"So, a large vegetable salad. A medium-rare steak. Spaghetti with cheese. Water." Okay. Elion, would you like something more exotic, or a dessert?
—The boy shook his head silently. The boy shook his head silently.
"I see. That'll be 30 pence."
— ... Elion took his wallet out of the inside pocket of his coat and handed the woman a one-pound note.
"Mm-hmm. Here's your change: 70 pence." You can sit at any empty table, and your food will be served in 15 minutes. Enjoy your meal," she said with a smile, handing him a 50-pence coin and two 10-pence coins.
A minimal filling dinner in areas close to the royal district started at one and a half pounds. Given that one pound was equal to one hundred pence, the price of Elion's set meal was reasonable.
Elion said nothing but took the change silently and turned away without waiting for his uninvited companion.
After wandering around the establishment for a while, he found a seat in the far corner of the room with a view of the wide windows overlooking the bright street.
He sat down in a soft chair, leaned back comfortably, and waited for his order while looking at the bright street through the far window.
The noise from all around inevitably attracted his attention, so he involuntarily glanced at the neighboring tables.
Large groups of men and women of different ages chatted cheerfully with each other while snacking on delicious-looking food.
Elion closed his eyes silently and leaned back further in his chair, tilting his head back.
Old memories began to creep into his head involuntarily. He recalled noisy, cheerful gatherings with his school friends at the bakery owned by his classmate, Bobovoy Struchek.
"Although his homemade bread was awful..." Elion thought silently, smirking.
With twenty people crammed into a tiny bakery, quality wouldn't be a top concern, so it wouldn't be fair to blame the Bobov family. The essence of such gatherings wasn't about quality or quantity, but rather the atmosphere of friendship and fun that reigned there.
The guy suppressed another heavy sigh.
Sitting silently in the far corner of the noisy establishment, Elion listened to the merriment coming from all around and immersed himself in one of the dominant feelings of his current life.
Elion was immersed in melancholy:
Melancholy for times gone by.
"Haah..." This time, he didn't hold back his heavy sigh.
He knew suppressing his emotions too often would only make them stronger.
So Elion did the only thing he could: sigh dejectedly under the weight of his overwhelming feelings.
Now, he looked lonelier than ever.
"Damn, I'm so unstable," he thought.
He didn't like how frequently his emotional state changed. Although his general mood was always close to depression, he thought it was better than feeling something more painful. Today, such thoughts visited him more often than usual.
"I even understand why this is happening. Because of the constant annoying events with this girl, Noel, my usual depressed state was disappearing. That's not bad, but it also has its unpleasant sides..."
"Hah," he sighed again, this time more irritably.
"I'm tired of this constant self-reflection. It's good to be aware of your own state, of course, but the more you delve into these questions, the more likely you are to go crazy. I would love to punch the wall in my old dorm right now." Elion often solved such problems by throwing himself into work and training. Now, however, he didn't have that option.
Suppressing a final sigh, Elion made a decision:
"Starting today, I'm going to focus even more on training and other things. I hope that helps."
"Wow... I know how many times your expression changed in a couple of minutes and how many sighs you took. It feels like you're waging a war with yourself." "Hehe," said the voice, chuckling sweetly.
Elion's eyes widened when he heard the familiar laughter again.
He turned his head toward the voice and thought in shock,
"Damn! How long has she been sitting here?"
"Hehe, as soon as you spotted a good spot and headed there, I quickly finished my order and snuck right behind you." You can be so absent-minded sometimes..." Noel said with a sly smile as he sat on a chair slightly behind Elion.
The guy was simply taken aback and didn't know what to think.
"But why you worry about silly things? You need to relax more, Elion!" She said this encouragingly and patted him on the shoulder.
He wanted to frown but managed to suppress his impulse.
... He wanted to frown but managed to suppress the impulse.
"Take now, for example. Just eat all the delicious food and don't think about anything. Try to relax and enjoy yourself! That's what delicious food is for!" The girl explained emotionally.
— ... Elion said nothing but simply turned away from her.
Noel moved her chair closer to him, leaned slightly closer to his ear, and said,
"You know... You'd better listen. You have to understand that I'm a very persistent girl," she whispered sweetly.
"Do you understand?"
"..."
Do you understand?" She moved even closer to his ear.
— ... Elion nodded reluctantly while making plans to get out of this situation.
"That's great!" Noel smiled brightly.