Ray stood up from the park bench, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.
His walk was all chill, but his head was loud as hell—like a night market that just flipped the lights on.
He took one last glance around the park, then dipped.
---
The sun was already blasting high.
Ray stepped out from his apartement building with lazy-ass steps.
"Let's go make money like a normal human being," he said flat.
Phone already lit up in his hand.
And boom.
Headlines exploding everywhere like chaos confetti.
"BIGGEST GLOBAL DATA LEAK IN HISTORY!"
"GOVERNMENT SECRETS EXPOSED!"
"WORLD SECURITY SYSTEMS QUESTIONED!"
Ray paused for a sec.
As the only dude on earth who actually knew why all this shit was happening, he laughed with zero guilt.
"Heh… this is straight gold."
He kept walking, still scrolling, that little smirk on his face.
"Everybody's losing their minds… and here I am about to clock in like a damn NPC," he muttered.
Steps still chill.
And—
BRUK.
Ray straight-up bumped into somebody.
"Ah—sorry—" he blurted out on reflex, a little shook.
He looked up. The guy in front of him stopped too.
Their eyes locked.
"…Brother?"
Ray frowned.
"…Huh?"
The dude suddenly grinned.
"We meet again…"
Ray was still buffering.
Then the guy kept going—
"How you holdin' up, man?"
Ray froze. Brain kicking into gear. He remembered this dude—the one who looked like he was two seconds from robbing a convenience store back then.
…Oh.
"…I'm good," Ray answered low, still trying to catch up.
The guy let out a small laugh.
"Bro, for real… thank you, man."
Ray got even more confused.
"Huh?"
The guy scratched the back of his head.
"Back then I was this close to giving up on life, swear. I was at that point… y'know."
Ray stayed quiet.
"Then you just came up, hit me with that simple line, and it actually meant something. Just a tiny thing. But weirdly… it was enough to make me think…"
He smiled a little.
"…my story ain't over yet."
Ray took a small breath.
"Ah…" he mumbled. 'Altered memory,' he thought. 'But damn, for real? What the hell did I even say in his head?'
The guy stuck out his hand.
"Name's Jamal."
Ray stared at it for a beat, then shook it.
"I'm Ray."
Jamal nodded, still chuckling.
Ray gave a small grin.
"I gotta get to work, bro," he said casually. "I'm out."
He started walking.
But—
"Eh, hold up."
Ray stopped, glancing back.
Jamal was looking at him dead serious now.
"You're my savior, bro."
Ray didn't say shit.
"…If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't even be here right now."
For a second the whole world went quiet.
Ray blinked.
Surprised? Yeah, he didn't have a heroic bone in his body.
But he kept his face chill, playing the role.
"…Take care," he said lightly.
Then he kept it moving.
Steps back to normal.
Phone slid into his pocket.
---
A few seconds later…
Ray let out a soft snort.
"Holy freaking shit…"
He grinned to himself.
"That's kinda weird…"
His steps got even more relaxed.
"But now I'm the savior in somebody else's story?"
He chuckled low.
"Hahaha… damn."
His eyes narrowed a bit, that crooked smirk coming back. "What if every person's altered memory gets hit with some kinda hope-type shit? Like a feeling?"
----
Door to the gym swings open.
Ray walks in like always, still rocking that full "I'm physically here but my soul's on PTO" energy.
His eyes immediately scan for one dude.
"…Damar's not here."
He lets out a small snort.
"He definitely clocked in… working? Yeah, whatever the hell he feels like doing today…"
Phone comes out.
Group chat opened.
Scroll—
Damar left.
Ray smirks a little.
"Drama queen spilling way too much tea, it seems.."
He checks again.
Only admin can send messages.
"Damn… they straight-up locked it."
Phone slides back into his pocket.
At the front desk, Lena's still chilling like the world never had a single problem.
'Guess she didn't get hit too hard by the effect,' Ray thinks.
Ray keeps walking in.
And immediately clocks it—
"…Masks again?"
