"It's fine." Roza squinted her eyes and flicked the ash from her cigarette with her slender, pale fingers. "I have no family. I make my home wherever I go."

"What are you talking about? If you have no family, what am I?" Bella affectionately linked arms with her. "Once a teacher, always a... you know."

"Taking advantage of me, huh?" Roza teased, hooking Bella's chin with the hand holding the cigarette.

Roza was taller and had a bigger frame than Bella. Combined with her bold and sassy gestures, their close interaction invoked a strange chemistry between them.

Axel sat among the crowd, but his gaze was fixed solely on Roza's every move. He did not like people who smoked. Every time Ralph had a cigarette, he would find a way to snatch it from him.

Yet, for some reason, seeing Roza's slender fingers holding a cigarette captivated him. The smoke softly obscured her cool, delicate features and the lazy elegance in her half-closed eyes as she exhaled. At this moment, even though she was doing something he disliked, she looked like a mesmerizing sketch imprinted on his soul.

downed a glass of ice water. They had not seen each other for a while

them closer. However, Roza had not spoken a word to him or even spared him a glance up until

another glass without checking its contents and downed it in one go, regardless of what it was. "Holy crap! Ax, you've really outdone yourself!" Ralph exclaimed, slapping his back excitedly. "A full glass of absinthe, and

Axel froze. 'Absinthe?!'

was on fire. He dropped everything

at Axel's retreating figure, her eyes trembling

into her mentor role, taking the cigarette from Roza's fingers and extinguishing it. "I know you need inspiration for your designs, but there are many ways to find it. Ruining your health

good, that's all that matters," Roza replied with a dismissive smile, though it carried

man, but some men won't enjoy their meals without you." Bella squinted her eyes playfully, glancing toward where Axel had been sitting, only to find the spot empty. "Hey, where's

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