7:40 a.m. — The Next Morning
Sera had been up for forty minutes already. Now, she stood in front of her wardrobe, wrapped in a single towel, droplets of water pattering softly onto the floor beneath her. Steam still clung to her skin and filled the room with a damp haze.
"..."
She stood in silence, thinking about a hundred things all at once.
"...I don't want to go out there..."
Clothes hangers clinked as she flipped through them absentmindedly—until she stopped at a particular shirt.
She'd nearly forgotten she had this one.
A black Manchester United football jersey.
It had been a gift from the club last season—a perk from her family's company becoming a sponsor, plus the fact that she'd attended a match live at Old Trafford.
And yes, that could only mean one thing:
Sera supported Manchester United.
What was especially great about this shirt? It was a T-shirt, with sleeves long enough to cover her underarms—which meant Mickey wouldn't get a peek at her pits today.
"...This one. Perfect."
Ding-dong!
"?!"
Someone rang her doorbell.
"..."
Sera walked over to the wall pad to check who it was.
It was Roxxy Barrett.
"...Oh. Miss Bossy herself."
[ "...Hello...? Sera...? You awake...? " ]
"Yeah, I'm up. What's up?"
[ "...Uh... wanna grab breakfast together?" ]
Whoa. She's the one asking me?
"Sure. Gimme a sec."
7:40 a.m. — The Next Morning (continued)
Roxxy stood leaning casually against the wall outside, arms folded, waiting patiently.
Whirr!
The hydraulic door slid open.
Sera stepped out.
Roxxy immediately noticed that Sera was trying to act normal. It was subtle, but obvious—like someone freshly heartbroken pretending everything was fine. Though she'd clearly showered, styled her hair, and freshened up, her puffy eyes betrayed the truth.
"...Your eyes are swollen. Did you even sleep?"
"Yeah," Sera said, voice flat. "Slept like a baby."
It was pure sarcasm.
"...I mean, I just wanted to say—I'm sorry about what happened—"
Before Roxxy could finish, Sera pressed a finger to her lips.
"Mmm-mmm. We're going to breakfast, aren't we?"
"..."
Roxxy gently took her hand away.
"Yeah, but... Mickey—"
"Who?"
"..."
"Mickey."
"Mickey who? Don't know him."
"Sera, come on... Don't act like a child."
"Don't. Say. His. Name. Roxxy. You. Don't. Get. To. Say. His. Name."
Roxxy was jolted by the sudden shake to her shoulders and promptly fell silent.
Still furious. Yep...
"Okay...👉👈 I won't say it again..."
She really was trying her best to smooth things over. But if Sera wasn't ready, pushing it would only make it worse.
In the cafeteria...
Crunch, chomp, munch.
Roxxy sat awkwardly across the table, feeling stiff and unsure. She watched, astonished, as Sera demolished a massive breakfast burger like she hadn't eaten in days.
Guess all that crying used up her calories...
Technically, Sera could've eaten something last night, but she probably didn't dare leave her room. Hence, the vengeance feast this morning.
"...Sera, hey..."
"Munch-munch Hmm?"
"...You're really that scared of cockroaches?"
"..."
Instead of answering, Sera silently extended her arm.
Roxxy looked—and saw a full field of goosebumps.
"...Whoa. And that's just from talking about them..."
"Munch."
"...Last night must've really freaked you out..."
Sera's eyes flicked up sharply.
"What, here to mock me now?"
"N-No! Not at all!"
Yeah... she probably didn't even go near the bathroom last night.
"I just meant... you don't have to worry here. This place is spotless. I've been stationed here a long time, and I've never seen a roach—well, unless you count the ones they use in lab testing..."
Sera could tell what Roxxy was trying to do.
She was trying to comfort her—trying to ease her anxiety. And unlike certain people, Roxxy actually seemed to understand her.
Sera sighed.
"By now, the whole base probably knows..."
"They don't."
Roxxy shook her head.
"I told Mickey to keep quiet. And the female agent? She's one of us. She won't say a word. Right now, it's just the four of us who know."
Sera still didn't look convinced...
"Everyone's afraid of something, Sera. It's normal. Mickey does understand, you know... he just... didn't realize it was a phobia-level fear..."
"Understand? He!? He doesn't understand shit! He said I was overreacting—overreacting!—when I was literally shaking like a leaf, and then he put a roach on me! THAT'S understanding!?"
