Morning arrived gently that day, sunlight spilling across the marble floors of Kai's house in long warm streaks. The house was quiet, almost too quiet, the kind of silence that lingered after heavy days. Kai had been awake for a while, sitting near the balcony of his room, staring outside without really seeing anything. His bandaged hand rested loosely on his knee. The storm inside him from the previous night had settled, but the quiet that replaced it felt heavy.
The door opened without a knock. Alina stepped inside, her eyes immediately searching for him. She found him on the balcony exactly where she expected. He looked calmer, but he had gone silent again, the way people do when they start locking themselves inside their thoughts. She leaned against the doorframe and watched him for a few seconds.
"We're going out."
Kai didn't even turn his head. "No."
"Yes."
"I'm not in the mood."
"That's exactly why we're going."
He finally looked at her, his expression flat. "You are very comfortable ordering me around in my own house."
"And you are very comfortable sitting in silence like a ghost," she replied.
Kai sighed softly and turned back toward the sky.
Alina walked closer. "Kai, if you keep sitting here thinking about everything, your mind will eat itself alive."
"That's dramatic."
"So is punching mirrors."
That made him glance at her again. She pointed toward his wardrobe. "Ten minutes. Change your clothes."
Kai didn't argue after that. When he stepped outside ten minutes later, he didn't look like Kai Arden at all. He wore a simple black hoodie, dark jeans, and a black mask that covered most of his face; his hair was pushed casually under the hood. Anyone passing by would see nothing more than a tall man blending into the crowd.
Alina blinked when she saw him. "Wow," she said. "You look suspicious."
"Good," he replied calmly. "That means people won't recognize me."
They drove out together, the city slowly waking up around them. Kai didn't ask where they were going again. But when they finally stopped, he looked up at the giant colourful entrance in front of them. An amusement park. He turned slowly toward Alina.
"You dragged me to a theme park."
"Yes."
"You're aware I'm not five years old."
"You're aware joy doesn't have an age limit," she replied.
Before he could protest further, she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him inside. The park was already alive with noise. Music echoed from speakers, rides spun in the distance, children ran past them laughing loudly, and the air smelled like sugar and fried snacks.
For a while, Kai simply followed Alina as she wandered from stall to stall like someone who had suddenly returned to childhood. She stopped near a ring-throwing game where several teenagers were already competing. Bright prizes hung behind the stall: stuffed animals, plush toys, colourful keychains. Alina looked at the prizes with interest.
"Try this," she said.
Kai glanced at the bottles and rings. "You want me to throw plastic circles at glass?"
"Are you scared you'll lose?"
He looked at her. Then he picked up the rings. The teenagers beside them were cheering loudly as one of them tried to win a prize, but every ring he threw missed. Kai stepped forward quietly. One throw. Perfect. The ring dropped neatly around the bottle. Another. And another. The stall owner blinked. Within a minute, Kai had won two prizes. Alina's eyes lit up like a child's.
"You're good at this!"
Kai shrugged lightly. "It's not difficult."
When Alina lifted the stuffed fox and proudly told the teenagers nearby, "My friend won it," Kai slowly turned his head toward her. Even with the black mask covering half his face, the look in his eyes was clear enough.
Friend? His eyebrow lifted slightly as if silently questioning her sanity. She noticed immediately.
"What?" she asked defensively.
Kai spoke in a low voice, calm but clearly unconvinced. "When exactly did we become friends?"
She blinked at him for a second, then straightened as if preparing to present a very serious argument in court. "What do you mean by that?" she said. "We obviously are."
Kai folded his arms slowly, clearly amused now. "I must have missed the moment."
Alina placed one hand on her hip and began explaining with exaggerated seriousness, as if she were presenting the most logical argument in the world.
"Friends do a lot of things together," she said confidently. "For example, friends let someone move into their house and stay there completely for free."
Kai raised one eyebrow. She continued before he could interrupt. "Friends also tolerate the fact that the other person somehow manages to mess up the entire room within five minutes of entering it." Kai's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You remember the first week you moved in as my roommate?" she continued innocently. "You cleaned the living room two times in one day because apparently I don't understand the concept of 'putting things back where they belong.'" Kai let out a quiet breath through his nose.
"And then there's the kitchen," she added dramatically.
Kai already knew where this was going. "You nearly burned the kitchen down," he said flatly.
"That was one time."
"It was three."
She waved her hand dismissively. "The point is, friends also stop their friends from accidentally turning the kitchen into a disaster zone. Which you did."
She pointed at him as she had just proven something important. "You literally take over cooking every time I try. You push me out of the way, make the food yourself, and then still give it to me as I helped."
Kai stared at her silently. She leaned slightly closer and continued with growing confidence. "And let's not forget the part where I rearranged your entire house."
"You didn't rearrange it," Kai said calmly. "You destroyed the order of it."
"I improved it."
"You moved things that had specific places."
"You needed a change."
Kai shook his head slightly. Alina continued listing her evidence without mercy. "Friends also irritate each other for no reason at all. Which I do very successfully."
"That part I agree with," Kai muttered.
"And," she said proudly, pointing at him again, "friends tolerate all of that without throwing the other person out of the house."
Kai looked at her quietly. "So yes," she finished with complete confidence, "letting someone stay in your house, cleaning up after their mess, stopping them from burning down your kitchen, and surviving their attempts to redecorate your room definitely qualifies as friendship."
For a moment, Kai didn't say anything. Then he sighed softly. "That's a very suspicious definition of friendship."
Alina grinned. "But you didn't deny any of it."
Kai glanced at the pile of prizes she was already holding in her arms.
"And friends also force the other person to win toys for them?" he asked.
"Obviously," she said immediately. "That's one of the best parts."
Kai shook his head slightly, but there was a faint smile hidden in his eyes. He turned back toward the stall owner and picked up another set of darts.
"If we are friends," he said calmly while aiming at the board, "then you should be responsible for carrying all the consequences of that decision."
The dart landed perfectly in the center. The stall owner groaned again. Another oversized stuffed toy was handed over. Alina looked down at the growing pile in her arms and then back at Kai with satisfaction.
"See?" she said proudly. "Being your friend has benefits."
Kai glanced at her sideways. And this time… he didn't argue.
By the time they left the amusement park, the sky had already begun turning shades of soft orange and purple. The evening air carried a comfortable coolness, and the streets around the park had started filling with people heading toward the nearby night market. Small food stalls lined the road, warm lights hanging above them and the smell of grilled food and spices drifting through the air.
Alina walked ahead of Kai at first, still holding two of the ridiculous prizes he had won earlier. She had refused to leave them behind, proudly carrying them like trophies. Kai followed a step behind her, hands casually in his hoodie pockets, his black mask still hiding most of his face.
Even in a crowded street, his attention never really left her. When people passed too quickly, he adjusted his pace to keep close enough, so no one bumped into her. When a group of teenagers rushed past laughing loudly, he instinctively moved slightly ahead of her so they brushed past him instead. It was so natural that Alina barely noticed it happening, but every time she slowed down to look at something, Kai was already there, making sure she had space around her.