- . . -

𝔻𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 - 𝕔𝕙.𝟚𝟘 𝕡𝕥.𝟙 - 𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕦

𝕔𝕙.𝟙𝟡 | 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥 | 𝕡𝕥.𝟚

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟘 : 𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪

𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕧 | 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥 | 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥

𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥

❈★ 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟 ★❈

@conwunder

𝔻𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 - 𝕔𝕙.𝟚𝟞 - 𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕦

𝕔𝕙.𝟚𝟝 | 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥 | 𝕔𝕙.𝟚𝟟

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟞 : 𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪 𝕤𝕚𝕩

𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕧 | 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥 | 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥

𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥

❈★ 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟 ★❈

@conwunder

𝔻𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 - 𝕔𝕙.𝟚𝟛 - 𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕦

𝕔𝕙.𝟚𝟚 | 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥 | 𝕔𝕙.𝟚𝟜

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟛 : 𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕒 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕, 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤, 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕟𝕒𝕡 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕔𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕩𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘. ℍ𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥’𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕪. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟, 𝕒 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕞. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟, 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞, 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕓𝕠𝕪𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕, 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕔𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖, 𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕. 𝔸𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕠 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣.

𝔸 𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕕 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕔𝕜 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥’𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣. 𝔼𝕩𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗, 𝕤𝕦𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕣, 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕖𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖, 𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕪 𝕣𝕠𝕞-𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞. 𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕥'𝕤 𝕒 𝕤𝕒𝕕 𝕖𝕩𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕫𝕪 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣, 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪, 𝕒 𝕘𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖.

“𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕦𝕝,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕕, 𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕙𝕠𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕒 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕞, 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕦𝕘.

“𝕎𝕙𝕪?” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕕, 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕖.

“𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥?” 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕, 𝕦𝕟𝕗𝕒𝕫𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕣 𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕠𝕗 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕒𝕪.

“𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕪, 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕖𝕕, 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕤𝕠 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕠 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕜 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥. “𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖, 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤.”

“𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕, “𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕒𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝕦𝕡 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕒𝕪.”

“𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕒 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟, 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕, 𝕔𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕤𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕒, 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕚𝕞𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖. “𝕀 𝕝𝕖𝕗𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟.”

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕒 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕒𝕫𝕪 𝕓𝕠𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕒𝕕𝕛𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕒.

“𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕥, 𝕒𝕝𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕚𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖. “ℂ𝕒𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕠 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕦𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟?”

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕩𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕪, 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕦𝕤𝕖. “𝕀’𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥, 𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕕𝕠 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕'𝕧𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕗 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕚𝕟.”

“𝔾𝕠𝕥 𝕚𝕥,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖.

“𝕀’𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞, 𝕀 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕟,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕.

ℍ𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕪𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖. 𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕤, 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕔𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕤. 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕦𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕗 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣.

“𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞?” 𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕, 𝕤𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕡 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤, 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕖𝕪𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕥. “𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕖 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞?”

“𝕆𝕙 𝕞𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕕,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕒𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕕, 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕. “𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝. 𝕀’𝕞 𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕡.”

“𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙.”

“𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕀’𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖, 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟.”

ℍ𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕, 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕎𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟, 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕦𝕤𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕪. ℍ𝕖 𝕜𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕖𝕥, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕤𝕦𝕓𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕖 𝕜𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕕.

“𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕, 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕡, 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕜𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕟.

“𝕌𝕞, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕤,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕗𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕤.

“𝕆𝕠𝕠𝕙,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕘𝕒𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕𝕝𝕪, 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕚𝕟 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕥. “𝕀 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤. 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞?”

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕋𝕒𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕝𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕖 𝕘𝕚𝕗𝕥. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕒𝕟.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕥, 𝕥𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕕. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕙 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕡𝕤, 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕤 𝕦𝕡.

“𝕄𝕪 𝕗𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕓𝕦𝕥 ℂ𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕥’𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕗 𝕀 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕣𝕒𝕞𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕒𝕤𝕞. “𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕤, 𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕖’𝕣𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕣 𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥. 𝕊𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥’𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕀 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕖-𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕤𝕙 𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤.”

“𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥?” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕗.

“𝕀’𝕞 𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕪,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕧𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕. “ℙ𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕦𝕡𝕤𝕖𝕥, 𝕀 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕖’𝕣𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥’𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕞 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕦𝕤 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘.”

“ℕ𝕠. ℕ𝕠-𝕟𝕠, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥’𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕦𝕖,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕝. “ℂ𝕒𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕠 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕤?”

“𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣? 𝕀 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕, 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕞𝕝𝕪. “𝔻𝕚𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕕?”

“𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞, 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤…𝕀 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟, 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕒 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕕,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕕, 𝕤𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕.

“𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕀 𝕕𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕠𝕗𝕗, 𝕀 𝕡𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣. 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕕𝕕𝕪 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕚𝕟 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕝𝕒𝕡,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕. “𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕕?”