Pretty much every member's wearing one.
Ray squints.
"Cute…"
But he doesn't overthink it. He's already heading to stash his bag in the staff room.
Ray just pops open his locker—
"BRO."
Ray turns.
Karl pops up with the exact face of a dude who went viral fifteen minutes ago and the high still hasn't crashed.
"My stand-up killed it, bro!"
Ray instantly hits him with the sideways smirk.
"…For real?"
"Your daddy-ass jokes finally evolved?"
Karl laughs.
"Fuck you." His laughs fade.
"But for real, check this out."
He shoves the phone at him.
Video starts playing.
Karl on stage.
It starts normal.
Setup… punchline… crowd forcing some laughs.
Then Karl says:
"I'm such a honest dude… like for example— I used to act like I'm this playboy with heavy body count when I was talking to the boys…"
Laughter.
"…but actually I remember, my first kiss? My girl was the one who made the move."
BOOM. LAUGHTER.
Karl keeps rolling:
"And I also used to tell my friend 'Do it bro, support you'…"
"…but in my head I was thinking, 'fuck, if he flops I can roast his ass in the name of friendship tho.'"
Crowd starts losing it.
Karl, still clueless, keeps going:
"I also every time I hit the gym… sometimes I don't even feel like working out…"
"…I just wanna look consistent and have a bunch of thick chicks staring at my ass."
Laughter gets even louder.
Karl standing next to him now, grinning proud as hell.
"Crazy right? I improvised a ton up there."
Ray glances over slowly.
"…Improvisation?"
"Yeah! I just blurted out whatever popped in my head."
Ray lets out a short chuckle.
"Yeah…"
He hands the phone back to Karl. 'That ain't Improvisation, that's straight-up this dude's real-ass thoughts, damn, Karl!' Ray thinks.
---
Time flies, afternoon sliding straight into night, flipping the whole vibe from "let's grind these weights" to "fuck it, life's whatever."
Members dip out one by one.
Dumbbell clinks getting rarer.
The AC's still humming, but the place feels dead empty.
Ray's standing by the rack, wiping his hands with a towel.
Long-ass shift.
Energy on fumes.
Brain… starting to wander off-road.
"…Bored as hell."
And like always—
When Ray gets bored, his brain never stays in the safe lane.
His eyes slide over to the front desk.
Lena's still there.
Ray squints a little.
"…Not bad."
He leans against the pole, taking a quick look.
Not the "damn" type at first glance.
But—
"Body though…" he mutters under his breath.
Chest ain't popping off.
But that lower half? Lowkey doing numbers.
Ray smirks lightly.
"Yeah… that's putting in work."
He shakes his head, half-laughing.
"But she a bad girl…"
Eyes still locked on Lena.
"Playing the simps for life…"
Ray lets out a soft sigh.
"…but a hit could be nice."
He chuckles to himself.
"I'm already starting to talk reckless."
---
He strolls casual over to the empty spot and drops onto the bench.
"Ray."
Woman voice.
Ray turns.
Sonya walks up, steps light but straight to business.
"I hope you wear something fire later," she says.
Ray frowns.
"…What?"
"For our date."
Ray blinks once.
"Oh."
"Yeah," Sonya continues, all chill. "Don't get nervous or anything."
Ray stays quiet.
Sonya leans in a bit, arms crossed.
"And don't try too hard."
Ray squints.
"…Huh?"
Sonya lets out a small laugh.
"Dead serious. Just relax. I know you're pretty desperate, right?"
Ray goes silent for a few seconds.
Something about it… rubbed him wrong. 'Desperate your ass, this date's only happening 'cause of your hacked memory!' he thinks.
Ray leans back, eyes still on her.
Sonya walks off, still laughing softly.
Ray shakes his head, that grin getting wider.
'Desperate?'
He heads to the bathroom and pulls up the system. Fingers flying across the screen, 'Let's see how desperate you really are for this natural skin care treatment, ahhahahha....'