"...Okay, I get that. But it's not that simple either..."
Roxxy gripped her glass tightly.
"Mickey got his psycho-brain from his mother, remember? It's not entirely his fault if he lacks basic empathy."
Her words struck Sera just enough to stall her spiraling.
Roxxy wasn't justifying what he did—but she was explaining it. And that mattered.
She was right...
Sera had forgotten what she was dealing with.
Mickey had psychopathic tendencies, something she'd researched after their plane ride together. And one of the universal traits of psychopaths?
Lack of empathy.
Not that all of them are dangerous. Some are fully functional, love their families, raise kids. But emotional reasoning? That's not their strong suit.
So of course Mickey didn't understand why she cried like that. To him, fear was subjective, impossible to quantify. Like trying to explain the color red to someone born blind.
He probably didn't understand any emotional subtleties—why people cry during sad movies, or give to charity, or comfort strangers, or attend funerals out of respect. All those "sensitive" matters... they meant little to him.
There were even TED Talks about this.
And Sera got it. She wasn't mad at people for not knowing. Not really.
But understanding didn't make the anger disappear.
Still, Roxxy seemed to catch her at the right moment.
So she tried a different tactic:
"...Truth is, I'm scared of something too."
"...Oh?"
Sera turned toward her, mid-bite.
"...Yeah. I'm terrified of... baby dolls."
"...!"
Sera's brows jumped.
"Okay, yeah... I used to be scared of those too, but I grew out of it."
"...I didn't. I still can't walk past one. Creeps me out to hell and back."
"Really?"
"Yeah. So I get it, okay? If Mickey had waved a creepy doll in my face, I'd have lost it too."
"...God... you're so emotionally literate right now... I love you."
"And you were scared Syd would find out, weren't you?"
Sera didn't answer, just gave a sheepish nod while munching her burger.
"Knew it. Don't worry. Syd won't mock you... not about this."
"...Huh?"
Sera blinked, surprised.
That sounded... impossible.
"Don't be ridiculous..."
"I'm serious. In fact... he probably understands you better than anyone."
"...What?"
"He's afraid of butterflies."
"😯"
"And unlike you, Syd doesn't shut down when he's scared. He explodes."
"You've seen it?"
"Come on. I'm me."
"...Right. Dumb question."
"And when he freaks out... let's just say, we had to rebuild an entire research lab."
"What was he even doing in there?"
"...You know. Stuff."
"I see..."
"Just keep it to yourself, alright? Don't tell Syd I told you."
"Aww... baby girl, I won't."
The two of them chuckled and continued their breakfast—until the sudden clatter of running shoes echoed down the hallway.
Thump-thump-thump-thump!
"...?"
It was Mickey Mannix, soaking wet, in the same clothes from yesterday.
He scanned the cafeteria, found their table, and started heading their way.
Sera sighed long and hard. Roxxy turned around—yep, it was him.
"...Yikes."
Mickey had something in his hands. He was approaching—
SCRAPE!
Sera stood up abruptly.
She grabbed Roxxy's arm and pulled her up too.
"Let's go. I can't be around this guy right now."
Whether Roxxy liked it or not, Sera didn't care. She took both their plates to the return tray and started marching off.
"...Sera..."
Mickey tried calling after her—but she didn't respond.
"If he grabs me like one of those webtoon tropes," Sera muttered, "freeze him. Immediately."
"Huh? Freeze?"
"You know—grabbing my wrist, holding my arm, some dramatic crap. Just look. If he does it, I swear I'll scream, smash this plate, jab a shard into his Adam's apple, sue him, and then—"
"He's not gonna do that."
"He better not."
"...Sera..."
No matter how many times he called her name, she didn't turn back. She pulled Roxxy along, leaving Mickey standing there, drenched and alone.
"...Where are we going?"
"To the shooting range."
Roxxy blinked.
"...Huh?"
"There's a range downstairs, right?"
"...Yeah...?"
"You're going to teach me how to shoot. Right now."
"...Um—okay...?"
With that, they headed to the elevator.
Whirr.
They descended to the base's lower floor.
Back to the familiar gym.
Sera checked her phone. It was now 8:00 a.m.
As the doors opened—right in front of them were two familiar faces.
Syd and Jody.
"...Well, well. Speak of the devils."
Sera was about to call out to them—until her eyes caught something strange.
Syd had his back to her.
And the red-collared shirt he was wearing...
Looked very familiar.