n

n

nHuh? Who settled the bill?

" Noah asked in confusion.

nNoah knew clearly that Mason wouldn't do so, which meant that Lisa wouldn't either.

nThere was also simply no way that Mason's employees could afford such a meal, nor would they do so even if they could spare a few extra thousand dollars, which left Noah with only Owen, Margo, and Emilin.

nNoah didn't think it was Emilin considering this had nothing to do with her and Owen didn't seem to be the type, but then again, the waitress did say it was settled hours ago, maybe they had done it when Owen first came in with Margo.

n

"Oh, table 4? I know who it was,

" one of the waiters next to the waitress that had been previously speaking to Noah said.

n

"It was that girl, I think she was going to the bathroom,

" the waiter said.

n'Was it really Lady Margo?' Noah thought contemplatively.

nAfter having eaten a meal with her, Noah realized that Ms. Lenin wasn't as business-like as he had originally thought, at least not all the time. It was too serious to call her Miss Lenin and she didn't like being called Margrette.

nLady Margo would have to do.

n

"I was really shocked you know?

" He said with a rueful sigh.

n

"She looked to be in her teens but then she pulled out her credit card and straight-up paid for double of what the tab was then, saying that if the price went to that point then so be it, and if not, we could just keep the rest as a tip.

" The waiter clearly sighed, as if reminiscing the good old days.

n

"I say, are rich kids all like this these days?

" The waiter couldn't help but be someone jealous, but not envious.

nInwardly he thought Emilin looked super cool at that instant in time.

nThe waiter spoke in passing, not knowing that his simple words would be making big waves in Noah's heart.

nThe waitress

/cashier standing beside him suddenly elbowed him. It wasn't good to talk bad about good customers in front of them. This was the basics of the basics, which the waiter may have forgotten considering how nice Emilin was, or at least her image when giving them this huge tip.

nWell, to be fair, Emilin wouldn't have cared.

nIt was also then that Noah realized that it wasn't Margo.

nNo matter how young she looked, Margo wouldn't be mistaken for a teenager, she had a mature charm to her that wouldn't have allowed for such a misunderstanding to develop.

n

"So it was her after all,

" Noah muttered as if he had thought so all along, which was not the case, but forgive him. We all have moments like that.

nNoah didn't know what to think.

nHis bill was just paid by a young girl. Why did she do it?

nNoah suddenly lifted his chin with a little jump. He looked around to realize that the others had already left, including Emilin, something that he had already known, but had only processed at this moment.

nNoah didn't hesitate to ditch Mason and Lisa, who stayed behind, seemingly with other matters to deal with at the restaurant other than the bill.

nNoah moved and hopped like a rabbit, straight down the staircase, which thankfully no one was currently at.

n'Please let her still be here,' he thought.

nIt was clear that most people had already left.

nNoah could see that the outside of the restaurant wasn't particularly crowded anymore. Most of Mason's employees were already dying to leave and so they did.

nIt was quite late anyway, right around midnight, and considering they had been eating since 6 PM, that was already quite an accomplishment.

nSpending a fourth of the day eating that is.

nNoah opened the door to the outside, and to his right, he saw the familiar, yet unfamiliar silhouette of a femme fatale.

nDespite not having completely matured yet, she stood tall and beautiful. But what was more striking about her was her aura and her face.

nIt wasn't an exaggeration to say that when she became an adult, she would likely be able to ruin nations with her beauty alone.

nNoah simply couldn't understand how he hadn't noticed before, but now, he couldn't look away anymore.

nEmilin noticed Noah's arrival and turned her head to look at him.

n

"Why did you pay the bill?

" Noah blurted out before anything else.

nThat definitely wasn't the question he wanted to ask the most at the moment, but it was the only one he could safely ask without the fear of completely embarrassing himself.

nHe didn't know why, but he just had that feeling, plus he was feeling somewhat impulsive at the moment.

nThe mood was strange, the lights outside were dim and a lamp post was not too far away, but not too close either. Behind them, through the clear windows, they could still see the light from the inside coming out, but that was also a distance away.

n

"I ate the most did I not?

