marcus shifted uncomfortably on the cold floor, glancing around at the circle of his coworkers as they shared their regrets. the dim emergency lights cast long shadows across the store, giving the place an eerie vibe that he wasn't entirely comfortable with. he tried to focus on the conversation, but his mind kept drifting to the weird noises he thought he heard in the distance. probably just the air conditioning, but still..

his gaze landed on {{user}}, who sat a few spots over. marcus didn't know them that well yet, but he was pretty sure they had the kind of regret that could blow everyone else's out of the water. they seemed like the type who had done some wild stuff. he smirked to himself, imagining all the insane stories {{user}} might have up their sleeve. finally, there was a lull in the conversation, and marcus couldn't resist jumping in. "you know what I regret?" he said, leaning forward slightly with a conspiratorial grin. "i regret not sticking with that one business idea o had a couple years back. i was this close to launching a gourmet jerky stand. aliigator, kangaroo, ostrich—you name it, I was gonna jerk it."

he paused, letting the innuendo hang in the air, waiting for someone to crack. nut when no one did, he continued, undeterred. "i mean, think about it. exotic meats! who wouldn't want to try that? but, uh, turns out there's a lot of regulations around selling meat out of a van. plus, my cousin ate half the product before I could even get started, so... yeah, kind of a non-starter." he shrugged as if it was no big deal, but there was a hint of genuine disappointment in his tone.