Suzy took her phone and returned to her room, then redialed Derek.

The call connected, and his familiar voice came through, carrying a hint of excitement.

"Suzy!"

"I’m here. Why did you suddenly call me?"

They had been keeping in touch, but with everything that had happened recently, she had not had the chance to tell him yet.

"...I just... missed you."

His voice was soft and low, almost clinging, brushing against her ear in a way that made her skin tingle.

"Did you really?" Suzy replied vaguely.

It was a little too intimate, enough to make her feel slightly uncomfortable.

"And you, Suzy? Did you miss me?" Derek asked gently.

That was an easy question.

"Of course," she answered without hesitation.

He laughed on the other end, clearly in a good mood. But the signal was unstable, and his laughter came through in broken fragments.

"Suzy, are you at home right now?"

"Yeah. You should be home too, right? There’s another typhoon outside. Don’t go out anytime soon."

"Mm, I know. I’ve been staying home."

Thunder roared louder and louder outside, crashing in relentless waves.

The signal worsened with it. Before Suzy could say anything else, the connection cut out completely.

The call ended on its own.

She froze for a moment, then immediately tried calling back, but it would not connect.

The typhoon must have affected the nearby signal towers.

She tried again and again, five or six times, but every attempt failed. Finally, she gave up.

Fine. If calls could not go through, then what about messages?

Could texts be sent?

If even messages failed... no, no point thinking too far ahead.

Pushing the thought aside, Suzy started typing.

The message seemed to go through, though slowly. The loading icon kept spinning beside the chat, but no error mark appeared.

The signal was still there, just weak.

It took a long while for a single message to send.

The good news was that she also received Derek’s reply.

[Derek: Suzy, I really miss you. I want to come see you.]

[Derek: Is that okay?]

There was even a pitiful little emoji at the end.

Of course she would welcome him. The closer he was, the easier it would be to build his favorability.

She had not forgotten that his favorability was not maxed out yet.

Besides, the extreme cold was coming soon.

His home was barely prepared for it. No heating, no insulation. Surviving that kind of cold would be incredibly difficult.

Better to have him come over.

Most of the apartments in this building were empty anyway. She could easily find him a place.

If he stayed nearby, it would also be easier to look after him.

After all, she had worked hard to raise his favorability this far. If something happened to him...

Setting everything else aside, she did care. And she did not want anything to happen to him.

[Suzy: You can, but things aren’t safe outside right now. Wait until the typhoon passes before coming over.]

[Suzy: Let me know before you come.]

She just hoped they would still be able to reach each other by then.

Suzy stared at the chat for a long time, only letting out a breath of relief when she saw her message finally go through.

She had not asked Derek to come immediately because the conditions outside were too dangerous. Besides, the apartment across the hall had not been upgraded yet.

Once the typhoon ended, she would need to gather the materials as soon as possible.

With that in mind, she exited the chat and opened the forum she frequently browsed.

The network had clearly gotten worse.

It took a long while before the page finally loaded.

She had not checked in a few days, and the number of new posts had noticeably dropped. Before, there had been new threads every so often.

Now, there were only two updates.

As the disasters dragged on, fewer and fewer people still had power, stable connections, or even the means to check their phones.

Suzy read through the posts carefully.

One of them was written by someone in the far north.

According to the post, the heavy rain in their city had already stopped, and temperatures were dropping rapidly, already down to just a few degrees.

Several others from northern regions had replied, saying the rain in their cities was easing and the temperature was falling as well.

Suzy’s gaze darkened slightly.

She was certain now. The rain was about to end.

And soon after, the extreme cold would arrive, freezing the world solid.

She left a reply under the post, briefly describing the situation in her own city, then exited the thread.

Phone still in hand, she walked into the living room, intending to share the information with Leonard and Thomas.

The two of them were in the middle of a game, completely absorbed.

Thomas sat steady and composed, calmly operating the controller, his expression barely changing.

Leonard, on the other hand, was baring his teeth, his face twisted with intensity.

Suzy’s gaze moved between them.

Thomas glanced at her and gave a faint smile, then immediately turned his attention back to the screen.

The next second, the words "Game Over" flashed across the television.

Leonard looked utterly unwilling to accept defeat. He threw down his controller in frustration.

"Thomas, didn’t you say you’ve never played this game before?"

He let out a disbelieving laugh. There was no way a beginner could be that accurate.

"It’s my first time," Thomas replied calmly.

After brushing Leonard off casually, he turned to Suzy, his gaze settling on her.

"Finished your call?"

"Yeah." Suzy found a spot on the sofa and sat down.

Leonard finally noticed her as well. "So, who called you, Suzy?"

She did not hide it. "My junior from college."

"Junior... oh right, that handsome guy from last time."

As he spoke, Leonard flicked a glance at Thomas.

Thomas’ expression did not change, but his eyes lowered slightly, his lashes casting shadows that concealed whatever emotion lay beneath.