Rhein

“What would you like to order, sir?”

“A regular cup of coffee and a sandwich.” I pulled my card out as I handed it to the cashier. She rested the card on top of the card reader, retreating her hand at the sound of the beep. She gave back the card with the receipt.

“You’ll have your order in ten minutes. There is a bit of rush today in the café.” She looked at the long queue behind me. “Gosh, why is today Monday?”

“It’s okay. I can wait for my order.” I walked out of the line as I made my way towards one of the empty seats at the corner. Monday was already taking a downhill for me. And I didn’t want to meet someone from the hospital.

I tapped my fingers on the table, staring out from the glass beside me. The hot burning heat of the sun was enough to tempt everyone into staying indoors. But few people were on the streets, probably out due to certain reasons.

“Here is your order.” I turned towards the waiter as he kept down my sandwich and coffee. He immediately went away as he gave other people their orders.

I unwrapped the plastic wrapper around my sandwich, diving into it right away as I took a big bite. The flavours pleased my taste buds as I ate the whole sandwich with occasional sips of coffee.

“Delicious—”

“Hello.” I turned towards the glass, feeling my heart leaping out of my mouth as I yelped.

“What the–Emma?!” Emma’s squished face smiled as she moved back, walking inside the café.

Fate really likes to fuck my life.

Let me rephrase myself. Emma really like to fuck my life.

“Morning, Dr. Rhein.” Emma sat in front of me, making herself comfortable. “Are you having your lunch break right now?”

“I was having a peaceful break. Until someone decided to scare the shit out of me.” I glared at her as she called a waiter.

“I would like to have a regular cup of Blue Angel’s Breath.” The waiter wrote down her order as he went away. “So, what were you saying?”

“I am asking you to kindly fuck off.”

“I cannot comply with your request.” She pouted as she rested her chin on her palm. “You know, you are really mean sometimes.”

“I am mean all the time.” I drank the last sip of my coffee as Emma leaned back, crossing her arms as she stared at me. “What?”

“It’s about Liam.” I stopped my movements as I looked at her.

“What about him?” I kept my empty cup down as Emma sat straight.

“He took his medicines, but he didn’t say anything regarding your sessions with him.” She held a puzzled look as she stared at my empty cup. “You know that he was very hard to deal with. It took us a whole month before he even spoke again. That accident took a great toll on him.”

“Then do you suggest we force him to attend sessions with me?” She sighed in defeat as she rested her head on the table. She kept her hand on the table as she began tapping on it. I closed my eyes, the tapping sound getting louder and louder. “Stop with the tapping.”

“Then help me.” She mumbled as she lightly continued to tap her fingers.

“Stop wasting your time on him. If you hadn’t gotten too close to him, you would be focusing on your assignments.” She raised her head, staring at me as a glimmer shined in her hazel eyes. “What’s with you spacing out?”

“Why are you scared to get attached to people?”

A second passed. A minute passed. But I had no answer to her question.

The waiter came and brought her order. Emma slurped the blue drink, her stare still on me as she waited for an answer.

I cleared my throat as I leaned back on my seat. “People are nuisances to me. They feel like a liability.”

“That doesn’t explain the fact why you are always alone.” Emma held her straw as she stared down at my cup. “Plus, you never try new things. You always just have a regular coffee.”

“My tastes doesn’t–”

“You are scared of coming out of your comfort zone.”

“I am talking to you, though.” She quickly slurped her drink, taking me by surprise as she held the now empty cup.

“Someone is holding you back.” She stated, determination burning in her eyes as she stared at me. Her face changed, her smile slowly dropping as she held a melancholic expression.

“Someone, huh?”

She blinked. “What?”

“You said, someone is holding me back.”

“No, I said something is holding you back.”

“Are you dumb?” I spoke in annoyance.

She stared at me, as if I had grown a horn, before realising something. “Oh, sorry. Sometimes, I think I said something but actually I say something else. It happens sometimes.”

I scoffed. “Right.”

Emma glanced out of the glass. “The hospital must be quite busy today since the Hyacinth family is making a huge donation.”

“You can say that. After all, they are one of the influential and richest families in Peony Mir.”

“But why would they make a huge donation to the hospital? We are functioning quite well on our own.”

“They are suggesting a research wing dedicated to studies.”

“You mean the students from Peony Mir University are going to practice?”

“That seems to be the plan. They are even holding meetings with the board members to make sure it is executed.”

“But usually didn’t students move out of the town to pursue medicine?”

“I guess they are trying to develop Peony Mir so that more people will stay.”

“That looks like it. Aish, the Hyacinth family is hard to understand.” Emma looked down at her empty cup. “They usually remain underground regarding the things about their family. No matter the case, that means more work for me.”

“That’s good. Your top does a very good job of depicting your state. ‘Exhausted From Work’ after all.” Emma looked down at her top as she went red.

“I-I- Ah, fuck you.” She crossed her arms, covering the lettering as she looked away.

I glanced at my watch. “The breaks over. I have to head back.” I stood up, pulling out a canned strawberry drink as I kept it in front of her. “Next time, don’t faint during work. I don’t want to carry your knocked out ass again.”

“Right . . .” She took the can, opening it as she took a sip of it.

“Also, stop taking sleeping pills.” She stopped, putting the drink down as she looked at me. “I found them in your coat pocket.”

“I just take them sometimes.” She also got up, taking occasional sips as both of us walked out of the café. “See you tomorrow, Dr. Rhein.”

