Sunlight streamed in through the curtains, slipping between the folds and spilling into the room.
Seraphina Gilmore's eyes fluttered open slowly.
Normally, Sera wasn't the type to wake up quickly. She always needed some extra time in bed, wrapped up and sluggish, before she could fully boot up her brain.
She twisted around under the covers, grabbing the body pillow and hugging it tightly. Her clothes, hair, and blanket were scattered in all directions like a battlefield.
She burrowed into a dark corner behind her pillow, away from the sunlight, trying to find that perfect shadowed spot so she could snooze for another fifteen minutes.
But then… as her awareness started to kick in…
Wait a sec…
She never slept with the curtains open.
Crackle. Crackle... Crackle.
And… what the hell was that noise?
Sera could hear the sound of electric sparks coming from inside her room.
When she turned her head toward the headboard, she saw—right beside her bed—Mickey Mannix sitting there, fiddling with something.
Sera screamed at the top of her lungs.
"MIIIIICKEYYYYYY!!"
Her heart practically dropped to her ankles. But Mickey didn't even flinch.
Sera scrambled for the blanket at the foot of her bed, yanked it over herself, and huddled underneath—only her head poking out.
"MANNIX! What the hell are you doing?! Who said you could come in?!"
She was ready to scream bloody murder until hotel security dragged him out. But before she could unleash, Mickey spoke—calm and unfazed.
"Before you call security or punch me in the face, I want you to take a look at this."
He shifted his body so Sera could peek around him toward the headboard.
What she saw was Mickey in the middle of using his power.
A soft green glow emanated from him. Neon circuit patterns traced his arms, accompanied by his signature electric field symbols.
One of Mickey's signature green wires stretched from his body to the wall socket next to Sera's bed.
Sparks popped and crackled around it—crackle, crackle, crackle—the source of the noise from earlier.
It was the same socket Sera always used to charge her iPhone before bed.
And yes, he had completely pried it open.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You're wrecking my room?! Where's my phone?!"
She roared at him.
But then she noticed another green wire, connected from Mickey to… her iPhone.
"Your room had a power leak."
"What?! What nonsense are you spouting?!"
"This morning I sensed an electrical leak coming from behind the wall-mounted TV. So I pried it open. Then I ran a check through your room's power circuit—and yeah. It's leaking."
Mickey pointed at the socket, tapping the metal inside for her to see.
Crackle! Crackle!
"This socket's connected to your TV. Like a leaky pipe. The wire linking your TV and your phone charger? It's deteriorated."
"I don't believe you! I've lived here two years and never had a single issue! Don't give me that crap, Mannix!"
"I'm serious. You can go call a technician if you want."
"You just wanted an excuse to sneak into my room, didn't you?! Ugh! Freak! You absolute scum! No sense of boundaries whatsoever!!"
"We sincerely apologize, Miss Gilmore! There really was an electrical leak in your room, just as your companion said! W-we'll have our engineers fix it right away—shouldn't take more than a day!"
The hotel manager and a senior executive bowed before Seraphina Gilmore, trembling with fear.
They assumed she was fuming with rage.
But what they didn't realize was… Sera wasn't even thinking about that.
Back in her suite, Mickey was chatting with one of the electricians.
"How'd you even catch that, sir? How'd you know there was a leak behind the TV?"
"Lucky guess."
"Lucky guess? Sir, the leak back there is tiny. Even with a voltage tester, I had to jab around a while to find it. You'd have to deliberately stick your finger in real deep to even detect it!"
Sera, standing nearby, overheard the conversation—and looked like she wanted to melt into the wallpaper.
Mickey fired another question at the electrician.
"So you're saying it's hard to find?"
"Extremely. It's what we call a silent hazard."
Mickey gave Sera a sly glance. She immediately looked away again.
"And if we didn't fix it?"
"Oh, it'd be a fire hazard for sure. See, the leak's small, so the current's low—doesn't trip the fuse. But it's constant. Over time it builds up. Either someone gets electrocuted, or black soot starts coming out from the socket. Worst case? It explodes when someone tries to plug in their phone."
Mickey side-eyed Sera again.
She still wouldn't meet his eyes.
"Thanks. We'll head out now. You can start fixing it in thirty minutes."
"Right, sir. And, uh—thanks again. We'll be checking the whole floor, so it might get a little noisy tonight."
"No problem. Better safe than sorry."
"By the way—do you have any idea how long it's been leaking?"
"Not sure. This hotel was built over an old structure. We rewired the whole thing, but some old circuits that were still working… we didn't pull them out."
"So probably more than two years?"
"Seems likely, yeah."
The technician left the room.
Sera looked like a shamed kitten, hunched over, fingers fidgeting in front of her.
"…Um…"
She swallowed hard.
"…I… I just…"
"Don't apologize."
"…Huh?"
She looked up—like a guilty cat catching the scent of tuna.
"Keep it, Sera."
Mickey said calmly.
"No need to forget it. It's stupid. I like that."
"!?!??!"
Her face twisted in horror.
That was a backhanded compliment if she'd ever heard one.
She clenched her teeth and fists at the same time.
Mannix…
She wanted to deck him so badly—but doing that would only make her look like even more of a loser.
Worse, it'd probably become new material for the boys to tease her with.
"..."
"You broke my rule, though! I told you not to come into my room!"
"I broke your rule?"
"Yes! Rule number two! You came in without permission!"
He saw me in that state. Goddamn it...
"I didn't break the rule."
"You're seriously gonna argue that right now, Mannix?!"
"Rule two—you said, 'Don't take even a single step through the bedroom door.' Right?"
"...?!"
"Yes! And you—"
"You said, 'Don't step through the bedroom door.' I didn't step through. I went in through the wall socket. Which part of that breaks your rule?"
"Uh…"
"..."
Sera went quiet. Technically, he wasn't wrong…
Honestly, she only remembered the part about not letting him into her room. She hadn't been that specific.
"Go get dressed. We've got to head to Syd's place."
Mickey turned and walked toward the door.
Creeeak.
"…Next time, wear something proper to bed."
Gulp…
Sera turned red.
"You… pervert!!! I swear I'll sue you for indecency after this mission!!"
"…I just meant…"
He smiled lazily, like someone holding all the cards.
"You're kind of… cute and chubby, you know?"
SLAM.
That was the last thing Sera heard before the door shut behind him.
"..."
She bit her lip. Clenched her fists.
But she couldn't hold it in anymore.
Sera stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her.
SLAM.
[Echoing from inside the bathroom]
CRASH! BAM! BAM!!! CRASH!
(That fucking idiot! Stupid! Asshole! Bastard! What the hell is wrong with you?! Fuck!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!)