Finally, it was finished. The last thing Kaeso had to do before covering the painting with white paint was to take a photo and then add it to the folder with the corrected works. One might think that so much effort would be wasted, but Kaeso never wanted any of them to remain. He treated them as a base for the exercises and believed it would be disrespectful to the authors to leave the graffitis in the changed form. Moreover, Adam would not allow him to do so. Not that he carried about his opinion, but one of the Kaeso's dues was to follow the guardian's orders.

"Are you done with work?"

"Yes, I am packing up, and before you ask, no, I do not have time for talk."

Kaeso went to the elevator and pressed the button to call it. 

"That's a pity. I thought you would like to try the new pie, a pear tart… I have already bought you one, but that's not a problem. I have a big appetite."

Kaeso looked up at the number over the elevator's door. At that moment, it was at level 7. With today's gallery occupancy, it would take the elevator approximately ten minutes to reach Kaeso, located at level 0, and then another ten to get to the top of the building. He could not wait so long. There was only one way to get faster to the hideout. Stairways...

"Don't touch it, I am coming! I just need to put  the tools back."

Entering the staircase with all of the equipment, Kaeso looked up and sighed.

"I will try to restrain myself, but I can't promise you anything."

"Do NOT touch it."

"Bye, bye!" 

"I will…" Kaeso was not able to end the sentence. Adam hung up.

"You, son of a …". he jumped up several times and began to run upstairs"...BITCH!".

If Kaeso had any weakness, it was sweets. To tell he loved them was not precise enough. He was obsessed with them. Adam learned about it by accident. And it was one of the luckiest days of his life. 

After the arrest and court hearing, Kaeso was assigned to "Eagle Nebula" for community service. No one wanted to be in charge of the rebellious boy who, for so many years, used to be such a big pain in the ass for them. No one besides Adam. He knew it would be a challenging task, but he believed it was worth a try to help Kaeso. At that time, the boy resembled a wronged and abandoned animal, which is hard to tame until you find the right way to get close to it. Each invitation to the conversation was declined with a "no," quick as a dog's fangs snap. It was until Adam suggested visiting a new coffeehouse recently opened on the mall's second floor. At the mere mention of it, Kaeso's emotionless eyes sparkled with excitement while his still face cracked when a barely noticeable smile spread across it. 

—-------------------------------------------------------------

"Seriously? What's that?" Kaeso stood before the table, pointing at the cake next to the spare seat. More precisely, he was pointing at its missing part, eaten by someone.

"I told you it's hard to restrain."

"How old are you?! I can't believe it. You are so immature!"

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Kaeso drew the attention of other customers. There might be no end to the insults against Adam, but fortunately, the waiter stepped in.

"Mister, could you calm down? If not, I will ask you to leave." And based on the tone of her voice, she seemed upset that Kaeso interrupted her work. She was holding a tray with customers' orderings in her right hand.

Realizing what he had done, Kaeso stopped for a second, thinking over the situation, and then quietly took his place.

"It's alright, Miss. The boy is just upset for not getting his pie."

"Here, please calm down." The waitress put a plate with a second piece of pear tart in front of Kaeso. 

"And who looks immature now?" Adam could not stop giggling. 

Whenever he laughed, his face stood up for Kaeso even more, brightening in the blurred surrounding.