“Yeah, whatever–” I stopped mid-sentence, goosebumps rising on my skin as I spaced out.

“Dr. Rhein!” Emma pulled me out of my thoughts as she shook my arm. “What happened? You spaced out.”

“You’re right.”

“About what?”

“The Hyacinth family is really hard to understand.”

Liam

The dense tension grew in the room. Like a predator hunting for their prey, the ultimate prize of their hard work. The tactics they used, the sweat that went into it. All eyes were fixed on one thing.

“And the finishing move . . . one.”

Grandma Momo threw the dice, gulps of anticipation taken by everyone as they watched the dice slowly stop at one place. Immediately, everyone rose slightly to see what the outcome was.

“Damn your asses! Ha ha!” The single dot shimmering on top of the dice brought a groan from Oliver. Grandma Momo moved her remaining piece into the house as she had a triumphant smile.

“Ah, not again.”

“And that’s five in a row, Miss Oliver. Defeating me in a match of Ludo is impossible.”

I laughed, as I had been for the past three hours as I watched Grandma Momo and Oliver’s ultimate Ludo match.

“Argh, why is luck on your side, Grandma?” Oliver whined, as she fell back on the floor.

“As if having good luck was going to help you win.” Yuna remarked as he paused his reading. Oliver felt agitated as she rose up, immediately tackling him in a chokehold. “Fuck, let me go!”

“Not until you apologise!” Yuna tickled her sides, erupting a yelp from her as she fell down. “Cheap!”

“How the hell is defending myself cheap?” They continued to glare at each other before Grandma Momo gave them a hit on the head each.

“Sorry, Grandma Momo.” Both of them apologised, sitting on

“Dumbheads.” She snickered, pulling out a magazine as both of them continued to apologise to her. “How the hell are you both high rankers of your school yet are sworn enemies of each other?”

“I hate his/her face!” Both of them spoke at the same time, resuming their glare fighting until I went up to them and gave a knock on both of their heads.

“Come on.” I stood in front of them, towering over their figures. “Say the magic word.” Both of them remained silent, blatantly staring at each other.

“I am waiting.” I crossed my arms, tapping my index finger as they both nod to each other. “What?”

“Not sorry!” Both of them jumped on me, scaring the living lights out of me as they crashed into me on the ground. They began tickling me, laughter and cries escaping from me as I tried to push them away.

“Ah, move away!”

“You heard him. Let him go.” Grandma Momo held the both of them from behind, removing them from me as I caught my breath.

“You-You guys are the worst.” I broke into a smile, both of them having a little blush as they looked away.

“Ah, dinner made by Grandma Momo is the best!” Oliver exclaimed, lying on the ground as she enjoyed the songs playing on her phone.

“Oh my god! It’s BlackX’s newly released song, Once a Time.” She turned the volume a bit as she turned towards me. “You’re going to love this, Liam.”

“Let’s see.”

‘Oh, darling do you remember the good days?’

‘The time I used to sneak into your room.’

‘Your sugar lips, my distorted thoughts.’

‘Such a chaos were you and I.’

‘But then you moved away,’

‘Taking yourself away from me’

‘Such were the good days we had.’

‘So, tell me do now,”

‘Still feel like once a time.’

‘How we were back then.’

‘How we stayed up all night.’

‘Trying to mark our love on the skies–’

“Ah, Yuna!” Oliver whined, as Yuna changed the radio frequency. “Why did you change the radio?”

“Because I need to listen to some calming music.” He held a novel in his hand as he looked down at Oliver.

“What are you reading right now?” I asked as I looked at his book.

“To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.” He sniffled, immediately catching all eyes on him. He realised his actions, clearing his throat. “I’ll go to my room.” He immediately ran off, not saying anything else.

“Looks like something emotional happened in the book.” I stated as everyone nodded their heads.

“Liam?” Grandma Momo called out as I looked at her. “Why don’t you explore the house? You seem kind of bored.”

“Huh?”

She motioned towards the door. “Why don’t you roam around the house?”

I fiddled with my fingers. “I told you. I remember you and the house. I was just–”

“I am not saying this so you can refresh your memory, Liam.” Grandma Momo motioned me to come near her. I got up, sitting beside her as she pulled me into her embrace. “Even if you forget about me, I will be there to remind you who I am.”

I looked up at her. “Grandma . . .”

“I know that you will find your way around back to us. You always do.” She ruffled my hair, leaning down as she kissed my forehead. “Now go. Clear your mind.” I nodded, glancing back at Oliver as I left the room.

Oliver

The moonlight always shined brightly on Grandma Momo’s house, especially the living room. We would always stay up till midnight, hearing various tales and the assumptions made by the locals regarding it.

But tonight, the moon was the centre of the show. Or maybe because I could feel Grandma Momo stare on my back ever since Liam left the room.

“You don’t need to always remind him about his condition.” I spoke up after a deaf silence. “He knows what he is going through.”

“I know you are worried about him. But if he forgets about it, then he won’t be able to move forward.”

“We’ll see.” I stared out of the room, looking at the white flowers planted in the garden. “It’s up to Liam what choice he makes.”

“Does he want to know the past?”

“Or forget about it and move onto a better future?” I looked back, staring at her. She had her hands intertwined, her elbows resting on the table. She held a stoic expression as she stared back.

“Before that, you have to answer the questions I have. I didn’t ask you or Yuna because Liam was there. So, you have to answer them.”

“I will. As I always do.”