Clothes check.

Shave check.

Mouthwash check.

Hair… uuurgh.

Jun threw his hair brush into the sink in disgust and looked back into the mirror. Dressed to impress in a specially tailored suit that was a gift from his baby momma, Jun was looking pretty suave with simple silhouettes and silver framed glasses to establish the look of an intellectual. If only his hair would work with him.

Desi had planned out his entire look and was in charge of getting him ready. He could have asked Aunt Mary or Lily for help, but even till the last moment, he hadn’t given up hope that she’d show up.

She hadn’t. But she would. She promised, after all.

Frustrated hands roughed up ten minutes of failure, and the mop returned to its natural state. Mopy .

Leaving the men’s room, feet still uncomfortable in his new shoes, Jun power walked towards the Student Square. Even from a distance, he could already see the crowds beginning to form around an enormous white cube that was a hundred feet wide, long, and tall. It was a simple, solid magic light barrier that was hiding his surprise from view and access.

The entire project had been designed into individual modules and handcrafted for over a year. Hours had been spent the night before, assembling all the components behind the veil of the barrier that would soon play the role of the backdrop for his presentation.

A lot of preparation had gone into planning and execution with a lot of help from Davie and Lily. Lily composed the accompaniment and designed the acoustics program while Davie had taken it upon himself to handle the fleet of drones that were going to make it all possible. Davie was great with drone cams and they all had a lot of fun coming up with the coordination. Even Aunt Mary had lent a hand by coming early to help with the setup while he was finishing exams. Uncle Juan had a collaborations project with a few other film prompters and couldn't help but promised to make it on time.

Jun owed them a lot.

He scanned the crowds in search of a face. One small group standing by his nervous looking aunt and Lily was especially noticeable as the only group of old people in a sea of young students. Professor Kindley and several of his colleagues amiably conversed with Aunt Mary, who nervously eyed the Dean and five other professors, including Professor Dickinass, who looked like they had a thousand other, more important places to be. What a bunch of dicks.

Scanning around, he still didn't see Desi or Danny. The plan was for Danny to check in and make sure Desi came before the presentation. He was the only person he trusted to take the assignment. After his chat with Nicole, although he seemed calm, Jun was beginning to feel a gradually growing unease in his chest. He couldn't explain it, but he was desperate to hold the mother of his child in his arms again. It had been too long.

“Jun!”

Excitedly, Jun turned to the voice, only to be disappointed.

“Geez, don't be so happy to see me bro,” said lil Davie, Danny's 16-year-old little brother who, along with Lily, was entering the University as freshmen. Although younger, it was clear that Davie was going to be much larger than his older brother. Even at just 16, Davie was already 6' and almost as bulky as his brother. He had the same good looks and dark hair his brother had, and an even greater blessed talent in body cultivation.

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What Davie got from his mother that his brother hadn't, was an impressive temper. Boy liked to fight. A week wouldn't go by without lil Davie getting into trouble.

Thankfully, the comparisons with the woman stopped there. Perhaps due to the trauma of the early abandonment of his mother, Davie valued bonds and loyalty as his personal ethos. His and the Khis Family were his number one priority. He didn't open up to others easily, but once someone managed to earn his trust, lil Davie wouldn't mind making any sacrifice for a friend in need, so was especially hurt whenever a friend would betray that trust. Jun was always honored to be included in the core circle of Davie's heart.

“Haha sorry Davie, I'm just anxious. Have you heard from your brother yet? They should be here by now.” Jun asked, giving the surroundings another scan.

“No, neither of them has been answering our calls. Danny said he was going to have a talk with Desi on the way over. I'm sure they'll show up any second now.” Davie reassured him. “Actually, I came by because of something else.”

Davie became more serious, so Jun did too.

“What's up?”

“It's the streaming platform. I can't seem to log in. I've tried contacting the devs, but I've been on hold since forever. We need to start soon, right?”

Jun didn't like the sound of that. Davie helped out with his streaming sometimes, but it was Danny that really drove the technical side to the business. Now the question was, could he afford to wait for Danny to resolve the issue, or did they need to act now?

The plan had been to stream his thesis presentation and unveiling. He'd take this opportunity to reveal his identity while also introducing his rune concepts, as well as thank his supporters with the prepared gifts. Most of this had been planned with Davie so as not to distract Danny from his own finals period. Now he was regretting not running things by him first. Whatever. Decisions had to be made.

Jun accessed his wrist com and sent a file to Davie.

“I just sent you the list of my live stream supporters. Let's just start up a new channel for now and only invite that list. We already notified them of tonight, so a quick message for the change in room should be fine. Once you've got that done, release the drone cams. Okay?”

“Got it.” Without another word, Davie was gone. Jun was thankful.

“Jun!” Once again, Jun turned with anticipation, only to be disappointed, which he couldn't show.

“Professor Kindley, thank you for comforting my aunt. She's been very anxious.”

“Not at all, not at all. Delightful young woman. Absolutely delightful. I told her honestly that she had nothing to be concerned about, which is true, but then the Old Farts Gangs came over to be snotty.” The Professor actually spit on the ground at this, shocking Jun once more, “Childish. Utterly disgraceful behavior. I'm very much looking forward to seeing their stupid faces when they see what you've brought. Hell, I'm looking forward to my stupid face when I see this. I've even set up my wrist com for a selfie. Heehee.”

His confidence touched Jun and felt it was well placed. He, too, was interested in everyone's stupid faces. Recorder drones equals memories of youth, get.

“Anyway, I understand it from the lovely Ms. Khis that you're planning to start things off with a dedication? Has the young lady made her appearance? We should start soon, I think.” Professor Kindley said, looking around as if expecting to see her hiding behind Jun's back.

“Um, no Professor, but she should be here any second now.”

“Good, good. I'm very excited Jun. Very excited.” The Professor said one last time before sauntering back towards his aunt, waving excitedly with a smile. It seemed his professor was crushing on his aunt. Dirty old man was 165 this year and making moves. He was excited to see what would happen when Uncle Juan finally made it.

“Jun!” Heart in his throat, he turned to find Nicole and Tiana running towards him, looking stricken.

Jun didn't know why his friends were so anxious but it awoke something. Something revolting that had been hiding in the corners of his heart. Something he couldn't face was now demanding his attention.

He didn't know why he felt like he was about to suffocate, why a chill was forming in his core, or why he suddenly wanted to run far away, but he knew that there was a change.

Something had shifted.

He didn't know what, but rather than finding out, he wanted to flee.

But he didn't. He couldn't.

He wished he had.