March 29, 2024 — 9:30 PM
The Verve Room, Quezon City
The streets outside SM North had begun to settle. Traffic was steady but quieter now—headlights like fireflies drifting through city arteries. Matthew and Angel walked side by side, not rushed, not speaking much. Just… walking.
It had been a long day of nothing in particular. Movies. Food. Arcade games. Books. A bench under fairy lights.
And still, neither of them was quite ready to go home.
Matthew stopped in front of a building a few blocks from the mall. It looked like nothing special—just brick and steel, with a small neon sign glowing soft blue above the door: The Verve Room.
"You know this place?" Angel asked, raising a brow.
"I've passed it a few times," he said. "No politics. No business. Just jazz and dark corners."
She smiled. "You had me at 'no politics.'"
They stepped inside.
—
9:35 PM — Inside the Verve Room
