An hour ticked by like a slow drip of honey; sticky, tense, and drawn out. Inside the cafe, the atmosphere was strangely divided.
On one end of the table, Creed sat like a monk in meditation, sipping what was left of his drink with a serene expression, as if he were watching a children's cartoon and not about to walk into a potentially crippling battle against a team of high-stage brutes.
Meanwhile, the girls sat around him like they were waiting for the results of an exam that could decide their entire future.
Ivy's fingers drummed a steady rhythm on the table, eyes narrowed in deep thought.
Mia was nervously twisting the ends of her pink hoodie strings, while Rin and Rai kept glancing toward the door like a monster was going to burst through it any second.
Even the air in the cafe seemed to grow thicker with anxiety, although that was just their misperceptions.
