"Michael's gone, I heard the door close when he left..." Betty explained, her eyes tinged with sadness.
Upon hearing Betty's words, I quickly got out of bed and opened the door.
Michael's shoes were no longer at the entrance, and his bedroom door was open, the room empty.
His bedding was neatly folded, and on his desk lay a note: "Mom and Dad, I'm leaving, take care of yourselves..."
"How long ago did Michael leave?" I glanced at the clock; it was 6 AM, about half an hour earlier than when Betty and I usually woke up.
"He left about half an hour ago..." Betty said, her head bowed in thought.
"Why didn't you wake ?" I couldn't help feeling anxious.
Had Michael run away from ho again?
Rembering his deanor last night, sothing seed off.
"I... I..." Betty stamred, finally sighing in resignation, her expression filled with helplessness.
I quickly grabbed my phone and called Luna; she was the only one who could find Michael now.
When the call connected, Luna calmly inford that Michael had returned to her place and was actively participating in therapy.
He planned to study abroad after his recovery.
Relieved, I hung up, my emotions a mix of relief and complexity at the news of his impending departure.
After getting dressed, I took Betty out of the house.
I found an excuse to leave her for a mont to go back and dismantle so temporary equipnt at ho.
After removing the equipnt, Luna's people ca to collect it.
I rejoined Betty, and after lunch, I went to work while she went ho.
In the afternoon, Luna called urgently to her villa, her tone laced with worry and urgency.
I was puzzled; had sothing happened to Michael, or was it sothing else?
I suddenly rembered the surveillance equipnt I had removed that morning.
Had it captured sothing?
Honestly, I had slept well last night and had checked Michael's room when I removed the equipnt; everything seed normal, so I hadn't bothered to review the footage.
The urgency of leaving Betty to return ho and my own surveillance setup ant I didn't need to check theirs.
Luna's call had wildly speculating.
Had sothing truly "unexpected" happened last night?
Unable to focus on work, I asked for leave from my boss and, under the watchful eyes of my colleagues, I left for Luna's villa.
Upon arrival, Luna was working in her study, surprised to see .
I entered without speaking, just looking at her, waiting for an explanation.
"Co take a look," she sighed, perhaps noticing the tension in my gaze, and stood up from her office chair.
I sat down unceremoniously next to her as she opened a folder containing several videos.
As she clicked on one, it began to play.
The video, edited to omit irrelevant footage, showed Michael last night.
Instead of lying down to sleep as I had imagined, he sat on the edge of his bed in his pajamas, staring blankly, his usual cheerful deanor replaced by a somber one.
He sat there for a long ti, then moved to his desk and continued to stare blankly, this ti at a photograph on the desk—a familiar photo of Betty and him.
His eyes were full of mories, but his expression remained calm and detached.
"Is this normal for him?" I couldn't help but ask as I watched him lost in thought.
"Revisiting old places, it's normal to feel this way. He's very familiar with this scene, and it inevitably brings back a lot of mories..." Luna responded after a brief pause.
Hearing Luna's explanation, I nodded in agreent.
It wasn't just Luna making excuses for Michael; if I were in his shoes, I too would be flooded with mories.
We continued watching the video in silence.
After a long period of staring blankly at his desk, Michael glanced back at the closed door of his room.
By then, the living room lights were off, and Betty and I were already in bed.
Michael sighed deeply, got up, and returned to his bed.
But instead of lying down normally, he sprawled face down, burying his face in the sheets, his expression hidden.
Was he trying to escape sothing, or was he slling sothing?
Was he searching for traces of Betty and himself in the sheets?
After what seed like an eternity, he got up, turned off the room light, and finally lay down properly.
The room plunged into darkness and silence, broken only by Michael's occasional sighs.
The video fast-forwarded automatically, likely due to preset editing, and nothing unusual happened until morning.
Michael lay quietly in bed, restless and seemingly sleepless.
It seed I was the only one who had slept soundly through the night.
Michael had left his room just once, for about twenty minutes, which isn't unusual since people often get up during the night.
But after this nightti interruption, Michael returned to his room with even more sighs.
Perhaps in the bathroom, he encountered more mories worth revisiting.
By morning, Michael was up early, sitting on his bed lost in thought.
After half an hour, he sat at his desk again, eventually writing that note.
When he dressed and left his room, he paused at the door, looking back at his room for a long ti before closing the door behind him—just at the ti Betty ntioned he had left.
"You called here just to watch these?" I asked after viewing all the videos, relieved that nothing dramatic had occurred, despite my worries.
"Yes, you're a journalist, sensitive to details. I wanted you to see if Michael's behavior was abnormal. Can you guess what he was thinking all night? Was his reaction good or bad?" Luna asked, watching intently.
"Is that all?" I felt there was more to it, as if Luna was holding sothing back.
"Additionally, I wanted to see if, after watching these videos, you'd be willing to let my dical team handle his case. After all, Michael is your..." Luna's eyes flickered uncertainly, seemingly reluctant about her actions.
"There are no secrets here. For Michael's future, let's hand this over to the dical team for analysis. Perhaps the psychiatrists can uncover sothing..." I said, standing up from the chair and heading towards the door.
Luna followed as I checked the ti, realizing it was almost ti to leave for work.
I stepped out of the villa, greeted her, and headed ho.
What I really wanted to know was what the dical team would find.
There were things I hadn't shown.
From last night's videos, it was clear Michael still had burdens weighing on his heart, but thankfully, he showed no signs of hatred.
Knowing this was enough to satisfy .
When I got ho, Betty had dinner ready.
Although she masked it well, I could tell her burdens had grown heavier.
She acted as before, but sothing was different.
It seed not only Michael had revisited old haunts last night; Betty and I had too.
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