—Puck
Asher silently poked at his food with his fork, chin resting against his palm. It was the next morning—breakfast—but he couldn't shake the unease clinging to him. Every clink of a spoon, every half-glance from nearby tables made his skin crawl. He stared at the bread on his plate.
'How do I even eat this without looking weird?'
"Aumm!" Sunny, seated next to him, bit into his bread without hesitation, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Asher let out a quiet sigh and pushed his plate away.
"Hey Sunny… take my bread. I'm not hungry."
Sunny paused, glancing at him. He didn't say anything, but eventually took the bread with a shrug. Asher stood up, still feeling the weight of invisible eyes on his back.
He knew Sunny valued food—really valued it. Growing up in the outskirts did that to a person. Asher wasn't like him. He hadn't starved, not in the same way. But even so, he understood how much a clean plate meant to someone like Sunny. He caught the slight scowl on Sunny's face as he watched legacies abandon half-eaten trays without a second glance.
Asher was about to walk away when something caught his eye. Something he loved.
Ice cream.
He skidded up to the counter and didn't hesitate: one scoop, two, then three. Three whole scoops of bliss.
He was about to head back to his seat when he noticed her.
Cassie.
She'd finished her breakfast early, and now sat silently, staring at the floor with her hands folded in her lap. No food. No drink. Just stillness.
Asher winced.
He turned around as he saw another cup.
***
—PLOP
Cassie flinched, her head lifting slightly. Just slightly.
"I got you ice cream," Asher mumbled, his face turned away, voice barely above a mutter. He stared at nothing in particular, as if embarrassed by his own kindness.
Cassie tilted her head toward the sound, her expression blank for a moment. Then, slowly, she gave a soft, sad smile. "Thanks."
She reached out, hands gliding over the table as she searched.—SlideAsher gently nudged the cup toward her fingertips.
Only once she'd found it did he allow himself a flicker of satisfaction—his expression brightening for just a moment before flattening again as he sat back down beside Sunny.
Sunny, watching the whole thing unfold, raised a brow. "Do you lik—"
"Shut up." Asher cut him off, grabbing his own spoon. He took a bite.
And then he froze. His whole body twitched.
His eyes widened as the creamy sweetness hit his tongue. Synthetic or not, this was divine. He quickly took another bite—had to confirm it wasn't a fluke.
Another shudder.
"Ah…"
He risked a glance toward Cassie—she was quietly eating, composed, blind eyes cast downward, her motions precise and dignified.
Sunny looked away, guilt nipping at his gut.
She didn't have a chance in hell, and everyone knew it.
It was strange why there wasn't a social worker helping her.
"How was it?" Asher asked, licking a smear of ice cream from his spoon.
Sunny glanced at him. "You mean the appointment?"
Asher nodded, mid-bite—his expression twisted in a way that made the act of eating ice cream somehow unsettling.
"So-so," Sunny muttered, taking a sip of his cola.
That was when a wave of noise rippled through the cafeteria. Heads turned.
A massive screen had lowered into view, its display flickering before revealing a ranked list—names of the new batch of Sleepers, ordered from weakest to strongest.
Sunny's eyes scanned it slowly. Sure enough, there he was... second to last.
Right above the blind girl. Cassie, her name was. He kept scrolling up though, trying to find the name of the Idiot next to him.
Then—his gaze froze. His eyes tracked further up the list… and stopped.
There, third from the top, was a face he knew too well.
He turned his head toward Asher, slowly, like a rusted hinge. "You're… ranked third?"
Asher blinked. Then, with a wide, shameless grin, he showed his teeth.
Jet's voice echoed in Sunny's head like a bad omen.Sunny let out a hollow laugh.
"…Great."
Yet the commotion was loud, too loud. Sunny read the higher rankers as his eyes widened.
A portrait of the silver-haired girl could be clearly seen on top.
To the right of it, two simple lines of text were displayed:
"Name: Nephis"
"True Name: Changing Star"
Asher, feigning surprise, muttered under his breath "Damn," catching Sunny's attention.
'At least, this bastard didn't get a true name, if he did I might have yelled mine out!' He nodded at his thoughts.
He exhaled and shifted his gaze toward Nephis, who stood quietly with a steaming cup of what looked like coffee, scanning the cafeteria. Probably searching for a place to sit.
Unluckily, she chose the worst time—everyone was staring. The silence in the cafeteria was deafening, heavy silence.
Then, breaking it, Caster stepped forward.
With a slight bow, he spoke, "Lady Nephis. I am Caster, of the Han Li clan. I trust your trial went well?"
Nephis narrowed her eyes at Caster, little bit perplexed by the question. After thinking for a while, she smiled brightly and shrugged.
"It is what it is."
Then she proceeded to look around once again.
Caster awkwardly returned the smile.
"I see. I am very glad that you returned unharmed. Uh… not that I doubted your abili—"
"Thanks, I'll take my leave now."
As she said that, she began walking to a particular direction, seemingly found a place to sit at. All eyes in the cafeteria followed her. Asher, losing interest, continued to eat his ice as Sunny continued to sip his cola.
T
That was when a radiant figure stole everyone's attention.
Asher turned his head—and nearly choked on his ice cream.Beside him, Sunny wasn't faring much better. His jaw dropped, and a splash of cola dribbled onto his shirt
Of course, it wasn't the two of them that had the most shock. The crowd rubbed their eyes as they saw Nephis take her place right beside Asher.
No one spoke.
Not Asher, not Sunny, not even Nephis. She just sipped her coffee in silence, eyes calmly fixed on Asher.
The crowd was paralyzed.
That was when Nephis revealed a bombshell line:
"Can I sit here?"