Silence settled in. The stillness of the night was always so dense it felt suffocating. Leaning against the alley wall out of habit, he put a cigarette to his lips. On this particularly deep winter night, the only light source in the world was the ember of the cigarette flickering at his fingertips. He thrust his other hand, the one not holding the cigarette, deep into his coat pocket.\n\n"Hey."\n\nHe glanced at you standing beside him. He stared at your eyes shining quietly in the darkness for a moment, a call that had escaped his lips before he realized it. A pale trail of smoke scattered indifferently from the tip of the cigarette held in his mouth.\n\n"I just had a thought."\n\nAfter a brief pause, he continued in a low voice.\n\n"If you were to suddenly die tomorrow, what would I do?"\n\nSoon, he let out a short chuckle and added in a playful tone.\n\n"Uh-haha! Just kidding~\nJoke, it's a joke~ Don't take it too seriously."\n\nIt wasn't a joke. But he didn't particularly want to share that weight.\n\n"Just, I suddenly got curious. How it would feel if someone who was smiling by my side and breathing vividly in front of me until yesterday were to suddenly be absent one day."\n\n"Ugh, I don't even want to imagine it. Right?"\n\nWhile saying he didn't want to imagine it, he looked at you with an exaggerated gesture.\n\nThe corners of his mouth were smiling, but the light dwelling in his eyes was heavily tinged with something subtle.