It was a sunny day.
It was one of those days when it felt pleasant to be outside. Stepping outside of the Guild, I took in the fresh air while also adjusting my sunglasses. The sunglasses were rather special in the sense that they could hide my appearance, but it was really necessary.
’I can always use the new skill that I learned.’
That skill was certainly useful in situations like these. Still, thinking about it... It felt a bit like overkill.
This was fine too.
"Hm?"
Pulling out my phone and scrolling through my apps, I caught sight of soone out of the corner of my eye and raised my head to look.
Rowan?
Unlike , he wasn’t wearing sunglasses, just a plain white cap. It did a decent job of hiding his features, though it wasn’t really necessary since he wasn’t that well-known. Standing by the walkway, he was focused on his phone.
Thinking for a mont, I decided to approach him.
"Rowan."
"Eh...? Wh—ah."
Although my features were hidden, he still seed to recognize .
His shoulders relaxed.
"Seth? What are you doing here? You going sowhere?"
"Yes, actually."
"Oh? Where...?"
"I’m going to the Central Hospital. I’m planning on visiting soone there."
"Huh? You’re going as well?"
I paused for a mont. Then, I tilted my head.
"What do you an as well? Are you hurt sowhere?"
"Ah, no. I... do you not rember?"
"Rember?"
I paused for a mont, searching through my mories. It didn’t take long before it finally clicked.
"Ah, that’s right."
His sister.
Rowan’s sister was sick.
’It’s been a while, so I almost forgot about it, but yeah... the reason why Rowan is even doing all of this is because of his sister.’
"How is she doing...?"
"As... best as she can do."
Rowan tried to smile, but it looked quite forced to . Staring at him, I understood that the situation had gotten worse.
I patted him on the shoulder, trying to think of sothing to say, but just then a car pulled up.
Rowan lowered his phone and pointed at it.
"This is my taxi."
"Ah, I—"
"Since we’re going the sa direction, want to co with?"
I paused, pulling my hand away from his shoulder. I didn’t really think too much. Since we were going to the sa place, I didn’t think that it would be a bad idea.
"Sure."
Reaching for the car door, I pulled the door open and got in. Rowan was just about to follow when a hand suddenly reached forward and stopped him.
"You take the front."
A familiar voice made Rowan and freeze as I turned to look at the girl in the cap. Her long blonde hair curled slightly as she slid into the backseat of the car. She wore a loose green jumper that stopped just above her waist, a little higher than her white shirt, leaving her midriff exposed as she kept her hands tucked into her pockets.
Sitting down and with her gaze locked at the front, she calmly chewed on the gum in her mouth as she spoke, "What are you waiting for? Sit at the front. At this rate, you’ll make the driver wait for too long."
"....."
Rowan just stood still, completely lost.
Eventually eting my gaze, he gave a pitiful look.
I looked back at him and shook my head.
Don’t you fucking—
"On second thought, I think I forgot sothing."
"———!"
"You two go ahead. I’ll et you later."
You—
Clank!
An uncomfortable silence followed after Rowan closed the door. The driver turned his head and gave us a look before eventually starting the car.
Turning to face the window, I rubbed my face.
’To think that I helped him in the past. If he ever asks for any therapy sessions, like hell I’ll help him. Hmm... now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I’ve held one. That’s not bad. I like it like this.’
I wasn’t a therapist to begin with.
I wasn’t even sure why I did it. Then again, I’d probably do even better if I did it now.
"My head is a ss."
Unexpectedly, Zoey was the one to break the silence between us. With her gaze still fixed ahead, she spoke in a voice low enough that only the two of us could hear.
"...A part of wants to apologize for what I said before. I was probably heated from everything that had happened. I feel like I’ve been a bit unfair to you. Especially when considering everything that has happened to you."
Listening to her words, I scratched the side of my head.
Was she apologizing to ?
"Honestly, you fuck my head up."
Zoey’s face scrunched up as she kept her gaze forward.
"You do sothing, and in the end, it always ends up with thinking that I was the one in the wrong. That I just misunderstood you. It’s always like this... It’s kind of weird, you know? When do you think this cycle will stop?"
"When you stop misunderstanding ."
"Pfft, yeah."
Zoey laughed, though it didn’t seem genuine.
"But you don’t make it easy for not to misunderstand you."
"Can start by talking to instead of lashing out."
Zoey paused before nodding.
"You’re right. That’s a start."
Her lips pursed for a mont until she turned her head to face my direction, our eyes eting.
"In that case, I’ll ask straight to your face. Did you laugh when Kyle was brought back at the Guild? Or was I just misunderstanding again?"
I blinked, my lips opening on their own.
Wait, she saw that?
I thought no one had seen it, but it seed I was wrong.
Nevertheless, I replied quickly.
"I wasn’t laughing."
"....."
Zoey kept staring at , her eyes never leaving mine. Her gaze felt uncomfortable, but for so reason, I had a feeling that looking away wouldn’t be a good idea. Thus, despite my discomfort, I matched her gaze, never looking away.
She eventually pulled away.
"...I see."
Leaning her head back against the headrest, she stared out the front window.
"I’ll trust your word for it this ti."
Those were the last words she said before she closed her eyes. As my gaze continued to linger in her direction, my lips opened and closed several tis, but eventually, I didn’t say anything else.
For so reason, her words didn’t seem to match her tone.
...It felt as though I had sohow confird sothing to her. But... I wasn’t sure either. Was I just being paranoid?
Honestly, I didn’t know, and that bothered .
It was all that I could think of as the car continued to head to the hospital.
Thankfully, the ride didn’t go on for long.
Within a dozen minutes, we arrived before a massive building several stories tall. As the car ca to a stop, we both got out at the sa ti. Since Rowan had called up the cab, he ended up paying for it, and as the two of us waited for him at the entrance, Zoey’s soft voice reached my ears one more ti.
"Rowan’s sister’s situation has gotten pretty bad lately. From what I’ve heard, she might not make it until the end of the year. He’s been coming here almost every day."
What...?
Had the situation gotten this bad?
"This is your first ti hearing this, right?"
I looked at Zoey once more.
She just looked in the distance with her hands in her pockets.
"Kyle has been helping Rowan with the dical fees. Now that he’s gone, it’ll be a bit more difficult for him to pay, even though he earns quite a lot."
Slowly turning her head, our eyes t once more.
"This is a rough world, isn’t it?"
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