landed flat, like it didn’t carry its usual meaning.
Okay.
What was going on?
I glanced with a burning curiosity between them. The air felt heavier now, thicker, like the city itself had paused to watch whatever this was unfold. They knew each other. That much was obvious. But from where? And why did it feel like I had just walked into the middle of something unfinished?
And why—why did my brother suddenly feel like a stranger standing next to me?
“Wait, you two—” I started, my voice instinctively cutting through the silence.
But my words were cut off.
The guy suddenly took a step back, his hand slipping from my arm like he realized too late that he was still holding on. The contact broke so abruptly that I almost felt colder without it. He shoved his hand into his jacket pocket, then his jaw tightened as if he was pulling himself together.
His gaze shifted, unreadable now.
“It’s been a while, bro,” he murmured.
The word bro hung there, awkward and heavy, like it didn’t belong in the same sentence as the tension buzzing between them. My brother didn’t respond right away. He just stared, like he was deciding whether to say something—or not say anything at all.
And before I could process any of it—
The distant sound of sirens was coming closer.
The sharp and sudden noise sliced through the moment. The guy’s entire demeanor changed in an instant—jaw tightening, shoulders squaring, eyes sharpening like he had flipped a switch inside himself. The calm, almost casual air around him vanished.
He turned to me, quick and deliberate. His voice dropped, and it sounded quieter now, but firm. Almost commanding.
“You should go.”
My stomach flipped. The words didn’t feel like a suggestion. They felt like a warning.
“Wait—what? Why—” I protested, my thoughts scrambling to catch up with the speed of everything suddenly happening.
But my brother had already grabbed my wrist.
“Let’s go,” he told in his clipped and final tone. I understood that there was no room for arguments or explanations.
I tried to pull back, my eyes darting to the guy. He had taken another step away as the streetlights were casting shadows across his face, hiding half of it in darkness. I couldn’t read his expression anymore—and that scared me more than anything else.
The sirens got louder and closer. Too close.
And then—
He turned and ran without talking a single glance back.
One second he was there, standing under the neon lights like a question waiting to be answered—and the next, he was gone, swallowed by the city like he had never existed at all.
I stood there, frozen, as my brother was still gripping my wrist. My heart was pounding too fast for a moment that had ended so suddenly.
All that remained were unanswered questions.
And the unsettling feeling that this was far from over.
To be continued. 👀🔥
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