Kai had already taken several punches. He didn't fight back, deliberately letting Gama beat him because he'd spotted a CCTV camera on the street.

"You're the one who sent him the flowers, aren't you?! Why?! Do you feel guilty?! What did you do?!" Gama shouted furiously.

"I didn't do anything, you crazy bastard!" Kai snapped back. But Gama could tell he was panicking. His eyes kept darting around.

"That fake class, right?" Gama sneered. He grabbed Kai by the bangs, forcing his head up and making him look at him.

"You're the one who tricked Tera, aren't you? Along with that teacher."

"That Alpha teacher?" Gama pressed Hueningkai again.

"And if I say 'yes,' what exactly are you going to do?" Hueningkai challenged.

"You're going to slam me into the ground? Go ahead. I'll get myself examined, then report you to the police. And there's a CCTV camera right there. So if you keep using those fists on me, don't expect to see him again."

Gama followed Hueningkai's gaze and noticed what he was looking at.

The street CCTV camera above them.

Gama clicked his tongue and let go of Hueningkai.

"Destructive Beta," Gama muttered sarcastically.

"If you don't hit me, I won't report this. But if you hit me again, don't expect to see him ever again."

Gama chuckled.

He let Kai go.

"I don't make promises. If his condition is that bad, then you should suffer just like he does," Gama said, leaning in until his mouth was right beside Kai's ear.

"If I end up in prison because you report me, then you should go to prison too. I might be holding a card that can bring you down, just like you might have one that can bring me down."

Kai clenched his fists when he heard that.

****

"You can't go in looking like that."

Gama's trip had been pointless.

He was turned away because his clothes and body were filthy, and he wasn't allowed into Tera's room. All he could do was wait outside in despair. He'd come here on impulse without preparing anything.

He didn't even have a change of clothes.

Feeling sorry for him, Tera's parents talked it over. Tera's father, who was staying at the hospital, had a spare change of clothes and handed them to Gama so he could clean himself up.

Gama had thought this was where his struggle would end, but Tera's father was surprisingly considerate.

Gama accepted the clothes and suddenly broke down, hugging Tera's father's legs as he cried.

"Hey, kid. Stop that. Go change," Tera's father said.

****

After finally being allowed inside, Gama didn't dare walk any farther, let alone approach Tera.

He only looked at him for a moment before crouching down and leaning against the wall.

"I didn't know it would end up like this. If only I'd stopped him from the beginning. I trusted people too much. I should've checked," Gama said, squeezing his eyes shut as he sobbed.

He was carrying too many regrets.

"This is my fault. He refused at first, but this is still my fault because I convinced him," Gama whispered again.

Tera's parents didn't understand what Gama was talking about.

"How can you blame yourself for an accident caused by his own carelessness?"

That wasn't what Gama wanted to hear from Tera's parents.

"WHAT IF IT WASN'T HIS CARELESSNESS?!" Gama screamed.

His body trembled as he immediately covered his mouth.

"I'm sorry," Gama said, lowering his head.

He was overwhelmed with emotion.

"We only know what happened from one side of the story. What about Tera's side? We haven't heard it yet," Gama explained, his voice now barely above a whisper.

He tried to calm himself down, but his sobs were impossible to hide whenever he spoke.

His guilt was overwhelming.

"I don't even know the details. All they told me was that the class was fake. Tera went upstairs not to meet his class, but because of someone. Because someone told him to."

Gama clenched his hands.

"What do you mean?" Tera's mother asked as she approached him.

"Is that really what happened? Didn't the police hand over their findings about the fingerprints yesterday? They said Tera had grabbed the stairs before he fell, didn't they?" She glanced at her husband.

"Maybe the part about him running down the corridor is true. But why was he panicking? Why was he running? Why didn't anyone ask?"

Gama's words left them speechless.

They had been too willing to believe the explanation they had been given, without considering that where there was smoke, there was fire.

"..." Tera's parents fell silent.

"Tera isn't a coward, is he?" Gama asked again.

"Don't you love your son? Let me count how long he's been lying here. Four months. I haven't seen him for four months, and he's been lying here this entire time?"

"That's a damn long time!"

Gama couldn't hold it in anymore.

"He still looks like he's barely hanging on. He's not getting better."

"You two are acting like you're deliberately turning a blind eye because of the compensation money, aren't you? Was it really that much? More than a retired Marine's pension?"

Gama directed the jab at Tera's father.

He didn't actually know what Tera's father did for a living. He'd simply taken a wild guess.

But judging by his reaction, it seemed he'd hit a nerve.

"Enough!" Tera's father shouted.

"Take care of him for a moment."

Tera's father pulled his wife by the hand. They stepped outside to talk, but Gama could still hear them.

'Should we contact Mr. Dev again?'

'What if he's right? Maybe we've been too calm because the compensation money was so large.'

Gama reached out and touched one of Tera's hands.

He slept so much.

"Is sleeping fun? You're awake now, aren't you?" Gama asked curiously.

He played with Tera's fingers, but when he received no response, he pulled the chair closer and rested his head against the side of the bed.

His lips trembled.

He started crying again, rubbing at his eyes. His nose was running from all the crying, so he wiped it with his own sleeve.

"Teraa," Gama murmured, glancing at him.

"Why aren't you talking? You're awake, aren't you? You can see me, right? It's me."

Gama finally became frustrated.

He saw Tera open his eyes, but Tera barely moved.

His lips seemed to move.

Then his hand reached up and touched Gama's face.

"I can't hear you," Gama said, confused.

"Why are you feeling my face?"

Was his vision really that blurry?

Tera couldn't clearly see the person in front of him. He could only make out his silhouette and the movements of Gama's body.

But he couldn't make out the details.

What did his face look like?

Gama placed Tera's hand against his cheek and helped him feel his features.

"This protruding part is my nose."

"These slightly narrow things are my eyes. I have a little eyelid, unlike you."

"This sharp jaw is mine."

"This is my hair."

"This is my mouth. Thin, right? It's different from yours. Yours are pretty full."

"And this is my ear."

Gama smiled.

Tera traced the curve of his smile with his fingers, then smiled too, his face still pale.

Gama kept hold of Tera's right hand, leaving it against his cheek so Tera could continue touching him.

Then Gama's eyes accidentally fell on a flower.

It was the same kind of flower that had always been sent to Tera's desk.

"He always gets here first."