Emery raises his eyebrow as he witnesses Henry's embarrassed face. His cheeks were rosy and his ears were bright red. He was puzzled as he was used to seeing the young lad be calm and collected. Watching Henry's normal face turn red like a ripened tomato was new for him.

"Well, Monique told me you helped out Ein and applied first aid when he fainted." He gave Henry a pat on the back and cheeky smirk forms on Emery's mouth. "And then... I heard a saucy rumour about a certain someone chasin’ a certain person to pay a debt." Emery's grey irises glisten as he gazes at Henry. "...And apparently, it was an extraordinary type of debt." He then gives him a playful wink.

Henry felt embarrassed, he covered his face with both of his hands as he blushed. He started to regret confiding with Monique earlier at the health centre. "Shit… I can't believe word travels fast in this hotel, like wow." Henry groans as he mulls over his actions.

"You know… when I heard some of the details, I felt a little thankful though. I never thought that Ein would have that kind of courage." Emery sighs and stares at the agitated Henry. "Ein would always close himself off to anyone. Sometimes he would even block Monique out from his life too… So hearing about a young Ein, reaching out to help a total stranger was fresh for me."

Henry then uncovered his face, took a deep breath and composed himself. He then met Emery's gaze. "Did Ms Salva tell you everything?"

"A bit." Emery hums. "I did cut her off from telling the entire story since I want to hear it directly from the horse's mouth." He chuckles and grabbed onto Henry's shoulder. “That is, if you don’t mind telling me about it, kiddo.” A warm smile beams from his face.

"Let's grab some of the freshly baked pies for lunch and talk over it then." Emery drags Henry towards the service area to fetch a batch of Shepherd's pie and Pasties.

After introducing Henry to the bakery staff, Both of them managed to procure freshly baked pies to replenish the employee dining hall. They towed along with them a kitchen trolley filled with the goods as they returned to the hall.

***

When I opened my eyes, I met the darkness once again.

"Ugh… my head why does it hurt so bad?" I sensed a dull pain near my nape and my sense of balance was out of place, my legs were unstable and my arms felt sore. "Is this a dream?" I scanned my surroundings however I could only see the endless darkness around me. There was no sound nor light, just the abyss.

"Is anyone in here?!"

I yelled at the empty space, I waited for a response for a minute or two, but only silence greeted me back. I groaned at the silence hoping that someone would respond, but I only heard my sounds. I gathered my strength and heaved myself up. As I stood, a soft inaudible whisper started to echo around the void.

I walked and followed the direction where the whisper was coming from, as I got close, the voice became louder and audible, and gradually, a multitude of murmurs filled the space and their voices roared.

"Hey, did you hear about the son of the Hobbes family? I hear he was suspended from school!"

"I've heard it from the neighbours, it seems that he was caught doing naughty things in the library!"

"Apparently, one of the students saw that Hobbes kid… kiss another boy.

"Damn! Who was the unfortunate kid that got kissed? He must have been scarred for life!"

"It was the Dickenson family's eldest son! He said that the Hobbes kid forced himself on him."

"Oh my god! I hope he doesn't graduate and gets disciplinary action! I swear if my son ends up like that Rivers kid… I'll beat him senseless until he straightens back out."

"I wonder though, how did the Hobbes couple raise such a vulgar child?"

"He's probably a bastard… Their family must be shocked that their only son would do such a thing...What a disgusting child."

"That is if he really is part of that family! Haha!"

My fists clenched, and my vision grew dark in rage as I heard the voices. Their rambling reminded me of the times when I also had it rough. I was about to yell at the bigoted whispers to shut them up, but suddenly I felt an icy wind pass my back. I turned around to check, it was a young boy, he looked like he was in his early teen years.

His short platinum-blonde hair was dusty and dishevelled, his fringes covered his eyes, but I can clearly see that tears drenched his pale, blemished cheeks. His arms and legs were also littered by abrasions, bruises and cuts. It looked like someone had badly beaten him up.

I reached out my hand towards him. "Are you alright?"

The boy scoffs at me and slaps my hand. He then turns his back away from me and runs. I felt my body move on its own, and the next thing I knew, I gave chase and was a few paces behind the boy.

"You're clearly not alright! Tell me! Tell me what's wrong?!" I felt my breathing become heavy and sweat drenched my face and neck. I then managed to catch up with him and grab him by his right arm.

The boy tried to shake my hand loose, he then yelled at me with a deafening voice.

"PLEASE JUST LET ME DIE!!"

I loosened my grip to cover my ears, to my surprise, the boy didn't continue to run away. Instead, he crouched down on the ground and started crying, his loud wails were full of agony and it was unbearable to hear.

"Dad said it’s mom’s fault that I’m like this…” The boy sniffled as he covered his face. “He kept on beating her up… I told her to stop but he says he won’t until he sees me gone…” The boy stands up, wipes his tears and then looks at me.

I saw his golden irises lose their light and turn bleak, it felt like the boy had lost all hope and surrendered to his demise.

“I should just die so I can save mom…”

I felt the ground beneath me shake and crumble apart, I then turned to check on the boy, but he had vanished. The dark space that I was in fell apart, my vision faded, and something dragged me down on my feet, the sensation of free-falling overwhelmed my senses.

Next thing I knew, a bright light blinded my eyes, and shortly after, I saw Arnaut’s face up-close. I got surprised and jerked up, hitting his nose with my forehead by accident. The pain on my forehead felt so real and it snapped me back to reality.

“Ooww!!” I saw Arnaut take a step back and massage his nose bridge, blood dripped down his left nostril and he quickly pinched his nose.

“Glad you’re finally awake, Ein.” Arnaut’s voice sounded nasal, he pulled out his handkerchief to cover up his bleeding nose. “Sorry for surprising you there… It looked like you were dreaming since your eyes were moving about.

“Ah… right, I passed out again.” I then recalled the moment when Monique fell on top of me. “How long have I been out?”

“Around thirty minutes. Oh! Also, Seori brought your bag here. You need to stay here for the rest of the day since we need to observe you for concussion symptoms." Arnaut then pulls out my bag from the shelf beside my bed and hands it over to me. "Seori and Monique are working on your behalf upstairs, so you don't need to worry."

"I see… I guess it's not that bad to take a break." A sense of relief came to me as I think about my deliverables being accomplished by reliable colleagues.

"By the way, I heard from Seori that you bring your own meals. Wanna join me for lunch? Seori gave me a kimchi and bulgogi box today and I feel like trading." Arnaut chuckles, he removes the handkerchief from his face and puts it in his pocket. "I feel like my mouth is going numb if I eat more kimchi."

I pulled out my lunch box from my bag. "I have chicken curry omurice and fresh tomato & basil salad if you're interested in swapping… I do warn you, the omurice is spicy."

"Then I'll trade the salad with you for the kimchi!" Arnaut darted outside the room and came back a minute after bringing in his lunch box. "Since my future-in-laws have been sending me copious amounts of kimchi and gochujang." Arnaut groans and scratches his head. "I don't think I can handle the spice any longer." Arnaut groans, there was a hint of resignation in his eyes.

"And while we're eating… Ein, let's talk about what happened to you in the elevator…" Arnaut hands me the lunch box containing the kimchi.

"Consider this an advanced therapy session with me since you'll be on leave tomorrow."

~~~~~

To be Continued.

~~~~~