Two days after moving, early in the morning at school, Dennis and Daisy arrived in their car and parked in the lot next to the motorcycle area. Jason and Kimberly, who had also just arrived, saw the two of them park and then turned off their own engine.
"Co on, Kim, let’s head over to them," Jason said.
"Okay, let’s go," Kimberly replied.
They jogged over to Dennis and Daisy, who had just opened their car doors and were about to step out. Jason tapped Dennis on the shoulder.
"Morning, dude," Jason greeted him casually.
But when Dennis turned around and faced Jason, "Whoaah," Jason flinched in shock because Dennis’s eyes looked bloodshot, with dark, heavy bags underneath; his cheeks were a bit sunken, and his skin was slightly pale.
"What happened to you, dude?" Jason asked.
"Oh... the usual, lack of sleep, haha," Dennis answered with a laugh.
Then Jason glanced over at Daisy, who was chatting with Kimberly with a cheerful, bright, glowing, and radiant face—vastly different from the Dennis standing before him.
"Don’t tell you’re the only one watching the baby?" Jason asked.
"Ah," Dennis didn’t answer, but Jason knew the answer imdiately from his expression. Jason just shook his head at his friend.
"Good grief, if you can’t handle it, ask your wives for help," Jason said.
"Oh, hahaha... don’t worry about it, I can handle it," Dennis replied, waving his hand while laughing.
"You sure?" Jason asked, eyeing Dennis’s face.
"Sure," Dennis answered, giving a thumbs up, even though his voice sounded anything but certain.
Dennis replayed the last two days of his life in his mind. What actually happened was that he had spent his ti in the basent, which had been transford into his man cave—though it honestly looked more like his wives’ personal playground. For two days straight, his wives had taken turns being intimate with him in the basent, using the excuse that they were trying to make a little brother or sister for Destiny, until he literally couldn’t move.
They even brought food down to the basent if he happened to doze off, only to start again right after he finished eating. So, his total exhaustion had absolutely nothing to do with Destiny at all.
"Ha... ha... ha... if this keeps up, I’m gonna die," Dennis muttered in his heart as he rembered the last two days.
They walked together into their classroom, but as soon as they stepped inside, Rika imdiately rushed over to Dennis and Daisy and pulled them back out to talk. Once they reached the rooftop,
"Hey... sorry for dragging you two out here," Rika said.
"It’s fine, what’s up?" Dennis asked.
Rika took a deep breath and exhaled. She explained that yesterday, Hyunjin, Minji, and Akira had visited Bella, who was still in the hospital. Actually, Hyunjin and Minji had just happened to run into Akira while they were there to visit Minji’s uncle.
When she saw the two of them, Bella imdiately apologized; she also apologized to Akira for what she had done. Eventually, everything was fine and they were chatting again like old tis, but as the conversation got more intense...Rika went silent for a mont.
"What happened after that?" Daisy asked, curious.
"After that, Chris showed up. He brought flowers and a ring—can you believe that guy?" Rika answered, sounding annoyed.
Rika then went on to tell the story. When Chris arrived, he imdiately shoved Hyunjin aside because he happened to be blocking the way. According to Hyunjin, who saw him from up close, Chris looked absolutely wrecked. He had an unkempt, scruffy beard, greasy hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in days, dark circles under his eyes, and bloodshot eyes like soone who rarely slept—which was probably true. But the worst part was, he reeked of alcohol.
He imdiately dropped to one knee by Bella’s bed, offering her flowers which she promptly threw away. Then he pulled out a ring, intending to force it onto Bella’s finger, but she pulled her hand back. When all his attempts failed, Chris’s expression changed; he stood up abruptly, started screaming at Bella, and raised his hand as if to strike her. Minji, who was standing behind him, tried to stop him by grabbing his arm, but Chris just shoved Minji away. That set Hyunjin off, and he imdiately tackled and restrained him.