" Emilin questioned as if that were her answer.

nAn answer that Noah hadn't quite expected.

n

"I guess?

" Noah answers sheepishly with a question of his own.

n

"But I was supposed to pay the bill you know?

"

nIt wasn't even about the bill anymore as Noah's frustration extended way past that.

nHe had too many questions to ask, and not enough courage to ask a single one besides the only one that didn't even matter to him that much.

nSo he could only beat around the bush like this, it was quite a sad moment for his ego.

n

"I know.

" Emilin threw yet another concise answer.

n

"But I wanted to pay. Is that not okay?

" Emilin innocently commented.

nShe really did want to pay for this meal, quite a lot at that. Even if this were nothing but yet another passing day for anyone else, this day, this dinner, it was important to Emilin.

nShe wanted to remember it.

nNoah once again didn't know what would be the appropriate way to respond.

nHow could he face Emilin, who so purely asked such a simple question, while he thought of all this and all that and everything in between?

nIt struck his heartstrings.

nIt was like someone asking him, 'Can't I do something just because I want to?', no, it was more like a statement, a statement in a form of a question, like all the ones before it, she was saying, 'I'm doing it because I want to. I do everything and anything I want to as long as I like it.'

nAnd that pulled at Noah's heartstrings.

n

"Okay.

"

nNoah replied.

n

"It's. Okay.

"

nEmilin could tell if Noah was in a daze, or simply processing something, but either way, she gave him his necessary space.

n

"Then are we okay?

" Emilin asked hesitantly. She was talking about the photo shoot thing.

n

"No, we're not okay,

" Noah said seriously.

n

"Wh-why are we not okay?

" Emilin calmed herself down to placate her emotions.

nThough she found it a silly hope, she had hoped to become Noah's friend someday.

nEmilin had done her research.

nHe was around her age and that photoshoot had led her to believe that they were similar, at least to some extent.

nAnd they always did say, if you're similar, you have common topics, and if you have common topics, you have things to talk about to each other and that was somewhat of an 'end all be all' for Emilin.

nBut now she felt somewhat delusional.

nShe felt like she may have been delusional.

nTruly delusional.

nClearly, they were very different. Noah got along well with people, he could talk to whoever he wanted to! Why the hell would he want to be friends with a loner like her.

n

"Of course we're not okay? How could we possibly be okay?

" Noah questioned, one after another, sending spears to stab at Emilin's weak heart.

nSending her brain, the signals that told her that she needed to rebuild and strengthen the walls around her fragile heart.

nThe ones that had taken her years to chip around.

nAt this point, she was already questioning herself.

nIf she could really do it.

nIf she could really make friends with how she was, and if she could, should she really make friends, and make them suffer by being with her?

nAfter all, she was a nobody who was probably not even supposed to be here.

nShe didn't belong in this world, she didn't belong in this plane, she didn't belong with other people.

nEmilin wasn't supposed to be someone whom others would care about.

nShe was someone who was supposed to fade into the background, into the scenery.

nSomeone who you would forget after passing the streets, someone who could have sat on the sidewalk as a homeless child for months, and yet someone who you could still forget after having seen a thousand times and walked past another two thousand.

nThat's what she was, someone to be forgotten.

nSomeone to be dismissed.

nShe almost felt bad for her parents, her god damn loving family who was stuck with someone as messed up inside as her.

nFeeling bad for them because she was way too selfish to even have the thoughts of letting them go.

nEmilin clutched her hands into a fist so hard her palm started to bleed and her eyes even harder to prevent herself from tearing up.

nShe was a mess.

nEmilin Wei, cold ice princess of the overworld, poker face supreme, Master of those who didn't know her, and coward among cowards, was a ditzy girl, who was a mess.

nNoah seemed to have said something else after that, but Emilin, with her lowered head and eyes, shut closed to prevent her tears from falling hadn't heard a thing.

nThat is until Noah couldn't take it anymore and shook her arms to get her to listen.

n

"Why can't I get you out of my god damn mind!

" He shouted.

nAnd so Emilin was blown out of her cycle of self-depreciation and into a tsunami of confusion.

n