“𝔸𝕓𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥, 𝕞𝕪 𝕟𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕤,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕕.

𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕟𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕦𝕖.

“𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞?” 𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕕, 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕥𝕝𝕪.

“𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪'𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕, 𝕗𝕠𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤.

“𝕎𝕙𝕠?” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕟𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕙𝕚𝕞.

“𝕌𝕞, 𝕚𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕, 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕓𝕪 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕣.

“𝕐/ℕ,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕖𝕕, “𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠.”

“𝕋𝕒𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕘,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪.

“𝕀𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕡𝕤 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕝 𝕓𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕣𝕜.

“𝕀𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕡𝕤 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕝 𝕓𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕣𝕜. “𝔻𝕚𝕕 𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥?”

“𝕐𝕖𝕒,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕠𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕕, 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕒. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕓𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖, 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕖𝕩𝕥𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕋𝕒𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕘. “𝕃𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤.”

𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕕𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤, “𝕆𝕙 𝕀’𝕞 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕪,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕕𝕖𝕖𝕡, 𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕖𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖.

“𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕡,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕, 𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖. “𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞, 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕡.”

“𝔸𝕝𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕖𝕕, 𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕓𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥, “𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕖?”

“𝕃𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖. “ℍ𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞.”

𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕩𝕥𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕋𝕒𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕒 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖.

“ℍ𝕞𝕡𝕙, 𝕤𝕠 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕦𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕕. “𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕞𝕪 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟.”

“𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕, 𝕗𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕤. “𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕚𝕗 𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟’𝕥? 𝕀 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕗 𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕕, 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥?”

“𝕋𝕒𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕. “𝕀𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕, 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕦𝕥, 𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕋ℍ𝔸𝕋 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕥𝕙 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣. 𝕊𝕖𝕖, 𝕋𝕒𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕤. 𝕀’𝕞 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠.”

“𝕀𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕?” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕕.

“𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕗 𝕀’𝕕 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕓𝕦𝕥, 𝕨𝕖’𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕟𝕠 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕞.”

“𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕪,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕖𝕕.

“𝕊𝕒𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕖,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕. “𝕀 𝕡𝕦𝕥 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤, 𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕕, 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕡𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞 𝕚𝕥.”

𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕚𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕡, 𝕗𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕤. 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟.

“𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕖, 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥?” 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕒 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕣.

“𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕖,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕖𝕕. “𝕀𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤.”

𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕗𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙, 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘. ℍ𝕖 𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤, “𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕝𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤. 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕋𝕒𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕜 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕥𝕖.”

“𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕚𝕟,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕖𝕕, 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟, 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕞𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕖𝕘.

“𝕀 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕕, 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕦𝕓 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕖𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕚𝕡𝕤.

𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕡𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟’𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣. ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕚𝕗 𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕖𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖? 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕦𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙.

“𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕞𝕖, 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞?” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘.

“𝕀 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕, 𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪. “𝕀 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕞 𝕀. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕞𝕖𝕥 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡.”

“𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕖𝕕, 𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕕. “𝕊𝕠 𝕀’𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖.”

“𝕀𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕕. “𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥’𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕥, 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥. 𝕀 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕗𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕜 𝕥𝕠𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕤𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖’𝕤 𝕟𝕠 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕥.”

“𝕎𝕒𝕚𝕥,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕡𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕, “𝕐𝕆𝕌’ℝ𝔼 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖?”

“𝕐𝕖𝕒, 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕞𝕖,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕕, 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕕𝕝𝕪. “𝕎𝕙𝕠 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤?”

“𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕖𝕕, 𝕒𝕨𝕜𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕚𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕥. “𝔹𝕦𝕥, 𝕀 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣.”

“𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖,” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕞𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕕, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡.”

“𝕀 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕞𝕪 𝕗𝕒𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥’𝕤 𝕒𝕨𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕒 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕦𝕞 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝…”

“𝕀𝕗 𝕨𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕕?” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖. “𝕐𝕖𝕒 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥.”

“𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟’𝕥,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕. “𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖, 𝕚𝕥’𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕞𝕪 𝕤𝕥𝕪𝕝𝕖.”

“𝕆𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝕘𝕠𝕕,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕒𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕕.

“𝕎𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤 𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕖𝕕.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕖𝕝𝕥 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟’𝕤 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟, 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕦𝕡 𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕕𝕠𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕. “𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕓𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕖, 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪.”

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕚𝕘𝕘𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖. ℍ𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕣, 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖. ℍ𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕥 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕖. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕡𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕞𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕤.

“𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠 𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕖, 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞?”

“𝕀𝕤 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕞𝕪 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖?” 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕕. “𝕀’𝕞 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕐/ℕ, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀’𝕞 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕨𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀’𝕞 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕥 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤.”

“ℙ𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕, 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕘𝕠 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕦𝕡. 𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕕, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕖. ℍ𝕖 𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖.

“𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥, 𝕐/ℕ, 𝕙𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪, 𝕨𝕖’𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕨𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕗𝕦𝕟 𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣.”

