Later that night, Emily sat cross-legged on her futon, thumbs flying across her phone.The soft hum of Ryunosuke's lo-fi playlist drifted from the living room speaker—a mellow, looping beat that barely masked the tension tightening her chest.
She opened the group chat and typed without hesitation:
Emily 🐥:Okay. I followed Ryu this morning. I KNOW, okay?? Don't come for me. But something's wrong.
William 🌟:YOU WHAT??Did you wear a trench coat and fake mustache?
Lucas 🎨:omg she's full noir mode"The streets were quiet, but my heart wasn't…"
Emily 🐥:I'm serious!!He went to some underground parking garage. Didn't say a word. Just dipped.Stayed down there for over half an hour.
William 🌟:Is he… secretly a valet?
Emily 🐥:😐
Lucas 🎨:Did you go in after him?
Emily 🐥:No. It looked private. Too clean. Too locked.And he was moving weird… like, not himself.
William 🌟:I knew it. Sad boy's unraveling.
Emily 🐥:I think it's connected to his dad.He looked like he was carrying bricks when he came back.
Lucas 🎨:You think he wrote about it?
Emily 🐥:I know he drew something.He hasn't let that sketchbook out of his sight.Even sleeps with it under his pillow like some angsty visual diary.
William 🌟:So what's the plan, Agent Walker?
Emily 🐥:We need to see that sketchbook.But he won't just hand it over. So I was thinking… distraction.
Lucas 🎨:Oho. Here we go.
William 🌟:What kind of distraction we talkin'?Casual hangout? Flash mob? Car fire?
Emily 🐥:Casual hangout.You keep him busy. I'll get Lucas over here.If we time it right, one of us sneaks into his room while he's with you.
Lucas 🎨:Wow. We really out here being the worst kind of friends 💀
Emily 🐥:Better that than sitting in the dark.He needs help—he just won't ask for it.
William 🌟:…Alright. I'm in.I'll lure him out with the promise of lunch and bad opinions.
Lucas 🎨:Say no more.
Operation SketchSnatch is a go.
—
Emily locked her phone and leaned back against the wall, exhaling slowly.
She hated this.
But not more than she hated the way Ryunosuke looked lately.
Like something inside him was sinking, and he didn't know how to swim.
Whatever he was hiding—She wasn't about to let him face it alone.