"hey Alex let's make a novel" brandon said.while hiding behind a tree.The idea had started as a joke.
1,2,3 Alex was counting under his breath while leaning towards the wall covering his eyes.
"you can do the world building make the countries and governing bodies or kingdoms and I will make the characters and the story" brandon said.
4,5,6,7- Alex was still counting.
hey why aren't you answering brandon shouted.
"idiot i am counting can't you see" Alex said showing his face to brandon not hiding it anymore as the counting is already destroyed.
"hahaha you saw me now count again" brandon said while laughing.
"What if disappearing was a choice?" Alex said.
Brandon had asked this question once.
Not dying. Not running away dramatically. Just… stepping out of the system.
They talked about it endlessly. About people who fell through cracks. About systems that quietly erased inefficiencies. About how no one noticed until it was too late.
They never gave it a proper title.
They never finished it.
Life had moved on. Alex had gotten busy. Brandon had kept writing.
At some point, a package had arrived. No return address. Inside, the manuscript. Bound simply. No note it was a book the same book they worked on as teenagers as both of them started reading mangas in their childhood.
He stood and walked over, fingers hesitating just before touching the cover.
It felt heavier than it should have.
Alex laid down on the bed and opened the book.
"so he ended up killing everyone while saving the world huh" Alex said they have agreed on ending the world so the main character can turn back the time again in the process eradicating the memories of and started it again in a loop it was a very bad choice because even Alex who wasn't as talanted as brandon thought it was a sad ending but he didn't cared as brandon wasn't going to publish it.
the book was made by both of them so they can put their ideas on the book.
"but he changed " brandon wasn't himself anymore he started taking the book everywhere as if he was obsessed.
"hey why did you killed venessa" alex asked brandon
hm? Brandon raised an eyebrow.
oh that's just to boost the main character brandon said while writing down
"but isn't venesaa one of the characters that makes the main character feel alive?" alex asked. Vanessa was definitely important.
"nah he will endure it somehow he's the main character for a reason" brandon said.
well whatever you say alex didn't cared much because brandon others novel were doing better all of them were good slice of life and rom com mangas.
only the transmigration novel they made had some torture and death scenes because I wanted it to feel a bit realistic.
but brandon liked that idea very much even though he liked to work on rom com and slice of life kinda mangas.
alex once made a joke about the novel that it was a incomplete novel because everything was going in loop again and again and that Brandon needed a better main character who can finish the story.
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Eventually, hunger forced him to move.
He set the cup noodles on the table and sat down without opening them. The room felt different now—heavier, somehow.
he didn't cared much and boiled the water for the noodles.
he started eating the noodles while reading the novel again no matter how many times he read he only remembered brandon atlast he reached the end there there was something written there.
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*Look through the window.*
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"wait a minute it wasn't there the last time I read it" he was surprised.
he saw the date on the upper side of page it was today's date.
is this a prank? he asked there was something weird.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
"Very funny, Brandon," he muttered.
It had to be a prank. Some elaborate, tasteless joke. Brandon had always liked these kinds of things—cryptic, unsettling, just ambiguous enough to linger.
Alex closed the book and stood.
The room felt colder than before.
He walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside.
At first, he saw only the street below, snow falling under the glow of streetlights.
Then he noticed someone standing across the road.
A man.
Looking up.
Their eyes met.
Alex's chest tightened.
"…Brandon?"
The man turned away.
And ran.
Alex didn't think.
He grabbed his coat and rushed out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him. The stairwell echoed with his footsteps as he took the steps two at a time, breath sharp in his chest.
Outside, the snow made the ground slick. The figure ahead moved fast, weaving through narrow streets with the desperation of someone who didn't want to be followed.
"Brandon!" Alex shouted.
The name felt strange in his mouth, heavy with years of silence.
The man didn't slow.
Alex chased him past shuttered shops and dim alleys, lungs burning as the cold air cut deep. Snow blurred his vision, but he didn't stop.
"Wait!" he yelled. "What is this?!"
No answer.
They reached the shrine.
As Brandon passed through the torii gate, something changed.
The air vibrated.
A soft glow spread across the shrine, light bleeding from the wood as if it were remembering something long forgotten. Alex stumbled as he followed, a chill crawling up his spine.
"What the hell is this?" he breathed.
Brandon didn't turn.
They exited the shrine grounds and ran into the road beyond.
Brandon stopped suddenly.
Alex barely had time to register the headlights bearing down on them.
A bus.
"Move!" Alex screamed.
He lunged forward, grabbing Brandon's arm.
The impact came instantly.
There was no pain.
Only silence.
several people came after 30 minutes.
alex eyes felt heavy he was dying.
for the last time he looked up at Brandon to see if he was safe or not but he wasn't there
only alex's body was there.
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