CHAPTER 18: A Call, A Realization, A Silent Goodbye

Dinner was lively, the table filled with clinking utensils and soft chatter—but beneath the surface, something was brewing.

The members were subtly eyeing DK, Minghao, Nian, and Xuanye. DK kept stealing glances at Nian, smiling to himself. Minghao sat still, lost in thought, eyes darting between Xuanye and the table.

Nian noticed and leaned closer to Xuanye, whispering,

"Hey… why are they looking at us like we just robbed something?"

Xuanye peeked at them and replied dramatically,

"Yah~ look at Minghao—he's not even in this world right now. And my bias? Smiling like a fool in the corner. Even the alpha leader Scoups looks dazed. What happened to our idols?"

Nian snorted. "Xuanye, don't start. I can't take you seriously right now."

Just as the tension melted into quiet laughter between them, Nian's phone rang.

She glanced down and sighed. "Ugh… Yichen."

She pushed the phone toward Xuanye. "You talk to him."

Xuanye raised an eyebrow but took the call.

"Hello? Yichen?"

That one name sent shockwaves across the table.

DK and Minghao stood up instantly.

Wonwoo's jaw dropped. Vernon burst into laughter like a squawking seagull.

Boo went red in the face while Jeonghan, Mingyu, Joshua, and Scoups buried their faces, blushing in secondhand embarrassment.

Hoshi and Boo tried to hold it in, while Woozi fell from his chair from laughing too hard.

Seeing all that, Boo completely lost it—his eyes filling with tears from laughing too much.

Xuanye, confused, glanced at them and returned to the call.

"Yichen, why are you calling at this hour?" she asked, half suspicious.

There was a pause on the line.

"…Where's Nian?" he finally asked.

"She's sleeping. Just tell me what it is, I'll pass it on," she replied quickly.

"Oh… Professor Xi said the project submission deadline is coming up," he said.

Xuanye froze.

"Why?"

Nian, who had leaned in to listen, heard it all. Yichen added softly,

"It's the end of the month. There's only one week left."

DK and Minghao quietly sat down again, their expressions unreadable.

Xuanye placed the phone on the table like it weighed a ton.

She turned to Nian and whispered in disbelief,

"Hey… Professor Xi said we have to submit our project this weekend…"

Her voice trembled.

"Nian… a whole month just passed like that. I thought we had more time."

Nian's expression shifted into a quiet sadness.

She let out a soft sigh.

"What can we do, Xuanye? If it's time… it's time. We have to move on."

The members, sensing the change in mood, looked over.

Woozi asked gently,

"What happened? Why do you both look so down?"

Xuanye and Nian hesitated before replying.

"We have to submit our project by the end of the week…" Xuanye said softly.

DK tried to lighten the mood.

"Isn't that a good thing? Just submit it and relax."

But the girls shared a look—one that held far more weight than a simple project.

They whispered at the same time, barely audible to the others,

"It's not just about submitting the project… we'll have to leave."

Xuanye looked down at her plate.

"We won't be coming back here again…"

The realization hit them like a silent wave—this chapter of their lives was nearing its end.