Connecting The Strings 💕🫶🏻

CHAPTER 3 PART 4 - The lost bet

(NOTE: "this chapter is solely based on ash and Kira.")

K

ira had been MISSING FOREVER in the girls’ group chat all evening, which was suspicious enough to have Yuna typing in all caps about her disappearance. Normally, Kira was the first to drop a sarcastic one-liner or roast whoever had the audacity to post a blurry selfie. But tonight? Nothing. No snark. No gifs. Just radio silence.

It wasn’t until a sharp ping hit Yuna’s phone that the mystery began to unravel.

Kira posted a story.

Yuna opened it and instantly snorted so hard she almost spilled her drink. The photo was pure gold — Ash, sitting across from Kira at a tiny ramen shop, hair a little messy from the wind, cheeks puffed out mid-noodle-slurp like he was auditioning for a food commercial. His eyes were half-lidded in bliss, completely unaware of the chaos he was about to cause online.

But it was the caption — written in Kira’s trademark slightly aggressive, slightly affectionate sarcasm — that made Yuna actually wheeze.

> “When you lose a bet and have to feed the overgrown child you call an academic miracle. My wallet is sobbing.”

An arrow pointed directly at Ash’s head, and just at the edge of the frame, Kira’s hand could be seen mid-smack against his hair, fingers slightly blurred from the motion.

Ash, of course, had already reposted it within seconds with his own addition:

> “95? Nah. 103. Cry harder, my love 💕”

---

Boys’ Group Chat – “Legends 🗿”
Ronan: KIRA?? TOOK?? YOU?? OUT??
Felix: Oh this is better than my dare.
Ash: Obviously. She’s a woman of her word.
Zack: And you’re a man stealing her wallet.
Ash: Correction — I’m a man eating free noodles.
Ronan: Bro you look like a raccoon in that pic.
Felix: My favourite headache looks happy tho 🥹
Ash: Damn right.

---

Girls’ Group Chat – “Queens 💅”
Yuna: OMG THIS IS GOLD.
Hina: THE HAND SLAP. I’M CRYING. 💀
Sarah: She’s disciplining him like a toddler.
Kira: You’re all acting like this was enjoyable. This is punishment.
Yuna: A punishment where you wear eyeliner and stare at him across the table? Seems fake.
Sarah: Lowkey… romantic fake.
Kira: Delete yourself.

---

Meanwhile, at the ramen shop, Ash leaned back in his seat with that smug, infuriating grin — the one Kira claimed she’d happily wipe off his face if given the chance. She was scrolling through her phone, clearly ignoring him, but the way her lips twitched at the corners betrayed her.

“You know, darling,” he said between bites, “you could’ve just admitted I’m the smartest person you know. Would’ve been cheaper.”

Kira set her chopsticks down with a sharp click and raised an unimpressed brow. “Cheaper, sure. But then I wouldn’t get the satisfaction of watching you choke on my money.”

“Aw, my love,” he smirked, leaning forward like he was about to share a secret, “you really do care.”

She didn’t even blink. “Care? Please. I’m only making sure my favourite headache eats enough so his ego has the energy to keep inflating.”

Ash placed a dramatic hand over his heart. “See? Terms of endearment. She loves me.”

Kira rolled her eyes, standing to grab her coat. “Terms of warning, Ash. You’re one slurp away from wearing this broth.”