The first week at Campus 2 ended quietly.
Not with announcements or ceremonies, not with excitement or exhaustion, but with a strange sense of looseness, as if everyone had survived something together and didn't quite know what to do with that fact yet. Lectures had been attended. Names had been learned and forgotten and learned again. Notes had been taken with more enthusiasm than understanding.
By Friday evening, the campus felt different.
The buildings still stood the same way, tall and concrete and slightly too clean, but the people inside them had relaxed. Voices were louder. Laughter carried farther. Nobody walked with urgency anymore.
XH noticed it while walking out of the last class of the week.
TR stretched his arms above his head like he had just escaped a cage."I swear," he said, "if I hear the word 'foundation' one more time, I'm transferring to art school."
PL laughed. "You can't draw."
"Exactly. That's freedom."
TZ Royal walked backward in front of them, hands in his pockets, unbothered. "So what's the move?"
NS answered before anyone else could. "Food."
JP adjusted his bag. "Then back."
TR stared at him. "Back where?"
"To study."
The group groaned in unison.
Kitty had been walking a little behind them, listening more than talking. She looked relaxed tonight, hair loose, shoulders not tense the way they usually were in class. When she caught XH glancing back, she smiled faintly, like she had been waiting to be noticed.
"We could do karaoke," she said casually, as if suggesting it meant nothing.
It meant everything.
TR stopped walking. "Say that again."
"There's a place near the back gate," NS added. "Private rooms. Cheap."
JP frowned. "We just finished the week."
"Yes," TR said solemnly. "Which is why we deserve culture."
Nobody officially agreed. They just turned in the same direction.
The karaoke place was dim and narrow, tucked between a closed stationery shop and a café that looked like it never slept. The neon sign flickered slightly, buzzing like it had secrets. Inside, the air smelled like old carpet, soda, and something sweet that had probably spilled years ago.
The receptionist barely looked at them when they paid.
"Room three," she said.
Room three was small, crowded, and perfect.
PL threw himself onto the couch immediately. "I call the left mic."
"There's no left mic," HS said.
PL hugged it anyway.
TR grabbed the other mic before anyone could stop him. "Rules," he announced. "No judging. No recording. And if you refuse to sing, you buy drinks."
JP sighed. "This is extortion."
The screen flashed as TR scrolled through songs with confidence he had not earned.
The opening beat of "It's My Life" exploded through the speakers.
"Oh no," NS muttered.
TR didn't sing. He shouted.
"🎶 It's my life! 🎶"
PL joined immediately, wildly off-key. TZ laughed and leaned back, snapping his fingers. HS clapped along, smiling. Even NS nodded to the beat, tapping his foot.
JP resisted for exactly one verse before TR shoved the mic into his hand.
"Your turn."
JP stared at the screen, scrolled once, then once more.
When the music started, nobody expected what followed.
The national anthem filled the room.
"What—" PL started.
JP stood up.
He sang it seriously. Properly. Loud, clear, unwavering.
The room fell silent halfway through, then slowly filled with laughter, clapping, disbelief.
TR wiped his eyes. "I didn't know I'd feel patriotic tonight."
JP sat back down calmly. "You're welcome."
The tension broke completely after that.
Songs came and went. Some were loud. Some were terrible. Some made no sense at all. Someone spilled soda on the floor. Someone lost a shoe. Someone sang with their eyes closed like it mattered deeply.
At some point, NS selected "Country Roads (Take Me Home)".
The mood shifted.
His voice wasn't loud, but it was steady. Familiar. XH joined halfway through, then HS, then PL. By the chorus, they were all singing.
"🎶 Country roads, take me home… 🎶"
Arms draped over shoulders. Bodies swaying. TR forgot to joke for once.
Kitty watched them, sitting on the edge of the couch, hands folded loosely in her lap. Her expression softened, like she was watching something she wanted to remember.
When the song ended, the room stayed quiet for a few seconds longer than usual.
Then Kitty stood up.
"I want to sing," she said.
TR immediately bowed. "The stage is yours."
She scrolled calmly, then looked at XH.
"Duet?" she asked.
XH hesitated. Just a second.
"Yeah," he said.
The screen displayed "Summer Wine."
They stood side by side, closer than necessary. Kitty started first, her voice smooth and warm. XH followed, careful at first, then steadier as the song went on.
Their voices blended naturally.
TR stared openly. "Are we interrupting something?"
"Shut up," TZ whispered.
Kitty glanced at XH mid-verse and smiled. XH forgot the lyrics for half a beat, then found them again.
When the song ended, nobody clapped right away.
Not because it wasn't good.
Because it felt like something private.
PL cleared his throat. "Okay, now I'm uncomfortable in a good way."
Laughter returned, easing the moment.
They stayed longer than they planned. Longer than they should have.
Eventually, they sat on the floor instead of the couch. The mic passed lazily between hands. Conversations slowed. Voices dropped.
NS leaned against the wall beside XH. "You okay?"
XH nodded. "Yeah."
NS watched him for a moment, then looked away. "Good."
Kitty sat across from them, legs tucked in, listening more than singing now. Her eyes followed moments instead of people.
"This feels nice," HS said quietly. "Like… before things get complicated."
Nobody answered.
When they finally left, the streets were quieter. Cooler. The walk back to Campus 2 felt slower, calmer.
At the gate, they stopped.
"Same time next week?" TR asked.
JP shook his head. "Absolutely not."
"Same time next week," TZ said.
They laughed.
Kitty lingered beside XH for a moment.
"Thanks," she said. "For singing with me."
XH smiled. "Thanks for choosing the song."
She nodded, then walked away, glancing back once.
XH stood there a little longer, watching the dorm lights flicker.
He didn't know it yet, but this was the night that would stay.
The night before everything complicated itself.