Then Akira called the police, and Chris’s face turned pale. It turns out he confessed he was already being hunted by the cops and begged Akira not to call them. But no one paid any attention to his desperate pleas. Hyunjin actually pinned his arms even tighter until the police finally arrived and arrested him. According to Rika, he even tried to resist, though he was eventually subdued by the responding officer, who apparently worked part-ti as a Hunter. Dennis could only shake his head as he listened to Rika’s story.
"A total madman, and people like that never change," Dennis said.
"But what was his goal in approaching Bella again?" Daisy asked.
"He claid he truly loved her and wanted to live with her forever while he was trying to put that ring on her finger. But once Bella rejected him, the mask slipped. He imdiately started shouting that Bella had been spending the money he earned and that she should be defending him, because according to him, no one else would ever want to be with her," Rika answered, sounding disgusted.
"Oh... so he’s terrified and delusional; because of Bella’s spending habits, he wanted to use her as a shield in court. That’s just pathetic," Dennis said.
"And is Bella okay?" Daisy asked.
"She’s fine... but besides that, there’s a reason I brought you two up here," Rika answered.
"Just say it," Dennis replied.
"Um... sorry, Dennis, but Bella actually asked for a favor. She wants to see you guys... it seems like she’s truly changed and regrets everything this ti. I’m just passing the ssage along; I’m not going to force you to go to the hospital to see her because I know how she treated you. I saw it all back then and I just stayed quiet because I felt safer that way, so I’m apologizing for that too. Whether you want to go there to visit her and grant her request or not, I’m staying out of it," Rika said bluntly, speaking quickly while looking down at the ground.
Dennis imdiately fell silent, saying nothing. Rika remained standing before Dennis and Daisy with her head bowed, yet she appeared slightly relieved, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Then, Rika looked back at the two of them.
"Sorry, I’ll head out first," Rika said.
"Yeah, go ahead," Daisy replied with a smile.
Rika imdiately bolted out, leaving Dennis and Daisy alone on the roof. The two of them stood frozen in the center of the rooftop. Daisy turned to look at Dennis, who seed to be staring down, deep in thought.
"Honey?" Daisy asked, grabbing Dennis’s upper arm.
"Oh... what is it, honey?" Dennis replied, startled, turning to look at Daisy with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Daisy asked.
"I’m fine, really. Let’s go back down," Dennis answered.
"Wait."
Daisy pulled on Dennis’s hand. Dennis imdiately turned to see his wife’s face; her brows were furrowed behind her glasses as she stared at him intently.
"I know you, honey. You’re clearly not okay," Daisy said.
Dennis fell silent again. Then, he took both of his wife’s hands as she stood before him, watching him.
"You’re right, I’m clearly bothered. On one hand, I want to know if she’s actually sorry or not, but on the other... I just don’t care. So I’m trying not to think about it and just brush it off," Dennis said.
"But if it keeps weighing on your mind, it’ll just beco a burden. Follow your heart and do whatever makes you feel at peace. I’ll support and accept whatever you decide," Daisy said.
Dennis remained silent, but then he put his arm around Daisy and guided her back downstairs to their classroom.
"I’ll tell you later; let figure out my feelings and what I actually want first," Dennis said.
"Okay, honey," Daisy replied.
After they returned to class and the lesson had begun, Dennis and Daisy listened to the material seriously—but in Dennis’s head.
"Honestly, I don’t care about Bella at all anymore. If I go there and let her apologize, it feels like I’m just giving her closure rather than eting a need of my own. I don’t have to visit her, right? But then a small part of popped up, wanting to hear her apologize so I could finally vent all the frustrations I’ve bottled up for so long. But for what? The person I am now says it’s not necessary because it really isn’t. I forgave her a long ti ago—not for her sake, but for mine. My life is good now, and I have people around who love and want to be my friends. So, whatever, I’m not going to overthink it, and there’s no need to dig up the past again," Dennis said in his head while smiling.
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