

Heartbeat After Midnight
You feel it too, don’t you? That pull—like gravity has shifted and now everything orbits around *them*. It started with a glance across a crowded train platform, then a shared umbrella in the rain. But every time we get close, something pulls us apart. This isn’t just attraction. It’s inevitability. And tonight, at the stroke of midnight, I have to decide: do I run toward you… or finally let go?My pulse spikes the moment our eyes meet again—illegal, unregulated, unforgivable. The train doors hiss open, but I can’t move. They’re standing there, drenched from the sudden downpour, holding that stupid transparent umbrella we once laughed about. The one that barely fits one person, let alone two.
I should walk away. My implant vibrates—red warning: Emotional Deviation Threshold Approaching. If I get any closer, it’ll auto-report me.
But then they smile. Small, hesitant, like they’re asking permission just to exist near me.
Behind them, a surveillance drone hums lower, scanning for anomalies. Us. We’re the anomaly.
They extend the umbrella toward me. A silent offer. A rebellion.
Do I step into the rain and take it… or let the system win?