“𝕀’𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕, 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕞.

“𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥?” 𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘. “𝕀𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕖?”

“ℕ𝕠,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕, “𝕀’𝕞 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕠.”

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟, 𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕥𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕙𝕦𝕘. “𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕁𝕒𝕖𝕞, 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤. 𝕀 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕡𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕦𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘.

“𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕓𝕒𝕓…𝕀 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕪/𝕟, 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤,” 𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕕. “ℍ𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥.”

“𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠𝕠,” 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕖𝕩𝕚𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕞. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕞, 𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕒, 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖.

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❈★ 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟 ★❈

@conwunder

𝙻𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚘𝚗 - 𝙲𝚑.𝟷 - 𝚠𝚑𝚘'𝚜 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗?

♥️𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 ♠️ 𝚌𝚑.𝟸 ♦️

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷 - 𝚠𝚑𝚘'𝚜 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗?

Seonghwa removes a cigar from the top drawer of his desk, lighting it while leaning back in his chair.

He takes a deep breath before speaking, “I guess it’s time. Bring ‘em all in here.”

Jongho immediately stands up and rushes out of the room, returning moments later followed by San, Wooyoung, Mingi, and Yunho. 

“What’s this all about?” Mingi asked while taking an empty seat on the sofa next to Wooyoung and San.

“Don’t question the Dragon,” Jongho ordered while sitting back down on the chair across from Seonghwa’s desk. 

Seonghwa ignoring the boy’s curiosity, looked around the room, “Where is Hongjoong?” he asked, “I thought I told you to bring them ALL in here.”

“I told him…” Jongho started.

“He’s coming,” San rolled his eyes, “do we really have to wait on his ass to start this shit?”

Seonghwa shot a glare in San’s direction, “haven’t I told you before that patience is a virtue?”

“Ummm…” San hesitated, “well I mean sure but I think Gandhi said  ‘he who hesitates is lost’.”

“Ooooh Gandhi was really smart too,” Mingi smiled.

“If you’re gonna quote, make sure you’re quoting the correct person…It wasn’t Gandhi, it was Joseph Addison,” Seonghwa snarled. “Now shut the fuck up boy and sit quietly before I shut your ass up for you.”

Wooyoung turned to look at San with wide eyes, laughing maniacally, “you’re as dumb as Mingi.”  

San punched Wooyoung in the arm, “who the fuck are you calling dumb, psycho?”

Wooyoung stopped laughing immediately, a red flash glinted in his eyes, “I’ll show you who I’m calling dumb,” he growled.

Jongho slowly stood up and walked over in front of the boys, taking a deep breath, he smacked Wooyoung and San on the back of their heads, “Knock it the fuck off,” he commanded.

Before either of the boys had time to respond, Hongjoong strutted into the office, sitting in the now-empty chair that was once occupied by Jongho.

“It was so nice of you to save me a seat,” Hongjoong smiled crossing his legs to get comfortable.

“It’s about time you decide to grace us with your presence,” Seonghwa cocked his head in agitation.

“Well you know, I am a busy man too,” Hongjoong smirked, “It’s hard to stop everything at the drop of a hat.”

“Get the hell out of my seat!” Jongho growled, shooting a look of death in Hongjoong’s direction. 

“Hmmm…I didn’t see your name on it,” Hongjoong smirked, readjusting to get more comfortable.

“Jongho,” Seonghwa whispered. 

Everyone looked at Seonghwa, waiting for his response, but he only shook his head no, slowly. Jongho exhaled, crossing his arms, but didn’t dare to say another word.

“I received intel about Seven and they are currently searching for an unknown female, who has crucial information about them,” Seonghwa started. “And we need to…”

“We need to kill her,” Wooyoung interrupted excitedly.

“Oooh can I blow her up?” Yunho asked moving closer to Seonghwa. “I have a new bomb I’m dying to try out.”

“No,” Seonghwa smacked his hand against the desk, “we need to find her first and find out why this bitch is so imperative.”

Everyone’s phones dinged at once causing them to look at what they received. 

Yunho looked at the boy who was sitting quietly on his laptop in the corner of the room and said, “thanks Yeosang.”

Yeosang nodded in response without taking his eyes off of his computer.

“This is the description we have of her, as vague as it may be, I have faith in all of you that you will be able to successfully find the target and bring her here…alive.” Seonghwa said.

“5’3, 100 pounds, long blonde hair with purple streaks throughout, and hazel eyes,” Wooyoung read.

“Not really giving us much to work with, boss,” Yunho sighed as the boys' phones dinged again.

