She looked at Aeren, pondered the meaning of "control," and looked at him again. Aeren was staring at her from very close up. She put her hand on his head, pushed him away from her face, and looked at him again.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Hmm, nothing. I came to look around," Aeren said with no reaction.
She looked at him again and thought, He looks much thinner than before and has black marks all over his body. Was he beaten up by someone because of his appearance, like me?
She felt a sense of familiarity and wanted to stay with Aeren when he asked her a strange question.
"Are you single?" Aeren asked.
She was startled by his question but calmed herself down. She looked at herself—she looked the same as usual—then stared at Aeren, who looked a little strange but somewhat handsome in her eyes.
"Yes. Are you going to ask me to marry you?"
Aeren looked at her and was about to say something when a couple approached their spot. Someone called Aeren's name.
"Aeren? Is that you?"
Aeren turned his head to the woman who called his name and stared at her, but couldn't tell who she was.
He didn't remember anyone who had lived in his past. Aeren only remembered his knowledge about doctor and his small step toward a death cure. The death cure was his first step toward finding freedom, so he remembered that.
Aeren had been tortured so much by the ghosts that he had forgotten other things.
Aeren didn't even remember his family's faces. He only knew the burned-face woman because she had saved him during his first attempt to seek knowledge about death.
Aeren looked at her with confusion and said, "Yes, I'm Aeren."
She looked at Aeren and felt relief inside. The young man beside her looked at both of them and asked, "Why are you talking to a homeless person?"
She looked at her boyfriend and thought about her past: I knew Aeren would end up like this in the future. I was his friend, and he had no social knowledge and didn't think much about his personality. Now he's become a beggar. I also knew that Aeren liked me and was harming himself for no reason. That day I understood that Aeren was just a psychopath who didn't care about anything around him anymore.
And now what's happened is that he became a beggar and is acting like he doesn't know me at all. This is what happens when people think only about books their whole lives and have no social knowledge.
"He was my friend in the past," she said sarcastically.
"Hmm, how did you even know this beggar in the past?" the young man asked his girlfriend. When he saw the other woman beside Aeren, who looked much uglier than even Aeren, his hand went to his nose to hide his face.
Aeren looked at both of them and asked, "Do I know you?"
Aeren was genuinely confused about her and didn't remember her at all. He thought, Humans are useless for me to remember them. They all act the same and are useless to me.
She looked at Aeren again, then at her boyfriend, and said, "Maybe I'm wrong. He just looked like him."
She also didn't want to speak with Aeren and didn't want to remember her past, so they left.
They continued speaking badly about Aeren and the woman as they walked away.
She thought, They only came here to mock Aeren, and that's why I want to help him.
The burned-face woman stared at Aeren and said, "Let's go. You can live with me. You don't have a home, right?"
Aeren stared at her and said, "Okay. I want to live in this world again for a few years."
She didn't understand his words, but she took his hand and they walked for half an hour until they reached a mansion. Aeren looked at her again—she still looked like a beggar, but her clothes somehow appeared expensive.
Aeren had never thought she belonged to a rich family.
She stared at Aeren and asked, "How about it? We should be able to live here, right?" She smiled.
Aeren nodded and asked, "Who owns this house?"
She looked at him with confusion and said, "What do you mean? This is from my hard work. This all belongs to me, and no one can take credit for it."
Aeren had thought she would say something like, "This belonged to my family and they left me this house," but out of curiosity, he asked the next question: "Why are you helping me this much?"
She stared at Aeren and said, "That day when I saved you—it's not only you I saved that day. I saved myself too, and now this half-life of mine was saved by you. Thank you."
Aeren didn't expect this answer. He had seen that day when she was thinking about whether to dive into the water or not. Aeren had dived before her, and she reacted differently from his expectation—but that was also what he had expected.
Aeren nodded and said, "But I did nothing. You saved me, and now you're saving me again."
She stared at him and said, "It doesn't matter who saves whom. I'm grateful to you and want to give you something that makes you happy. For homeless people like you, a home is the best gift, and I live here alone. You'll be company for me too."
She had been living in this mansion alone.
All her staff had left her because her business was ruined and they thought she had nothing to give them, so they left with harsh words. They mocked her, and though she was their master, they bullied her and wanted to take everything from the mansion. But she reported them to the police before they could steal anything.
All this happened after her suicide attempt.
She had lost everything—her business, her face, her respect—and thought of ending all her pain and despair by committing suicide when she met Aeren.
Aeren wanted to live in this world to learn control over himself and find his small step toward freedom. So he needed social emotions, feelings, desires, greed, and more.
Aeren and she entered the mansion together.