I stepped into the living room alongside Emi and Natalia, acutely aware of the invisible currents flowing between us. The accumulated tension from our earlier encounter still lingered, creating an unspoken triangle that seemed to follow us like a persistent shadow.
Emi stayed half a step behind me, her fingers nervously playing with the hem of her uniform, while Natalia maintained a distance close enough to signal association but far enough to deny anything more intimate. The dance had begun.