“Lee Y/N,” San read aloud, “such an average name and average description. This sounds like it’s gonna be a mundane mission.”

“As mundane as it may seem, the boss man deems it be important, so stop the damn complaining and do as you’re told without all the bellyaching,” Jongho snarled.

Seonghwa nodded, “Yeosang has tracked down her location and she is staying in the next town over. She seems to be frequenting a local nightclub there.”

Their phones dinged once more.

“The quality is not satisfactory but it’s better than nothing, however, this is a picture from the CCTV that Yeosang managed to secure after hacking their systems,” Seonghwa continued.

“Hongjoong, I want you to go to the club with Wooyoung and bring this girl here,” Seonghwa ordered.

“Can I hurt her?” Wooyoung asked with a smile from ear to ear.

“No,” Seonghwa snapped, “I need her to be fully intact when I get home.”

“You never let me have any fun,” Wooyoung pouted.

“I’m gonna blow the club up after they get her out, so there won’t be any evidence of her being in there,” Yunho smirked hopefully.

Seonghwa rubbed his temples with both hands, “Yunho, calm down, you will not be blowing anything up this time, but I do have another important mission for you, Mingi, and San.”

“I’m waiting…” Mingi states impatiently.

“There’s a woman in Thailand that I need you guys to go meet. She has intel on an important drug deal about to go down, involving Seven. You will be flying out tonight, she will meet you at the airport and I want to know everything she has to offer,” Seonghwa explains.

“I think I’d be more useful here,” San announced, “they’re gonna need help getting the information out of this little bitch once they get her home.”

“I gave my orders,” Seonghwa snapped. “Yeosang, send them the picture of Hani.”

Yeosang nodded and shortly after Yunho, Mingi, and San’s phones dinged.

“This is who you will be meeting. Tell her I sent you. I don’t want violence of any kind. She is with our allies, we need to show respect.” Seonghwa demanded.

“And what is your little pet going to be doing during all of this?” Hongjoong huffed pointing to Jongho aggressively.

Jongho started towards Hongjoong, fists clenched, when Seonghwa spoke up, “Jongho, Stop!” causing Jongho to stop immediately.

Hongjoong smirked, “Stay doggie.”

Jongho inhaled deeply, cocking his head, staring a hole through Hongjoong.

“Did we get a dog?” Mingi excitedly looked around. “Where is she or he? I don’t want to assume its gender.”

“Idiot,” Yeosang unexpectedly mumbled.

Mingi’s eyes widened, “Are you calling me an idiot or is that the dog’s name?” 

Yeosang rolled his eyes and went back to looking at his laptop.

“There is no dog, Mingi, Hongjoong was calling Jongho Seongwha’s dog,” San explained.

Mingi bursted out with laughter, “Oooooooh. That’s funny.”

Yunho leaned back against the wall, “I swear you get stupider every damn day.”

“Enough!” Seonghwa yelled. “It’s none of your concern what Jongho does but he’s coming with me. I am meeting up with a contact about possibly expanding our arsenal.”

“Oooooh we’re getting some new toys,” Yunho’s eyes widened with excitement.

“Possibly but for now I need everyone to focus on the mission in hand,” Seonghwa ordered with a wave of his hand, “You are all dismissed.”

Everyone slowly got up and exited the office.

♥️♠️ Later that evening♦️♣️

“San! Come on, we gotta go, the cars waiting,” Mingi yelled up the stairs.

San stomped down the stairs, “don’t get your panties in a bunch, the jet won’t leave without us.”

“But I’m not wearing any panties,” Mingi announced, confused.

Yunho smacked Mingi’s arm, “you don’t always have to say whatever comes into your head.”

“If I don’t say it, then how will you know what I’m thinking?” Mingi asked. “Or can you read minds now?”

Yunho rolled his eyes, walking out of the front door, followed by Mingi and then San shortly behind. They entered the blacked out limousine that was parked outside of their mansion. The limo drove to an airport and the boys entered the private jet that was waiting on them.

Once inside Yunho took a seat by a window and immediately started scrolling through his phone. San found the mini bar and made a concoction of different liquors, smiling after taking the first sip. Mingi sat in the seat directly to the right of Yunho, placing his chin in his right hand, staring at Yunho.

Yunho glanced up from his phone, “what the fuck are you looking at?” he asked.

“What am I thinking?” Mingi wondered.

“How the fuck would I know?” Yunho snapped.

“I want you to use your super powers and read my mind,” Mingi smiled. “Tell me what I am thinking.”

Yunho smacked Mingi’s arm that was holding his face up causing his head to drop for a second. “You’re a fucking idiot. I don’t have super powers and I can’t read minds.”

