My relationship with the professor went back to normal after that.

I did not touch any of his things again, instead, I kept nagging him until he listens to my suggestions, particularly when it comes to hygiene.

“Professor, why is there a half eaten doughnut inside your mug?”

“I’ll finish that later... I just need to save a sequence I came up with...” he mumbled in front of the laptop. “Gimme that thing over there...”

I handed him a flat wooden stick with a hand carved at one end. He took it from me and proceeded to scratch his back with it.

“When was the last time you took a bath?” I asked him.

“Sunday...” he mumbled.

“Tomorrow we need to go to the Medical Expo, it’s a three day event.”

“Uhuh...”

I sigh and left him to get lunch from Aling Tinay. It is not advisable to talk to him when he is engrossed in his work.

When I got back, I saw him staring at the screen of his laptop. It seems he is now storing new information in his mind. Or perhaps retrieving something.

I sat beside him and waited for him to return.

“What are you staring at?” he asked after a while.

“Nothing,” I replied. “I am just fascinated at how you work. How young were you when you created your memory palace?”

“Hmm. Can’t remember... though my earliest saved memory is that of my mother giving me a bath in the kitchen sink.” He gave me a proud grin. “See, our parents died early, so I decided to keep each and every memory I had about them. That’s probably when it started”

“Did they get in an accident?”

“Yep... my brother and I were orphaned when I was 17 months old. No one wanted to take us in back then, since the world was still recovering from the pandemic, so we moved from one relative to another. And since kuya [older brother] was one of the very first omegas who manifested back then, our bastard uncle decided to sell him off to a hospital as a guinea pig... good thing kuya’s best friend found out... his family decided to adopt us after that...”

“His best friend must be a good person, then.”

I watched Prof. Antonio’s face darken.

“Good?” He spat the words out as if it was poison. “Good, since he had ulterior motives on my big bro!” he fumed. “He forced himself on him. And even if they say that they love each other, it doesn’t change the fact that he took my kuya away from me!”

I stared at a seething Prof. Antonio. He looked like a small child who got his favorite toy stolen.

“What the hell are you doing here, anyway?” he frowned at me. “Why the fuck do you keep asking me questions?”

“It is 3 pm,” I placed his cold lunch in front of him. “It’s time to eat and rest. We’re going out early today.”

“What for?” he asked, his mouth full of sinigang.

“Just finish your meal first.”

Thirty minutes later and he’s complaining again.

“Just why the hell do I need to go to that Expo? Why don’t you just go with Pedro? You don’t need me there anyway!”

“They will be releasing the latest, state of the art, medical and laboratory equipment in the Expo tomorrow.”

“Really?” he asked with interest.

“We can order them straight from the supplier, and if you, a world famous scientist, are there to avail them personally, they might even give us a large discount.”

“Hmm... well, if that’s the case... but why do I need to get measured for a new suit?”

“Sir, please stand straight,” said the tailor as he measured the professor’s back.

“To look presentable,” I stated the obvious.

“Aren’t you lending me one of your suits?”

“The last time I lent you my Versage, you spilled kare-kare sauce on the vest.

“Ouch...” the tailor frowned and shook his head in dismay. He looked pained.

“It is better to get one of your own, tailored specifically for you,” I told him, “besides, you look more like a ‘Burberyl’.”

“What Burberyl?”

“That is the name of our brand, sir,” said the tailor with a smile.

“Then why am I only getting measured now, when the expo is tomorrow already?”

“Because you never listen when I tell you to get one,” I replied. “When is the earliest you can send this to us?” I asked the tailor.

“Tomorrow, sir at about lunch time.”

“Good, send it to this address.”

I gave him the address of the Medical Expo as well as the location of our stall.

“Is it done yet? I wanna go home.”

“We still need to buy you decent shoes,” I looked back at the tailor, “please create 2 more suits for him, one in navy pin stripes, and another in burgundy. Send the bill to Universal Laboratories.”

“Very good, sir.”

“Are you seriously making the company pay for the suits?!”

“Of course. They need to make their head researcher look presentable, don’t they?”

“Haaay... whatever... so where are the shoes supposed to be? Hurry up. I wanna go home soon.”

In the end, I was able to buy him two pairs of shoes. A wingtip oxford, and a pair of black leather boots which he insisted upon. He even went home wearing them.

“Now, please go to bed early so you can be at your best at tomorrow’s Expo.”

“What do you mean ‘early’? You waste my time buying useless junk in the mall and now you want me to sleep ‘early’?” he complained.

“It is already 11:58. You took too long choosing your shoes.”

“And just look at how cool they are!” he grinned and placed a foot on top of the couch. “I’ve always wanted to buy myself a pair of Doc Ems, good thing I saw this one!”

“Okay, now it is time to take them off.”

He proceeds to remove his boots and left them at the base of the stairs. I will need to buy a proper shoe rack to place there.

“I’m not sleepy yet, go make me some coffee, there’s some stuff I still need to do in the lab. I just thought of a formula that could help in blood coagulation and...”

“And does that have anything to do with the Expo tomorrow?”

“Ha?” he stared at me, “Of course not, but...”

“How about the SGT kits?”

“Well, no, but – ”

“Then it can wait another day. Store it up first, you can work on it tomorrow, as soon as we get back from the Expo.”

“I’ll only take a while!”

“That’s what you said the other day, and the day before that. You haven’t even slept your required 4 hours for the last three days. It was a good thing that you were able to sleep last night.”

“And now I’m too awake to be not awake!”

“You still need to rest,” I insisted, “You only slept for five and a half hours.”

“See?! That’s more than my required four hours!”

“No. Now go up to bed.”

“Tsk, ang kulit nito...” [how hard headed] he mumbled, but he didn’t fight when I ushered him to his room.

The next day, he was already up when I went to fetch him. There were dark rings around his eyes.

“Did you sleep last night?” I looked at him suspiciously.

“Op kors! That’s what you ordered, remember?”

He simply grinned as I stare at him.

“So, are we leaving? Or are you planning to stare at me all day?”

“Take a bath first. I’ll lend you an undershirt to wear before your suit arrives.”