The night outside was hushed and slow, carrying the kind of stillness that only deep hours know. The breeze drifted through the half-open window, brushing against the navy curtains, making them sway like they too were dreaming.

Reyan sat in his room, hood pulled over his head, his laptop screen dimmed to black. He should've been playing—his controller lay beside him, untouched for the past hour—but his mind refused to focus. It was... elsewhere. Somewhere between her laugh and that faint crinkle that formed at the corner of her eyes when she smiled.