"I'm home!"
Hearing the sound of keys jingling outside the door, I hopped out of the chair with a large jump. Rushing to the door, I saw the wood-like piece of metal slowly swing open to reveal the silhouette of my father.
Seeing me, he smiled as he placed one hand on my head to ruffle my hair.
"I'm home."
Reaching above my head to stop that mischievous hand, I tucked it to my side as the two of us walked inside. Kicking out my leg, I heard the sound of the door shut behind me.
"So have the three of you gone already?"
Turning around, he locked the door with his key before following me towards the kitchen. At his words, I could feel the bubbly happiness inside of me turn flat, and I sneaked a glance at my mother.
Feeling my silence, he swiftly snapped his head to look at her.
"Where's Oliver?"
My mother sighed and flicked her head towards our room. Following her gaze, he narrowed his eyes for a second before shaking his head.
"Then let's prepare lunch first. Dan, could you help check up on Oliver?"
Patting me on the shoulder, my father then headed over to my mother. I saw him pass the bags to my mother as the both of them disappeared into the kitchen.
Facing the door of our room, I slowly walked towards it and stopped. I lifted my fist, ready to knock them against the metal door, when they suddenly stopped. Pausing, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable standing in front of my own room door.
As if my fists were made of stone, they sank in the air and back to my side. I frowned as I stood still, unsure what to do, until I suddenly heard the lock of the door in front of me.
Meeting a pair of obsidian eyes, I saw a weary smile on those pale lips and couldn't help but ask.
"Are you alright?"
At my words, Oliver's eyes softened, and I could see his smile turn more natural.
"I'm alright. As I said, I just needed some time."
Reaching out his hand, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into the room. Then, locking the door behind me, he let go and walked towards the bed. On it, there was an open paper.
"Are you free tomorrow afternoon?"
Stopping at the foot of the bed, he casually picked up the paper and returned it to the bookshelf.
"Well, technically yes."
Caught off guard, I stuttered a reply to him as I watched his actions.
"I was thinking of visiting the research center at High street tomorrow.'
"Tomorrow..."
Raising both eyebrows, I then narrowed them and made a sound of affirmation.
"...Andrew said he didn't want me to watch."
Turning around to face me, Oliver physically shrugged off the sadness on his shoulders, and the two of us exited the room.
As we opened the door, the savory smell of meat soup assaulted our noses and drew us into the kitchen. There, my mother had prepared all our bowls and was sitting with my father, waiting for us. And when they saw us, they smiled, and my father put down the cup of water in his hands.
Pulling out the chairs, we took a seat. Then, once everyone was seated, we tucked in. The bowl in front of me held a clear but slightly glossy soup. Within it's confines held tiny little floating islands of meat, which, together with the small vegetable leaves, created the illusion of a rich meal.
Using my spoon to scoop a little up, I reminisced about the times when Leo and I would use both hands to cup the bowl and pour the whole thing into our mouths. We would race to see who could finish it first, and afterwards we would praise the dish to high heaven in front of our mother. At that time, the soup was a salty and savory masterpiece.
Now, after the taste in my memory faded, I placed the spoon in my mouth. The soup was definitely tinged with that nostalgic flavor. However, it wasn't as rich or pleasant as in the past.
Staring at the spoon, I gently scooped up another spoonful in silence. This one was even less rich than the previous spoon. As if as the memory faded, the taste did as well.
"This chicken soup is delicious."
Lifting my head, I heard Oliver praise as he continued to drain his bowl. Opposite me, my mother beamed.
"It's one of my best dishes! Several years ago, Oliver and Leo would loudly praise it as they gobbled it up in one breath."
Up until here, the smile on my mother's face became tinged with sadness, and she stopped talking, even though it was obvious that her sentence was not finished.
Reaching out a hand from beside her, my father comforted her.
"It still tastes as great as it did two years ago."
Looking at the two of them flirt in front of us, I focused on the soup and took another spoon. The saltiness seemed to overpower the savory flavor. However, this new taste wasn't too bad.
Then, once we had all finished the dish, Oliver and I retreated to our room. Locking the door, I watched as Oliver made a beeline towards the bookshelf and took out a paper. Then, with his back turned towards me, he continued from where we had left off.
"Someone from the center will be coming to Middle street to pick us up. Also, keep this a secret from Elaine and Van. I don't think they will appreciate us heading to High street."
He sat down on the bed, the paper in his hands.
"We will most likely go after your school ends. Although I don't know where your school is, my contact said that the guy is quite familiar with Middle street so he should know where it is. All we need now is a meeting place."
Finished saying what he had to, Oliver then opened the paper as I thought hard about the perfect palace to have a clandestine meeting near my school. To be fair, there were many alleyways and dark corners near my school. However, it was because those places were so prevalent that staying there for too long would be dangerous. Viewing the area in my mind, I crossed off all the areas that seemed too dangerous, leaving me with only several dozen spots. Then, ruling out the ones that seemed too far or too close, I was finally left with only a handful.
"Since you said he was familiar with Middle street, he should know this area."