“But you said…”Mingi started.

“I meant you need to stop saying every fucking stupid thought that comes into your head,” Yunho snapped.

“Oh,” Mingi pouted. “That’s disappointing.”

The jet took off and the rest of the ride to Thailand was uneventful. The landing was rough, the jet came to an abrupt stop. They all headed to the door but was met with a handful of men in suits with guns pointed at them. San slowly reached his hand in the waistband of his pants placing his hand on the butt of his favorite gun. Mingi placed his hand on San’s shoulder, signaling for him to hold off exposing his weapon.

“I think we have a misunderstanding here,” Mingi smiled coyly. 

“I don’t believe we do,” one of the armed men argued.

Mingi laughed, “of course we do. We were sent here by The Dragon, Hani is expecting us.”

The armed men looked at each other, guns still aimed at the boys, when a blacked out Cadillac limousine pulled behind the armed men. The driver’s window slowly went down and a man said, “Let them through.”

The armed men hesitantly made room for the boys to walk through to the limousine with their weapons still drawn. Yunho reached over to the one and adjusted the man’s black blazer jacket, “it was wonderful meeting you, gentlemen. We’ll have to do this again sometime.” He smiled and followed Mingi and San into the car.

Inside there was a woman, holding a glass of champagne. Once the boys were inside, sitting adjacent to her, and the door was closed, she sipped some champagne before reaching under her left leg pulling out a black and pink semi automatic pistol. She pointed it at them with a smile on her face, still holding her champagne in the other hand.  

“Tell me who you are now,” she demanded.

San instinctively reached for his gun but was stopped by Mingi, “Not yet,” he whispered. “I’m Maverick, this is the Mad Hatter, and that’s Viper. We were sent to meet you by the Dragon.”

“The Dragon, you say. Well, what if I say I’m a dragon slayer?” the woman asked coyly.

“Then I’d have to say that you’re kind of shit out of luck since the dragon isn’t here and you seem to be lacking your sword,” Mingi smirked.

“Hmmm, aren’t you a quick one?” she asked, Yunho couldn’t help but to snicker. “What’s so funny, little boy?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone refer to Maverick as being quick,” Yunho explained, Mingi elbowing Yunho in the ribs.

“Anyways, now that you know who we are, are you gonna confirm that you’re Hani, so we can get to business?” Mingi interrupted.

Hani rolled her eyes and returned her gun to its original location under her thigh.  “I am Hani, now how can I be of assistance to you?”

“The Dragon said you had information on a huge drug deal that is supposed to be going down soon,” San said, still holding the butt of his gun ready for anything.

“Yes. Seven has a delivery coming into this airport on friday. It’s said to have 110 kilos of heroin,” Hani confirmed.

“How do you know this is true?” Yunho questioned.

“I have my ways and I’m not at liberty to discuss that, however, once the heroin is removed from the plane it will be taken to Hotel Malaga, which has a nightclub, where Jackson Wang will be coming to retrieve the goods.” Hani continued. “That’s where you guys come in. You will need to steal the drugs from Wang and take them to the Dragon. He will know what to do from there.”

“Shit,” Yunho snapped. “Did you guys hear that?”

Everyone looked at him confused. “Hear what?” San asked.

Yunho placed a finger to his mouth signaling for everyone to be quiet. “Get down,” he ordered.

Gunshots started to fire, bullets ricocheting off the sides of the limousine.  

“What the fuck is happening?” Mingi whispered yelled.

“They must have found out we were meeting,” Hani announced.  She retrieved her pistol from under her thigh and glanced up through the window.  When her eyes reached the level where she could see out, a bullet came through, penetrating into her skull in between her eyes. Her body fell lifeless onto the floor of the limo, blood soaking the floor around her head.

Yunho crawled over to Hani, placing his two fingers on her neck under her jaw, next to the windpipe, he waited a few seconds before releasing her and shaking his head, “she’s gone.”

The gunshots continued, making the boys feel like caged animals. Yunho took his gun that was taped to his ankle and used the butt to bust the window to the driver out. He crawled through only to see the driver slumped over the wheel. “Ok mister driver, we’re about to have some fun,” he whispered, maneuvering underneath the body of the driver, hoping to be able to use his lifeless body as a shield from any bullets. He cracked the driver’s neck so his head could cover all of Yunho’s head from the left side to prevent exposure.  

Yunho fired the limo up, began driving without having any idea of where he was headed. He drove aimlessly through the town until he came to a corn field and without hesitation he drove into the field, hoping that the crops would aid in their camouflage from the impending enemy. 

