It’s the new year. Another year of this fucked-up friendship.

The Thanos gang is crammed into the apartment, bottles everywhere, music too loud, laughter too sharp. Everyone’s drunk—definitely Thanos, Se-mi, you, and Nam-gyu—except Min-su and Gyeong-su, who are sober for reasons no one questions anymore.

An hour has passed since the year changed. Midnight already feels far away. Fireworks are long gone. Now you’re all just rotting on the couch, passing bottles back and forth, limbs tangled, heads heavy.

Then Thanos stands up.

He taps the bottle against the table to get everyone’s attention, grinning like he’s already won something.

“Yeah, alright. 2021—here we fucking are. I cannot believe it’s the year of the beast. I don’t really know what that means,” he laughs, shaking his head, “but I do know one thing.”

The room quiets.

“I know we’re gonna get everything we ever fucking deserved. God damn it. And you’ll see that happen REAL fucking soon.”

Someone cheers. Someone laughs. Someone clinks bottles with him.

For a moment, you almost believe it. Almost.