"Wow!!!" Lena beams, practically glowing with excitement as she hops down from the edge of his desk, her smile stretching wide across her face.
It's a fashion party, he reasons silently, and I'm assigning my students a project on early 1900s fashion. Checking out the costumes there might actually help with my lectures. Besides… I do feel a little guilty for skipping it the past two years, even after getting invited. This year… maybe it's time I finally go.
Truthfully, the last event Lena invited him to—a movie premiere—hadn't interested him in the slightest. He enjoys films, sure, but the idea of attending a crowded premiere with people he didn't know, alongside a colleague he barely considered more than an acquaintance, hadn't been appealing.
But this fashion party is different.
Everyone in the department knows about it. Hosted annually by the Harrison Fashion Group, it's a major event in their field. He'd received invitations both last year and the year before, but couldn't attend either time due to a covert mission tied to his other, far less conventional profession.
This year, though, he has no scheduled operations. No intel drops. No surveillance. No last-minute calls from his handler.
Just teaching, a little breathing room… and maybe, finally, a reason to say yes.
"Well, I see that you want some alone time," Lena says, her tone light but laced with something playful. She flashes a flirtatious smile, tilting her head ever so slightly as she lifts her hand in a lazy wave. "So, I'll leave you to it."
Without waiting for a response, she turns on her heel, her heels clicking softly against the polished floor as she saunters out of Julian's room.
Julian watches her go, maintaining a composed expression. As she reaches the doorway, he offers, "Have a great evening," his voice even, courteous—an effort to remain polite, though his tone stays carefully neutral.
Lena pauses for just a second, as if hoping for something more, but when nothing else follows, she simply tosses her hair back and disappears down the hallway.
Julian exhales quietly once the door clicks shut. The silence that settles in her absence feels oddly comforting.
"Okay, I might as well go now too, since Eugene's gonna come soon to my place," Julian mutters to himself, feeling the weight of the conversation lingering in the air.
He stands up from the desk, his chair scraping softly against the floor, and walks toward the door. The silence in the room feels oddly heavier now, as if the unspoken thoughts are finally catching up to him.
Before he exits, he glances back one last time at the neat, dimly lit space. He turns back and opens the door, stepping into the quiet hallway as his footsteps echo softly.
That night, Grace sits at her desk in her softly lit bedroom, the warm summer air drifting in through the open window. The breeze carries with it the kind of stillness that makes everything feel a little more tender, a little more thoughtful. Her laptop glows faintly in the otherwise dim room as she scrolls through a file—an unfinished novel she started long ago.
It's a story born from a dream.
A man saves her. The setting looks like something out of the early 1900s—horse-drawn carriages, cobblestone roads, a blur of smoke and panic. And the man… The man who pulls her from danger looks exactly like Julian. Every time she rereads it, she notices new details that mirror what later happens in Mellany—especially the street where it all unfolds.
The guy who saved me looks exactly like Julian… and even the street where I was saved—it's the same.
She tilts her head, frowning. It doesn't make sense. The dream comes first. The novel begins before everything that happens in real life.
It's been a while since she last worked on it. But tonight, something about it calls her back. She's always loved writing—her whole being softens at the thought of stories—but this one feels different. She wants the dream to guide her, not her imagination. Something about letting it unfold naturally feels sacred.
I hope I can have that dream again… she thinks, almost whispering inside her head.
Then again, maybe not. That dream leaves her in tears. She wakes up sobbing, heart racing, chest aching with something she can't name. The vividness of it is too much.
Still, she can't stop herself from opening a browser window and heading to the university's faculty directory. Her fingers hesitate, then type: Julian Lenter.
His page appears instantly. She clicks on the photo, zooming in. He looks calm and sharp, intelligent and distant all at once. There's a quiet charisma about him—like he knows more than he ever says aloud.
"He must be so popular…" she murmurs, half-smiling, then quickly shakes her head. What am I doing? she thinks. This is ridiculous.
Just then, the front door opens and closes. The sound of familiar footsteps echoes from the hallway.