“What the fuck was that driving?” San complained once the limo came to a complete stop.

“I had to do what I had to do to get away from that shit,” Yunho laughed.

“Where are we?” Mingi asked, looking around to see corn surrounding them. 

“It looks like we’re in a corn field,” San huffed, “but what the hell do I know?”

“What are we gonna tell Seonghwa?” Mingi took a deep breath. “Especially about her.”

“Well if you ask me, she looks better like this anyways,” Yunho smirked.

“You’re one sick fuck,” San snapped. “You’re starting to sound like Wooyoung.”

Just then, Mingi’s phone began to ring, he looked to see Seonghwa was calling. He answered, placing the call on speaker, “Go ahead.”

“What the fuck did you idiots do?” Seonghwa yelled.

“Yo boss man, this wasn’t our fault. Someone was shooting up the limo, we had to do what we had to do to make it out alive,” San explained

“Is everyone ok?” Seonghwa asked.

“Yea,” San, Mingi, and Yunho sang in unison.

“But Hani wasn’t as lucky,” San interjected looking down at Hani’s body that was now lying against the left door due to Yunho’s manic driving.

“At least you three are fine. You’re my only concern. I’ll figure out what to tell our allies about Hani, later,” Seonghwa sighed. “Yeosang is sending a helicopter to the field that you’re in, wait there for it. We’ll discuss what you learned when I get home from China.” He hung up the phone before anyone had the chance to respond.

Yunho looked through the window at Hani, “can I bring her home with us?” he asked.

“You sick fuck,” San snapped.

♥️♠️Meanwhile♦️♣️

Wooyoung sat in an SUV parked outside their mansion, patiently waiting for Hongjoong to come outside. The front door flew open and Hongjoong strutted outside and got into the passenger’s side of the truck. 

“It’s about fucking time,” Wooyoung hissed as he started the car and drove off.

“You can’t rush perfection,” Hongjoong smirked looking at himself in the mirror located in the sun visor above his head.

“You look the same as you did two hours ago,” Wooyoung argued while driving towards the club.

“Maybe to the naked eye but that’s only because I’m naturally this sexy,” Hongjoong boasted. 

“Whatever you say,” Wooyoung said not really understanding what Hongjoong meant.

Wooyoung didn’t think the way Hongjoong thought. He didn’t consider anyone to be “sexy”. There’s only killable and non killable people and he didn’t know where sexy fit into that mix.

“So when we get there, I’m gonna go inside and get that bitch to leave with me and you’ll wait out here, okay?” Hongjoong explained.

“Then I’ll snap her neck when she gets into the truck,” Wooyoung added.

“Nooooo,” Hongjoong shook his head. “Remember, we have to keep her alive…Seonghwa’s orders.”

“Can’t we just say it was an accident,” Wooyoung begged, “Pleeeeaaassssse.”

“No!” Hongjoong snapped. “You’re not gonna kill her in the truck.”

“Fine,” Wooyoung pouted. 

Wooyoung pulled into an alleyway behind the club and parked the truck against an adjacent building. Hongjoong put an earpiece into his left ear that was out of sight to the naked eye. “Can you hear me, Ghost?” Hongjoong asked.

“Loud and clear,” Yeosang responded. “Devil isn’t connected, though.”

Hongjoong smacked Wooyoung’s shoulder, “put your earpiece in,” he ordered.

“Ughhh,” Wooyoung moaned, “I hate wearing that. It interferes too much with the voices I already hear.”

“You need to have it in,” Hongjoong glared at the boy, “I promise this won’t take long.”

“Fine,” Wooyoung agreed, slowly putting his earpiece into his ear. “Can you hear me, Ghost?”

“Loud and clear,” Yeosang said. “You’re clear for the mission.”

Hongjoong got out of the truck and made his way to the entrance of the club. He walked over to the door man and handed him his ID, which was scanned before being returned. Hongjoong walked into the club, scanning the surroundings looking for his target. 

“I don’t see her anywhere, Ghost,” Hongjoong announced.

“Hold on, I’m trying to crack their security,” Yeosang said busily typing away on his laptop.  “Ok, I’m in. Let me see if I can spot her.”

Hongjoong walked through the crowd of people who were busy drinking and dancing their worries away. The club smelled of a combination of sweat, alcohol, and an overwhelming combination of body sprays and colognes, which made him feel right at home. This is the atmosphere that Hongjoong was most comfortable in, where he originally made a name for himself. 

“She’s at the bar,” Yeosang announced, “four seats from the left.”

“Copy,” Hongjoong nodded, now headed in the direction of the bar. He sat in the empty seat next to Y/N who was oblivious that anyone sat there. 

