DOA

eighteen now

"Jealousy is an ugly disease," Demon replied, dropping his bag beside the television.

"You would know. You've had it since kindergarten."

Hell laughed under his breath.

Soma, however, was already tearing open the wrapping paper with the enthusiasm of someone who had forgotten the existence of everyone else in the room.

"Demon...!"

Inside were concert tickets, a CD album, and a T-shirt from her favorite band.

Her eyes widened. She picked up the tickets first, checking the date twice before looking at the album beneath them. The shirt was folded neatly at the bottom of the box.

"You actually got these?"

"No, they materialized inside the box while I was walking here."

"I'm serious!"

"And I'm seriously considering taking them back if you keep shouting in my ear."

Soma ignored him. She hugged the box against her chest, grinning so broadly that Wolf began laughing at her expression.

Demon watched her for a moment, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. He had always been good at remembering the smallest details about his friends, even when he pretended not to listen. Soma had mentioned the concert months ago, complaining that the tickets would probably sell out before she could convince her parents to let her go.

Apparently, Demon had remembered every word.

"Mm? What?"

Demon picked up a leftover slice of pizza from the floor, its crust already gone slightly hard, then sat down behind Doa's chair without even glancing at her after he arrived.

"Don't be this sweet to other girls, okay?"

Soma followed behind him.

The two had been annoying each other since childhood, and somehow, they had grown into the kind of pair that made everyone around them joke that they were the Gen Z version of Romeo and Juliet.

Their relationship was a puzzle no one had successfully solved. Soma could spend an entire afternoon complaining about Demon's behavior, only to become offended when he paid more attention to someone else. Demon, meanwhile, seemed to regard irritating her as a personal calling.

Neither appeared particularly interested in correcting the misunderstanding.

"What are you talking about?"

Demon instinctively leaned his face away as Soma stood far too close to him.

"You're a grown man now. Look at this."

Without hesitation, Soma traced her index finger along the prominent vein on the back of Demon's hand, following it almost all the way to his elbow.

Demon immediately pulled away.

Wolf nearly choked on his soda.

"Oh, this is getting embarrassing," he announced, covering his face with a cushion.

"Shut up!" Soma snapped.

"I didn't say anything about you two being in love."

"You just did!"

"I said it was embarrassing."

"Same thing!"

Hell shook his head, looking thoroughly entertained. He had spent years witnessing this particular performance and had long ago concluded that intervening was a waste of energy. Sometimes he wondered whether Soma and Demon genuinely enjoyed arguing or whether neither of them knew how to communicate without turning an ordinary conversation into a public spectacle.

Knowing them, it was probably both.

Demon's response?

He reached over, casually grabbed a handful of Doa's hair, and gave it an annoying little tug as if he had done absolutely nothing wrong.

"OW!"

Doa jerked backward, glaring at him.

"Are you five years old?"

"Six, actually."

"Congratulations. You've finally learned to count."

Demon grinned and jumped onto the sofa, shoving Wolf aside, who had been lounging comfortably across it.

"Move, you oversized pillow."

"Get off me!"

The sofa shook as Wolf tried to push him away. Demon retaliated by stealing the cushion from beneath his head, while Hell leaned forward to rescue the bottle of soda before it toppled over.

For several seconds, the living room descended into complete chaos.

Soma stood with her hands on her hips, looking at them as though she had been forced to supervise an entire kindergarten by herself.

"Ugh... you two."

She shook her head in exasperation before standing up.

She knew better than anyone how often the closeness between those two made other people uncomfortable.

"I'm going home for a bit, guys."

Doa rose from her seat, deliberately stepping on Demon's foot as payback for the hair-pulling incident.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Your foot was in my way."

"You could've walked around it!"

"And miss such a wonderful opportunity?"

Wolf burst out laughing again. Even Hell failed to hide his smile.

Doa adjusted her bag on her shoulder and headed toward the door without waiting for a response. She had become remarkably skilled at leaving a room before anyone could persuade her to stay, a habit her friends had learned not to question.

Soma watched her go, her expression softening for a brief moment.

There were times when Doa seemed perfectly comfortable among them, laughing at their ridiculous jokes and retaliating against Demon with an ease that suggested nothing in the world could trouble her. Then, without warning, she would withdraw behind an invisible wall, becoming distant in a way none of them quite understood.

Soma had tried asking about it once.

Doa had simply changed the subject.

After that, Soma learned to let her friend decide when she wanted company and when she needed to be alone.

Doa and Soma were both eighteen now, yet the two girls had grown into complete opposites.

One carried herself like a princess.

The other behaved like a street thug.

Ughhhh...