Speedrunner stared at the phone, still unsettled. His thoughts raced. Is this a prank? How does this person know Cream Tart's name?
Suddenly, the phone powered off.
"Wait! What's gonna happen to Cream Tart?!" he shouted, shaking the phone. "Goddammit!"
Out of pure frustration, he hurled the device across the room. It hit the sitting room wall with a loud clack. Panting, he wiped his face with a towel. He walked over to the shattered phone. The battery had flown out. He sighed.
"I must remain calm," he muttered. "Whatever this message was... probably just a prank. I need to return this phone to whoever it belongs to."
He carefully reassembled the phone and left it on the table.
Meanwhile, in Cream Tart's Room...
Cream Tart lay in bed, music box plugged into her headphones. Her foot tapped anxiously.
Time: 19:48. This is longer than usual... He was supposed to be here. Maybe I'm exaggerating.
Time: 20:50. She bit into her blanket. He's going to come.
Time: 21:30. Now she was standing at the door. Imagine if he walked in and saw me like this.
She giggled at her imagined scene.
"He'd say: 'Ohh, you're still awake? I wasn't expecting to see you by the door.'"
"I'd go: 'Haaa~'"
He always comes. He always does...
Time: 22:00. Wrapped in blankets, she rocked back and forth.
"He would never go to bed without apologizing... right?"
22:45. She twitched beneath the covers. Throwing off her blanket, Cream Tart stomped out of her room. She yanked off her headphones and flung them onto the bed.
"What is he doing that takes so long?!"
She passed the bathroom—door wide open. "Why would he leave it open? So irresponsible."
She turned and marched toward Speedrunner's room. She opened the door and froze.
There he was. Sleeping.
"No way. No way in God's green earth did he just go to sleep without telling me!"
She slammed the door shut and stormed back to her room.
"Tomorrow... I will be ten times angrier. He'll face my wrath!"
Time: 00:01. Cream Tart wrapped herself in a blanket cocoon on the floor.
"I will do this... and then this... and then THAT! And when he asks why, I will WALK AWAY and NOT RESPOND. He'll follow me, of course."
Her imagination spiraled.
He'll come crying for forgiveness. Then I'll say: "Suck my toes!" And when he agrees, I'll add mustard and ketchup and say: "Now lick them DRY!"
She burst into villainous laughter—then quickly covered her mouth.
"Too much noise."
Time: 02:40. Cream Tart was on the floor again, sobbing and swaddled in blankets.
"Am I too old? No... no... I'm 26. That's young. Right? RIGHT? RIIIIGHT?!"
03:00. She flipped through an encyclopedia.
"Is 26 old or young...?"
Then on a call with a family planner.
"Ma'am, do you know what time it is?" the planner asked.
Cream Tart didn't hear her. She kept rambling. "The thing is, women around my age have children. Husbands. Careers. Children..."
The planner humored her with polite "Yes... yes... I see..."
Cream Tart leaned in: "Tell me how to know when a man is losing interest. And how to prevent it."
03:50. She was listening to a podcast on emotional resilience.
04:00. She grabbed a drink from the cabinet.
04:20. Drunk.
"No, no, no... Tomorrow, I'll talk to him. I was wrong... or maybe not... We were just playing. I'll say: 'Hey you motherf***er, I love you!' And if he says no, I'll KILL HIM!"
She giggled.
"Maybe I should just say I learned DnD. Tomorrow is Saturday, after all..."
04:30. Passed out, bottle still in hand.
05:00. Woke up dizzy, dark circles under her eyes. She dropped the bottle.
"Oh sh*t... I'll clean that later."
Earlier at 03:43...
Speedrunner woke up, groggy.
"Damn, I gotta pee."
His room bathroom was broken, so he walked to the hallway. On his way back, he glanced at the broken phone.
That message...
He picked it up. "I should go to that bastard Nanami."
He grinned. "I'll wait till morning."
But at 04:00...
"Damn that. I'm going now."
He threw on a black hoodie, sunglasses, and a mask. He arrived at an old motel.
Looks familiar, he thought.
Room 69. He knocked. Three tries. Nothing.
"Sh*t, she's gonna be mad at me..."
From behind the door: "Hello?" The voice was innocent. Feminine.
Then a soft click. A noise inside.
That... that sounds like a gun.
Speedrunner froze.