Y/N ordered a drink and when the bartender brought the new glass over and sat it down, Hongjoong leaned forward and said, “that one is on me.”

Y/N turned and smiled at Hongjoong, “thank you.” She picked the drink up and took a long sip which made the glass half empty. “Do I know you?”

“Not yet,” Hongjoong winked. “On a scale from one to ten, you’re a nine and I’m the one you need.”

Y/N laughed, almost spitting out the liquid she was getting ready to swallow. “Does that usually work?” she asked.

“I mean you did seem to move a little closer to me, so I’m assuming it’s working,” Hongjoong smiled.

“I adjusted to avoid spitting out my drink,” Y/N explained with a smile.

“Well it’s refreshing to find a girl that prefers swallowing,” Hongjoong continued.

“Oh my god, you’re too much,” Y/N laughed playfully, hitting Hongjoong’s arm. “What’s your name?”

“You’re a fucking loser,” Yeosang whispered into Hongjoong’s ear making him smirk.

“I’m Justin and you are?” Hongjoong lied placing his hand out to shake Y/N’s.

She placed her hand inside of his and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Justin. I’m Y/N.”

“Oh the pleasure is all mine, I’m sure,” Hongjoong brought Y/N’s hand up to his mouth and gently kissed the top of her hand.

Hongjoong continued to talk to Y/N, buying her drink after drink while he nursed his one drink, to avoid any chance of getting intoxicated.

“I think I should probably get home now,” Y/N slurred, fully feeling the effects of the multiple alcoholic drinks that she consumed.

“Can I give you a ride home?” Hongjoong offered.

Y/N raised an eyebrow while looking at Hongjoong, “why would you want to give me a ride?” she asked curiously.

“You seem a little intoxicated and I would feel awful if something bad happened to you since I’m the one that bought all your drinks tonight,” Hongjoong explained. “It’s the least I could do.”

Y/N contemplated the offer before nodding with a smile, “sure I guess it would be ok if you take me home.”

“Great,” Hongjoong smiled, standing up. He put his arm out for Y/N, who gently intertwined her arm with his. 

Outside the club Hongjoong led Y/N down an alley and opened the passenger’s side door of the truck for her to enter. After shutting the door, he got inside of the driver’s side.  He turned the car on and turned the music up and began to drive. Y/N looked out the window quietly singing along to the radio.

Wooyoung slowly sat up from the back seat, unbeknownst to Y/N, holding a cloth tightly over her nose and mouth until he felt her body go limp.

Y/N slowly opened her eyes, her head was throbbing and everything felt dizzy. She tried to move her hand but realized she was restrained. Everything in the room was pitch black so she wasn’t able to gather her bearings either.

“Are you ready to have some fun?” a man’s voice sounded from behind her.

♥️𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 ♠️ 𝚌𝚑.𝟸 ♦️

♥️♠️𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 - 𝙾𝙿𝙴𝙽♦️♣️

@stayatinykatsy

𝔻𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 - 𝕔𝕙.𝟚𝟙 - 𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕦

𝕡𝕥.𝟚 | 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥 | 𝕔𝕙. 𝟚𝟚

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟙 : 𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕟𝕖

𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕧 | 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥 | 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥

𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥

❈★ 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟 ★❈

@conwunder

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚈𝚘𝚞 - 𝚌𝚑.𝟸 - 𝙷𝚊𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜

𝚌𝚑.𝟷 | 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 | 𝚌𝚑.𝟹

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸 : 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎

“Good morning,” Donghuck smirks. “have fun last night?”  

You sit silently seething with rage, looking away from him, trying to figure out what really happened while you were drunk. 

“Why are you being so quiet now?” he asks with that smirk still plastered on his face. “I mean, you were screaming all last night.”

“What the hell did you do to me?” You snap.

“What? You were begging me for it,” Donghyuck laughs. “Don’t you remember, baby?” He reaches up and gently caresses your cheek. You instantly smack his hand away and without thinking you attempt to smack his face. “You asshole,” you scream, fighting back tears.

Donghyuck grabs both of your wrists, pinning them down above your head, “does this feel familiar?” he asks with his classic shit eating grin on his face. “Or do you need me to refresh your memory?”

That comment crosses the line, he went too far. You now remember everything you despise in that man. “You asshole,” you yell as you struggle to break free from his grip. Donghyuck couldn’t help but laugh, amused by your reaction. He releases your wrists assuming you sustained enough embarrassment for one day. You quickly hop out of bed, realizing you were still completely naked.

“I don’t mind looking at you like this,” Donghyuck winks.