Picking what, in my opinion, was the best place, I started speaking, intending to describe the place as best as I could to Oliver so he could relay it to the guy, when a hand holding a notebook appeared in my vision.
"You can write down the general direction here."
Staring at the new and pristine looking notebook, I forced myself to take it and open it. It looked like the notebook he had bought at Middle Market, and all its pages were currently blank.
"You can draw on any page. I was planning on using it for note taking, but my old one still has some space, so it'll be a while until I use it."
Nonchalantly waving his hand, he then went back to reading while I plucked the pencil stabbed through the ring-like spine of the book and sketched out the area I had in mind.
Using the last page, since it was the easiest to tear out, I started with a vague map of Middle street. Let's see. Starting out from our house, the school would be a short distance away. On the area right from us would be the cemetery for MDVA victims, while the cemetery on the left would be the old one. Near the old cemetery was the crossroads that would bypass Frank's house as well as lead to the Middle Middle Market. There was also a crossroad between the new cemetery and our house. Since this area was newer, there was a lower chance of intruding into a predestined meeting spot for some of the less law-abiding residents of Middle street.
It was the perfect spot for a temporary pickup area.
After circling an area between the school and the crossroad, I finished the map and passed it back to Oliver.
Tearing himself away from the paper, he gave it a brief look before pocketing it. And just like that, we spent the rest of the day locked in the room, with Oliver reading his papers while I reviewed the past news books.
The next morning, walking into the classroom with the news book under my arms, I left it on the table unread. Raising an eyebrow, Frank seemed to stare at me for a minute before reaching out to take the book. Beside us, Linel's seat remained empty.
"Are you going?'
Asking lightly, Frank opened the book. And as I turned to him, I saw him skim the title of the first article before flipping to the next.
"No. Andrew said he didn't want Oliver to watch."
Frank paused, his eyes snapping towards me, before he lowered them back to the book. He then closed it. The two of us descended into heavy silence.
"Today..."
Starting out, I paused as my mind whirled to come up with an explanation for not accompanying him to the cemetery today.
"It's alright."
Cutting me off, Frank showed me a pained smile.
"You have something on today, right? I can go on my own."
Sneaking a glance at Linel's seat, Frank then turned his back on me and faced the front. Facing his small back, I wanted to reach my hand out and shake the helplessness out of him. I knew, more than anyone else, how it felt to be a side character while everyone was the main character of their own stories. However, the current me couldn't do anything.
Retrieving my hand, I took out my notebook and whiteboard as the teacher entered the classroom and forced myself to pay attention to the lesson. Then, when the last bell rang, I gave Frank one more glance before rushing out of the school.
Exiting the school, I weaved my way through the large crowd and turned right. After walking a certain distance, I dove into a small alleyway near the MDVA cemetery. There, waiting for me, was Oliver in a long sleeved formal shirt, long pants and a pair of large glasses that obscured his face. Beside him was an adult wearing a neatly cuffed shirt and long formal pants.
"You're here."
Seeing me enter the alleyway, Oliver smiled before turning to the adult. At his words, the adult bent his knees to meet my eye level and showed me a harmless grin.
"Hello Dan, I'm Richard, a part of the research team looking into MDVA."
Stretching out his hand, I observed his unreadable face and accepted his handshake. After shaking hands, he straightened his back.
"Since everyone is here, we can set off."
Raising a hand to push the glasses on his nose, the man turned his head in the direction of High street.
"Wait!"
Stopping the two of them, as I saw two pairs of serious eyes flicker to me, I grabbed Oliver's hand.
"I have something to discuss with Oliver. Could you wait for a while?"
Pulling him aside, I whispered into his ears.
"Would it be alright if I invited a friend as well/"
Looking towards the road leading to the cemetery, I spotted a small figure walking on it. Seeing Frank, I unconsciously shifted us to a place away from his view.
"Hmm. What's their name?'
Making a thoughtful expression, to my surprise, Oliver didn't outright deny my request. Glancing at Frank, I explained our relationship.
"He's my friend in school. His name's Frank, and he had a brother who also had MDVA."
Hearing his name, Oliver's gaze snapped towards me, and a spark of interest lit in his eyes.
"Frank? Will's brother? If it's him, he can come."
Raising my eyebrows, I observed the expression of pleasant surprise on his face. However, remembering Frank's disappointed and self-deprecating look, I gritted my teeth and ignored my suspicions to run towards him.
"Frank!"
Whipping his head around at my voice, I reached him and leaned forward to whisper into his ear about our trip to the research center. As he listened, I could see his eyes widen as they looked behind me towards Oliver and the man who was standing in the distance. Shifting his gaze to me, I told him that Oliver gave the green light for him to tag along.
Eyes sparkling, he opened his arms and pulled me into an embrace. Then, as we parted, I slipped my hand into his. Squeezing my hand, before Frank followed us, he gave one last glance at the cemetery, and I could sense the small conflict within him. However, it was quickly smothered. Turning his back to the cemetery, he grinned as he moved forward.
"Let's go!"