n

n

nShould he even be thinking this much about it?

nThe answer was probably no, but then again, humans do find it rather hard to just stop thinking about something just because they felt like it.

nMaybe it really was as simple as that.

nThe other party was sincere and Grace was willing to become friends with her because she felt a natural affinity towards the other person.

nThen what about him?

nAbout these two points... they should be even more obvious for Noah, right?

nAnd since both sincerity and affinity were there, was there a reason for them to not be friends?

nIt wasn't as if circumstances were preventing them.

nMaybe Noah and Grace did have similar thoughts after all.

nAs their professions encroached on the entertainment industry and their age was on the rather young side, it wasn't wrong to say that both of them found it somewhat hard to make friends.

nNot only that, but it was in fact even harder to find people that they wanted to make friends with.

nThey didn't go to school frequently enough to be able to establish a strong circle and with even just a little bit of their fame, it was inevitable that there would be people who would be jealous of them.

nJealousy, envy, two-facedness.

nThese factors all made it hard for them to make real friends at school.

nIt wasn't as if there were just one or two people who smiled at them to their faces and spoke behind their backs after they turned around.

nNot that they wanted to make friends with such people.

nThey had standards after all. :)

nTheir not-so-hidden family background didn't help ease these factors either.

nFrom that standpoint, they actually had it worse than Emilin, they had to face the scheming world since young, and not because they wanted to either.

nIt was still okay for Noah, who adapted in a somewhat mellower way, making it easier for him to get along with others naturally.

nBut for Grace, just from the fact that her acting skills were so superb, you could tell that she didn't have it easy.

nThough she got along with people just fine, maybe even better than Noah did, none of that would feel real.

nAt least not to her.

nIf they were to count the number of trustworthy and reliable friends they had, it would probably still be that same handful.

nMaybe Emilin didn't know it now, but though these two interacted with others a lot, it wasn't as if they had a whole lot more experience making friends than she did.

nAnd by friends, it means that plastic friendships don't count.

nAt this point, Noah felt like, perhaps he should become more serious about this friendship.

nIt wasn't every day you would meet someone like Emilin after all.

nThere was no real way to explain it, but it just felt right.

n

"Then what about the question I asked you?

"

nGrace pointed out how she had answered the other person's question, but her question, which had been asked first was still left unanswered.

nOf course, if Noah didn't want to talk about it, then Grace wouldn't push it either, but if there was something wrong, Grace would also like to know whether it was something that could be helped or if it just took some more time.

nNoah thought about it for a bit.

n

"Nothing.

"

nNothing will be wrong.

nNot now, and not in the future.

nIt wasn't as if Noah didn't realize how important this friendship was to Emilin, it was written all over her face.

nIt was completely inappropriate in his mind if he were to ruin something so important for a mere fleeting emotion.

nSince the other party had already put in all her sincerity, wouldn't it be appropriate if he reciprocated?

nThere was no need to make something pure like this, so complicated.

nAnd so Noah made up his mind.

nHe was going to discard these emotions that he didn't understand, emotions that he didn't need to understand.

nAll that remained would be a precious friendship that he hoped to be able to survive the storms of time.

nA hope that all three of them shared even though none of them said it.

nNoah's

"nothing

" made Grace sigh.

nShe realized that this was him telling her that he would solve it himself, that he would deal with the problem before it became a problem.

nSadly, she knew what he meant, and she also knew that her intervention wouldn't be of any help.

nShe could only hope, as Noah himself did, that it was in fact a fleeting emotion.

nEven though the three of them hadn't spent a whole lot of time together, at least not compared to those yearlong friendships, this short amount of time made Grace realize why people say that a friendship can't be measured in years.

nIt really can't.

nAnd she also knew how complicated things could get if they really wanted to.

nNow Noah wasn't the only one with conflicting emotions.

nGrace too didn't know how to feel.

nThere was an appreciation for Noah's considerations for Emilin's will.

nBut at the same time, there was also a deep heartache for Noah who had to make such a choice.

nA throbbing heartache.

nBut there was one point in which Grace greatly differed from Noah.

nUnlike Noah who contemplated and processed this matter, Grace, who didn't know, no longer put it to heart.

nIn her mind, if she were to ever find out what it was, what she was supposedly feeling this day as well as the connotations of such emotions, then that day would come, and she would find out.

nAnything else, any other time she put on thinking about this felt superfluous.

n***

nThe conversation ended there, and while Emilin was still not here, Noah went back to playing his game while Grace organized her tools.

nEven though the room had descended in silence, it was by no means awkward.

nThere seemed to be some tacit understanding amidst this silence, one that told the other that they were there so that they wouldn't feel too lonely.

n

"Where do you think Emilin went off to? Do you think she fell into the toilet?

"

nNoah's questions broke the silence.

n

"Hey, don't jinx her. Who knows, maybe she just doesn't want to see your unsightly face right now,

" Grace countered.

n

"Why don't you speak for yourself eh? If I'm ugly, then I'm pretty sure that you'd be insulting more than 70% of the world's population of males,

" Noah was being modest.

n

"Well, it's saying something if you're only comparing yourself to other trash. And don't you mean to say that there a literally hundreds of millions of other people who are better looking than you?

"

nIt's just that he kept forgetting that there was no use being modest in front of a shameless person.

nOf course, it wasn't to say that Grace's rebuttal was wrong.

nIt was just that Noah's speech was like swiss cheese, full of holes.

nGrace just had to choose which one she would rather poke at.

n

"There's something called temperament, okay? Amidst those that are better looking than me, how many have my temperament?

"

n

"Not everything is about looks, okay?

" Said the supermodel.

nNoah wouldn't admit that he had misspoken, and so the exchange just went on.

nAnd Grace had to admit that he wasn't wrong, but that wouldn't prevent her from poking at another hole.

n

"You mean to say how many are better off than you? Then I guess you can indeed reduce that number; it just doesn't take away from the fact that it's still in the millions.

"

nWho could determine what temperament was better anyway?

nAnd just as they were about to break out from a squabble into an all-out fight, the door was knocked.

n*knock* *knock*

nEmilin didn't wait for the other person to call her in, simply turning the knob after knocking.

nIt was as if her previous knocks were just a warning that she was about to come in.

nGrace had already long told Emilin that she didn't need to knock to come in, but she still had such a habit, so it couldn't be helped.

nAnd it was only now that Grace realized the importance of such a habit.

n

"How was it?

"

nGrace almost slapped herself.

nWhat kind of dumb-ass question was that to ask someone who had just come from the bathroom?

nIt was a slip of the tongue in a moment of anxiousness due to quick changes in her emotional fluctuations.

nNoah realized this too and he almost burst into laughter before receiving Grace's glare that told him he was a dead man if he made a peep.

nAnd yes, he was about to laugh at her, not with her.

n

"It was good…

" Emilin said skeptically, not truly paying attention to the contents of the question she had just answered, before observing the two people in front of her.

n

"Were you guys fighting again?

"

nEmilin asked with question marks in her voice.

nBut the moment she saw the backs of the two personages straightening, both of them looking at her as if they were the most obedient children in the world, she was sure.

nShe was sure that they were most likely scolding the other party's 8 generations of ancestors.

n

"So? Were you fighting?

"

nEmilin asked, but this time, it wasn't much of a question, and both of them knew it well.

nThey knew that Emilin knew, and so, they simultaneously thought of the best plan of action without the need to consult each other, and so they answered at the same time with honesty, the absolute best policy!

n

"No.

"

n

"No.

"

nThe best policy after denial of all charges.

n