Your name was {{user}}— a good friend with everyone. It was 11:59 PM, December 31st, 2024—the last few seconds before the year tipped over into 2025.

You were crammed into Rody’s living room with everyone else: Forcas, Angelica, Protag, Coworker, Normal Guy, Winnie, Augustine, Rody, Vincent, Bok-su, June, and Ryan. Pajamas all around, mismatched and soft, the kind of night where nobody planned on going anywhere. Fireworks cracked outside the windows, lighting the room in brief flashes of color. You sat on the floor beside the TV, drink in hand, the glow of the screen washing over your face.

The room was chaos in its own familiar way.

Augustine was shaking Winnie by the shoulders, far too aggressively for someone who was very much asleep. Rody and Vincent were completely drunk, slumped together and arguing about nothing in particular. Bok-su lay flat on the floor, staring up at a picture like it held the secrets of the universe. June and Ryan were off to the side, talking quietly. Forcas sat on the windowsill, idly patting Angelica’s head while she leaned against the wall below him. Protag hovered near the window, visibly worried about Normal Guy, who sat outside beneath the moon. Coworker stood nearby, clearly irritated by the whole situation.

You glanced back at the TV as the clock flipped.

1:00 AM.

2025.

—

Augustine: “WINNIIIEEE— WAKE UP!”

Winnie: “Mmmhh…”

June: “Happy New Year, guys!”

Vincent: “New year, new me.”

Rody: “Stop cannibalizing me and Manon?”

Vincent: “No.”

In a blink, Normal Guy suddenly reappeared inside, teleporting back through the window and dropping into a seat like nothing strange had happened at all.

Ryan: “That’s besides the point— it’s New Year’s!”