"May I ask who that was?" Xander asked out of pure curiosity after noticing the silence that had engulfed the car.

The trip wasn't necessarily short and though he wouldn't have minded it if it had been anyone else, with Emilin, Xander always found the silence quite unbearable.

​​

It was as if there were always lingering words, drifting around, left unspoken, yet still making their presence known in the air around them.

It was somewhat stifling, at least that was true when they weren't either both working on something or at the cat cafe.

"Mm, I'll tell you when I find out," Emilin calmly responded as if reporting to a higher up, or more accurately speaking, dismissively responding to a subordinate.

"Is that a riddle?" Xander brushed it off as a joke, not knowing what else he could say.

After all, she either truly didn't know him that well or she simply didn't want to tell him, either way, there was nothing left to say.

As for which one of the two was more probable, surely everyone would have their own thoughts on the matter, though Xander doubted his thoughts would vary much from everyone else's.

"Not at all," Emilin seamlessly spoke, dismissing Xander's unfounded claims.

She didn't respond not because she didn't want to, nor because of some riddle, but rather simply because Emilin didn't know if she should introduce him as her future friend, simple acquaintance, or some random stranger.

None of them seemed quite fitting, with most of them sounding quite strange if spoken out loud.

As for his name, it was barely of any use to encompass him as a person seeing as she barely knew anything else about him.

Noah was a mystery to her.

Though there was a familiarity about him that Emilin found indescribable, there was also this estrangement present at the same time.

It was both contradictory, yet not rough to digest.

There was something mystical about it, mystical and fleeting.

Sometimes it was there, and at other times, Emilin found herself questioning whether it was simply a figment of her imagination, used to convince herself that this was the one.

The one who would become her first friend. It also wasn't wrong to say that there was some level of delusion and hope mixed in there.

Emilin acknowledged that there was something there, noting it down for future reference, but as for that very instance, Emilin would be better off believing that that feeling of familiarity was because of that expression he had made previously.

The one that she associated with one of her own, one that she would be happy to never see again for the rest of her life, one that she rather disdained.

Yet there was still something charming about the way Noah had portrayed it, something that made him different from her, something Emilin couldn't quite identify.

It was something that had made him much more approachable when compared to herself.

"I do believe he's a small-time model if that is of any interest to you," Emlin had reached this conclusion after thinking about it for a while, after all, there was no need to leave Xander hanging, even if he didn't really care that much.

Xander simply nodded at Emilin's response. Thinking back, Noah had been truly quite handsome, fitting for his job.

In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it would have been a waste of his good looks if he hadn't become one.

Though not clear at first, Xander had a feeling that Noah may be of the same kind as him.

That being their subtle arrogance that others weren't able to notice.

It was there as plain as day for Xander to see, arrogance that seeped into one's bone marrows wasn't something that could be necessarily hidden, but not something that everyone could discern either, after all, it was a part of their nature, but it was also a part of their nature not to cause a scene simply due to arrogance.

But it wasn't something Xander preoccupied himself with.

It wasn't at all strange that Emilin had some arrogant friends, after all, one could probably be quite arrogant just being Emilin's friend.

To Xander, who knew quite a bit, he didn't find that part strange, in fact, what he did find strange was Emilin's lack of arrogance.

She didn't appreciate her own talents, which were something that Xander found increasingly apparent, in fact, at times, Xander felt a strong sense of disdain when Emilin looked at her own work in the medical field and in the papers, she had given him.

But that wasn't something he was comfortable asking about just yet.

Seeing as some words had been exchanged, the atmosphere in the car had visibly lightened, which was a good thing.

The rest of the trip was made in peace, with two people, each of whom wanted to speak some more to the other, but unable to find the right words.

One because they couldn't muster up the courage, and the other because there were at a loss for words.

***

The car had been parked just in the community basement of the apartment and as they made their way up, they also parted ways.

Emilin said her goodbyes and goodnights as she made her way in, closing the door behind her with a clack.

She then took off her shoes when stepping in as it was customary.

Emilin immediately hit the bed after taking off her shoes, washing her face, and quickly brushing her teeth.

Staring blankly at the ceiling above her, Emilin didn't think of anything in particular.

There was nothing much on her mind, which was quite rare.

In the end, after staring for long enough, her eyes had grown weaker. Emilin's eyes fluttered as she tried to keep them open but to no avail.

"Good night to me too," was Emilin's last thought, before she really hit the pillow, joining the others in the dream world.

Unknowing of what she was going to find there. Would it be a peaceful night? Or a rowdy one? Dreamless or chaotic?

Emilin closed her eyes to find out.

***

WARNING: Proceed with this part with caution.

"Good, yes, this is how it's done!" A man with a crooked back exclaimed in excitement as if wanting the whole world to know if his accomplishments, but sadly that would not be the case.

"Professor, it was impeccably done, though the chances are low, the products are in no way inferior, I think as long as you keep working on this project, it will only be a matter of time before you can bring our planet to a new era, bringing our nation to new heights," the person behind that man of greyish hair and a crooked back said.

His words were sweet, but behind them hid layers and layers of jealousy, hatred, disgust, and disdain.

He was significantly younger-looking than the first man, perhaps still in his early teens even, but the dark eye circles simply didn't help in the matter.

He looked half-dead, wearing the dirty lab coat that seemed to have been used a couple of hundred times.

He was clearly treated poorly, but he was desperate enough to do whatever it took to live.

Surprisingly enough he was one who had yet to lose hope, clutching on to any opportunity that came his way.

The younger man seemed to be trying to kiss up to the elder male, who could to some extent be compared to a homeless man with how little he cared for himself.

But the skinny young teen wasn't too much better, in fact, he was likely worse as clear signs of mental trauma could be spotted from this youth.

His arms shook unnaturally at times and so did his voice. His dark eyes were also diluted unnaturally despite being in the light.

He knew exactly what may happen if he lost his use, something he wouldn't want to happen to him even dead, the thoughts of it haunted him well into the night, not sparing him even when he was awake.

Imagining the dismantled parts of his body after he had died, stuffed in jars, labeled with numbers and names made his seizure-like movements even more extreme.

"I haven't raised you for nothing, after all, you know what you are talking about, despite being a defective product," the old man said with a huff showing his disdain as clear as day.

Even knowing that this little kid's word was laced with insincerity, getting a compliment every once in a while, didn't hurt.

In this aspect, they were in much less of the aforementioned boss-assistant relationship, closer to a servant master relationship.

But not in a good way.

If there is a good way that is.

The servant-looking teenage male could be seen to be giving his professor sneaky glances as if trying to make sure that he hadn't offended him in any way, his whole body seemingly shrinking so that his presence would be diminished with it.

His arms still shuddered as they shook in irregular intervals. His gaze making him seem smaller and weaker than a mouse.

It made one wonder how he had the guts to kiss up to the elder in such a way just moments prior when now, it seemed more like he wouldn't be able to open his mouth to speak, even if you begged him to.

The elder man, being who he was, didn't fail to notice.

But even if he did in fact notice, all he did was scoff.

"Stop dilly-dallying and get the ones who just failed to my office right this moment."