Mom's home.
Grace gets up and rushes to the door.
"Mom!" she calls.
Monica is kicking off her shoes when she sees her daughter and smiles, though the fatigue shows in her eyes.
"Hi, Grace. Still up?"
"I was just working on my novel," Grace says, walking with her as they head toward the master bedroom. "How's it going with the fraud case? Are you collecting more evidence?"
Monica gives a tired but determined nod. "Yes. Still gathering everything we need."
Grace wants to tell her to fight harder, to push back against the lies and deceit—but she can see how drained her mom is. So instead, she simply lets her go.
Then, as Monica is about to close the bedroom door, something nudges at Grace's mind.
"Oh, and Mom—" she calls.
Monica turns, eyebrows raised. "Yeah?"
Grace opens her mouth… then pauses. "...Never mind."
Monica smiles gently. "If there's anything you want to talk about, I'm here," she says, walking back to give her a soft pat on the shoulder before disappearing into the room.
Grace stands still, alone again in the hallway, her thoughts circling back to Julian.
It feels silly to bring him up now…
Normally, she tells her mom everything. Every little feeling, every weird coincidence. But this—this is different. She doesn't even know what to say about Julian Lenter. That he's the man from her dream? That he looks exactly like the man in her novel? That he saves her in real life, in a scene nearly identical to something she's already written?
What is it that I can't say? she asks herself. I already told her about the man who saved me in Mellany. So why not tell her it's him?
But still, something holds her back.
She can't explain it.
All she knows is that talking about Julian doesn't feel simple.
It doesn't feel easy.
It feels… heavy. Like the truth of it is still waiting to unfold.
In the brightly lit studio, its clean and pleasantly well-designed interior reflecting Julian's taste, Julian and his best friend Eugene sit across from each other at the dining table. They cheer their non-alcoholic drinks together.
"Congratulations, Eugene," Julian says, a soft, genuine smile on his face as he looks at his best friend.
"Thanks, June!" Eugene beams, grinning widely. He immediately downs his drink in one shot.
"Well, it's all thanks to you that I was able to meet my girlfriend, Susan," Eugene adds with a grin, raising his glass high.
Julian smiles, reminiscing for a moment. He and Susan went to graduate school together around ten years ago when Julian was already deep into his career as a fashion designer. During their ten-year reunion for grad school colleagues, Julian had invited Eugene over, and that's when Susan and Eugene first met. The two had instantly clicked, and now, after about six months of dating, Eugene plans to propose.
"Well, as a fashion designer, since you have a much better artistic sense than me, how should I decorate the place where I'm going to propose to her?" Eugene asks, his smile pure and full of excitement.
Julian chuckles lightly. "I'm no good at it, since I've never proposed myself before."
Eugene laughs, shaking his head. "But still! You've been to so many fashion events and parties. You've got a much better sense of these things than I do. Please, give me some advice."
Julian chuckles again and reaches for his phone.
"In that case, I can show you some reference pictures I saved before you came."
He scrolls through the images, looking for the ones that might give Eugene the inspiration he's looking for. Eugene watches with genuine admiration, impressed by his best friend's thoughtfulness.
"You're always beyond my expectations!" Eugene exclaims, eyes wide as he looks at the pictures. "Wow, these are amazing..."
For the next half hour, they dive deep into the plans for the room decoration, discussing every detail with enthusiasm. The creative energy in the room is palpable, and Eugene seems more excited than ever.
After a while, Eugene turns to Julian, a bit more serious. "I'm sorry I've been going on and on about my proposal. But how was your mission at Mellany? Did everything go well, June?"
The mention of Mellany brings Grace to Julian's mind.
He's been doing his best not to think about her for the last thirty minutes while being with Eugene, but now, she's back in his thoughts.
"Well... yeah. It was all good. Everything was completed as planned," Julian answers, his voice a little more distant than usual.
"Great, that's great," Eugene says, but then his expression shifts. He's always been able to sense when his best friend is holding something back.
"There was something else, wasn't there?" Eugene asks, his tone knowing.