The city baked beneath the sun.
The heat pressed down relentlessly,
the streets eerily quiet.
Most of the cafés had closed their shutters today,
and silence stretched across the lanes.
After closing her own café,
Yen hurried straight to the hospital.
Today was the day....
Wee's father was finally being discharged.
She moved quickly, barely pausing,
her heart pounding with restless anticipation.
Not long after,
she returned home with Wee's father,
guiding him quietly through the back door.
But the very first thing his eyes fell upon
was the photograph resting on the table.....
a picture of Luneth as a child.
Rage surged instantly within him.
His voice thundered,
"This murderer's picture…
how dare it remain in this house?!"
He grabbed his slipper,
hurling it toward the photograph.
Yen flinched, startled,
rushing forward to stop him.
But he did not relent.
His fury burned unchecked,
and again, and again,
he cursed Luneth's name.
"Killer! Murderer!"
Yen's voice trembled as she tried to soothe him,
pleading for calm.
But deep within her,
each time her gaze landed on Luneth's photograph,
her chest tightened,
her breath grew shallow.
Worry gnawed at her heart....
where could Lu be now?
What fate had swallowed him whole?
—
Elsewhere, in the silence of his own room,
Teanguan sat bathed in dim light.
The shadows stretched long,
thick with unease.
On the table before him lay his gun.
Slowly, methodically,
he slid bullets into the chamber,
loading it with the cold precision of a man
ready to face any threat.
When he was done,
he placed the weapon beneath his pillow,
his movements deliberate,
his expression carved from stone.
Yet, they say even butter hides within milk,
awaiting the right process to draw it out.
Perhaps Teanguan's stoic mask too
concealed something deeper.....
something fragile,
something only the right person
could one day bring forth.
....
At Aurea Flora Complex,
Suda leaned over a leaf,
his eye fixed against the lens of a macroscope.
There.....
tiny, delicate, almost invisible.
Butterfly eggs.
A rare spark of joy lit his face.
A faint smile curved his lips.
Life, fragile yet persistent,
waiting to be nurtured.
And Suda wanted nothing more
than to raise them,
to see what beauty might one day emerge.
—
Meanwhile, Wee lay in her room.
Lamai had brought her there,
hoping rest might ease her.
But instead,
Wee's heart beat faster,
her breaths uneven and quick.
It was as though something unseen
had drawn close to her...
a presence unfamiliar,
yet strangely comforting.
She could not name it.
She could not understand it.
But deep inside,
she found herself craving it,
welcoming it,
as though her soul remembered
what her mind could not.
....
And upstairs,
Kai slept soundly.
Unaware.
Unknowing.
That destiny had already begun
to pull her into its web,
dragging her slowly,
inevitably,
toward the one person
she was fated to meet.