'If I had sent that message an hour earlier, nothing would've happened.' Varian shook his head in silence.
As he noted how his absence affected his friends, he heard a very soft murmur. "W-Where?"
Whoosh!
Varian's figure blurred and dashed to the bedroom.
The sheer speed broke the furniture in the room.
Without heeding any care, Varian stepped in and saw Kyle slowly sitting on the bed.
His body was now halfway between a skeleton and a human.
With each passing second, the healing potion continued to work its miracle and revert him to a functional human.
Kyle didn't have any of those things in mind. After realizing he was alive and in his bedroom, his eyes widened and he gasped.
"My log papers!" He clutched the quilt and was about to move.
Thanks to the newfound energy in his body, he almost did.
Pa!
A few papers slapped him on the face and Kyle touched his stinging cheek. He was about to yell at the attacker, but his gaze was attracted by the papers.
Leafing through them one after another, he sighed in relief and patted his chest. "Good. Good."
It was only then that he realized his situation. Someone entered his home, treated him, and even saw his papers…
"Prof—?!" Kyle tentatively called as he turned around.
It was likely his mentor and professor who was worried about him and entered the building.
The problem was—the caretaker bot should've already informed the security of the intrusion.
Even if it was a professor, intruding into someone's research area was a crime.
But halfway through, Kyle's eyes widened and he froze in shock.
A handsome young man stood at the door with crossed arms as he looked at him with absolute despise.
He was clad in a plain white shirt and black pants. Just by standing there, he emitted an aura of aloofness.
If he didn't know better, Kyle would've thought he was a Young Master.
"Varian!" Kyle yelled in joy. "I am not dreaming, am I? Are you really alive? Hahaha! I knew it. Only good guys like me die early—"
Bam!
A pile of papers slammed on him and halted his endless questions.
Kyle threw them to the side and staggered to Varian with his still weak legs. He scanned Varian from head to toe and said in a weak voice.
"Brother, you have no idea how worried I was. We're not sleeping without getting drun—"
Before Kyle reached him, Varian threw another pile of papers at him.
Bam!
And another.
Bam!
And another.
"Damn! Why the hell did you bring up all those papers? Wait, why are you throwing them at me?" Kyle said with resentment as he stood in the pile of papers that reached his calf.
Right after that, he shook his head and smiled brightly once again. "Whatever, life was hell. I want to get out and eat some good food. My treat, let's go!"
Varian finally spoke. "Idiot."
"Huh?" Kyle was taken aback before shaking his head. "My IQ is infinitely more than yours."
"You both are idiots!" Veins popped up on Varian's forehead as he growled. "Why the fuck did you both remove your comms? You believed I died?"
Kyle's face paled and he tried to force a smile. "I waited for many days…"
Varian swiped his comm and showed the message he sent. "If you just waited a day, no, an hour, you would've received the news."
"You must be kidding!" Kyle rubbed his eyes and grabbed his comm from Varian's hands.
After finding the unread message from Varian, his shoulders slumped. "Fuck! I am such an idiot!"
"Yes, you are!" Varian gritted his teeth. "IQ my ass. Even Maya did the same thing."
"Maya…" Kyle froze for a moment before muttering. "How is she?"
Varian took deep breaths to control himself. "Just a bit better than you."
"So she's fine." Kyle felt like a weight was lifted off his chest.
"We'll talk after you make up with her," Varian said and grabbed him abruptly.
"Wait! I'm just in my pajamas! This is the worst patch off!" Kyle's protests were ignored as Varian carried him out of his villa and soon stepped into Maya's villa.
"Young Master Varian?…Young Master Kyle?" An old woman looked at them in surprise.
She was Maya's maid and the sole person responsible for Maya not being another skeleton-like Kyle. She took care of Maya's daily needs without intervening in her work.
Varian knew her as Kyle dragged him to Maya's home when he had to meet her parents.
He nodded at her.
Sabina opened the door and smiled. "Please come in. Young Miss is waiting."
Varian looked at the silent Kyle and sighed. Stretching his arm, he threw Kyle in.
Boom!
Kyle landed exactly in front of Maya. He looked at her pale face and sunken red eyes.
'I hurt her back then…now what should I do? She must be hating me r—'
"Euk?" Kyle was dumbfounded as Maya threw herself into his arms.
"Woo~ I didn't know you missed me so much that you didn't even take care of yourself properly!" Maya sobbed as she hugged him tighter.
'Huh?' Kyle was taken aback but fortunately, he didn't raise the question.
"I-I should've tried to understand you better. You lost your best friend and your girlfriend broke up with you in anger.
B-But at least take care of yourself! I-I don't need you to write those poems missing me." Maya's voice turned weak as her face flushed. Any male would've had his heart race looking at the tear-stricken beauty.
Kyle's heart raced for a different reason. 'Wait, poems? Even if you put a gun on my head, I can't write anything resembling a poem!'
Maya didn't notice and continued. "I-I wasn't really angry…but you didn't contact me after that day.
I thought you were engrossed in your research and forgot about me."
'You're almost right.' Kyle patted her on the back and closed his eyes.
"But it turns out…you were feeling guilty of saying those mean words…so you avoided me." With those words, Maya broke down completely as tears left her eyes like a dam was burst open.
"Me…I just wanted to numb myself with research. I was hurt…I wanted to avoid you so much that I didn't even use my comm and forbade Sabina from saying anything about the outside world." Maya choked as she muttered those words.
"It's fine. We all make mistakes." Kyle patted her back, realizing that she had thinned down considerably.
They stayed in the position for a few minutes before Kyle felt his legs go numb. He started a topic. "Varian is—"
"Alive." Maya cut him off and giggled. "This is the best day. I am so happy."
Then she patted her forehead and said. "Oh wait, is Varian still outside? He only stayed here for five minutes. He gave all your poems before leaving saying that he'll bring you back. Those poems, I-I like them…I will treasure them."
Saying so, Maya stood up and walked towards the door.
Kyle took the chance to grab a few papers from the pile beside the couch.
"Our bond is stronger than nuclear force,
Our reach is greater than gravity,
Whenever I see you, Electromagnetic force courses through my veins.
Our love is the unifying theory."
'Wait, what?' Kyle's face alternated between a mix of surprise and disbelief. 'How could there be such a great poem?'
Then he grabbed another sheet.
"They say light is particle and wave,
I say you are my light and darkness,
Even with refraction…"
'Damn! Write that down! Write that down!' Kyle started copying the poems with his comm.
Varian entered inside as Maya kept chirping questions.
Inside his mind, Boo's curious voice sounded.
'Master, is she really gonna believe those poems are written by Kyle?'
'Yes.' Varian rolled his eyes inwardly while he ruffled Maya's hair.
'No way! Besides, even a ghost like me doesn't dare to call them poems. I never knew you asked me to compile them for this use.' Boo's trembling voice sounded.
'Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.' Varian raised his eyes and said with a profound expression.
'Is it okay to lie to Maya?'
'Maya will soon find out it wasn't Kyle writing those poems.' Varian said as he sat on the couch facing Kyle and Maya.
'Then wouldn't Maya get angry?'
'It'll be alright by then. Maya is not actually forgiving him because he wrote those things. She wants to forgive him and she found that he wrote those things.' He smiled.
Varian said to both Boo inside and Kyle and Maya outside:
"Sometimes, to mend a relationship, all you have to do is to take the first step."
He didn't know then…that first step for him was much, much harder than he could've imagined.