As children, Kuro, his brother Mizu, and their next door neighbor Phillip were best friends, always playing together. In their teenage years, when the brothers’ emotionally abusive father fell ill, their friendship fell apart. For a time Mizu dated Phillip, and conflicted and frustrated, Kuro sought comfort from random strangers and did drugs.<br><br>The three men are now adults and Mizu and Phillip have broken up, with little chance for reconciliation. Without anywhere else to go, Phillip and Kuro move into a dumpy apartment, and Kuro hopes the two of them will be happy together. Maybe they’ll even have an opportunity to kindle a romance.<br><br>But Mizu is extremely jealous of their closeness, and both men have their own issues they’re struggling with and trying to recover from. To make matters worse, Kuro is losing sleep, as he’s constantly waking up at three a.m. Will Phillip accept Kuro’s feelings, or will he go back to Mizu? Can Kuro reconcile with his brother and his past?

3 A.M.

“Oh my God. Who the fuck is playing Big Sean full blast at three A.M.?” Phillip demanded angrily.


He exited out the front door, leaving the door wide open. I sat underneath the ceiling fan in my underwear, shivering. In the darkness I fumbled desperately for my clothes.


Whomp whomp whomp! Phillip’s fist connected with the door. I noticed other residents, wrapped up in their bathrobes, shuffle to the door in their slippers. They joined him, the chorus of their fists as loud and hard as the bass. Whoever lived there refused to open the door, so a resident dialed the police.


Phillip stomped back into our home. “What kind of asshole decides three A.M. is his time to turn up?”


“Someone whose three A.M. is his nine P.M.”


“He could have the common decency to move to another time zone, then. Jesus,” Phillip snapped, pacing the kitchen floor. “Let’s hope the cops get here soon.”


“He’ll probably turn it off just as soon as they pull up.”


Phillip laughed. “He probably will, though.”


Chapter 11