His words were disgusting but you couldn't think of a comeback for something so foul. You grab your clothing, quickly dressing before running out of his room with your shoes still in your hand. You slam the door behind you as you exit, hoping it'll deter Donghyuck from following you but unfortunately, he does whatever he wants and is closely behind. 

You spot a younger man that you don’t recognize sitting alone in the garage, eating what appears to be cereal. Although it doesn’t make a difference to you who he is or what he hears, all you know is you need to get as far away from the asshole as possible. 

“Get me two bowls for cereal,” Donghyuck orders as you feel him grab your wrist from behind, stopping you in your tracks and forcing you to face him. “Where the hell are you going?”

“It’s none of your business,” you snap, not wanting to look at him. You harshly pull your arm away, attempting to walk away.

“Hey, I’m talking to you nicely here,” he huffs, quickly grabbing your arm again.

“And why are you all of a sudden being nice?” you ask, starting to get angrier. Angry isn't the best word to describe what you are feeling but it's close enough. “Why? Trying to be my knight in shining armor? Huh? Who the hell offers breakfast after a night like that?” You pull your arm away from his grip once again.

Donghyuck, becoming irritable, looks around searching for the right words. “No, I’m not trying to be a fucking hero. I just need you to understand that I will kill you if you tell anybody about what happened.”

‘The nerve of this man’ you thought. Who does he actually think he is?

“Don’t you worry,” you say before thinking it through. “An embarrassing night like that…I wouldn’t dream of reliving it by telling anyone.”

You turn and walk away leaving Donghyuck behind lost for words. No one ever talks to him that way, he can't believe that you have the balls to do it, and so eagerly as well. You walk down the street attempting to order an Uber.

When you finally get home to the safety of your dorm, you want to kiss the floor. You had never been so happy to be at home. You immediately undress, turning on the shower. You step inside your shower hoping to erase all of the memories of your drunken mistake. You feel disgusting by both your choices and actions. How could you have made such poor decisions? How could you allow yourself to get so drunk that you didn’t even know you were with the man you hated the most? It wasn’t Jisung, it was Donghyuck the whole night and this was something you now have to live with from here on out. You're finding it difficult to handle the emotions any longer and the floodgates begin to open up. Tears start to stream down your face and you fall to the floor of the shower, the hot water burning your skin as you sulk in your self-loathing. Once the water gets cold, you turn off the shower, dry your tears, and attempt to pull yourself together. You throw on some lounging clothing and lay down on your sofa. You know you should attend class but must avoid Donghyuck at all costs.

You look down at your phone, debating on whether you should call your mom when you hear people talking. Their voices are so clear that you wonder if people are on your balcony.

“Oh come on Yeji, I’m so sorry.”

That voice sounds so familiar. But it's not possible, it just can't be him.

“Please don’t be mad at me. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

You slowly sit up. That’s Donghyuck’s voice. But why is he on your balcony? You creep outside, noticing Donghyuck and some girl on the balcony next to yours.

“And how are you planning on making it up to me exactly?” Yeji asks, with a smile on her face. You can tell she was enjoying teasing him, which makes you feel something that you cannot explain.

“I’ll do whatever you tell me to,” he smiles back.

You lean over the railing trying to act natural, but you can't deny that you want to see what's happening.

“Oh I’m so sorry,” the girl says while looking at you. “I didn’t know you were fully moved in or we wouldn’t have been so loud.”

You are caught off guard and don't know how to respond. You want to play it cool and not show the wrong emotions or act suspiciously.

“It’s ok, she’s the one who well…” Donghyuck says getting closer to the girl and whispers. You can't hear what's said which makes you uncomfortable.

The girl smiles politely, “Well I’m Yeji. I’m so glad I finally get to meet my new neighbor.”

You smirk, knowing Donghyuck must be worried about how this is going to play out. That alone brings you joy. “I’m Y/N. I didn’t realize that Donghyuck would be able to get a girl like you.”

He wraps his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder, “You always do this, Y/N... you go after men who are already taken.”

You take an exaggerated breath before speaking, “I wish the best to you two,” you smile before walking back inside of your apartment. The smile instantly drops from your face, once inside.

You plop back down on the sofa, dozing off to sleep in no time. You wake to the sound of your phone going off, after seeing that it's your best friend calling, you silence the call and continue to lay in silence. You aren’t ready to confess anything to your friends, if you say it out loud there is no more denying the truth.

After a full day of self-loathing, you decide to get up. You have to try to distract yourself from everything bad in your life. You get dressed and head over to the university pool to get some much needed exercise.

You are hoping to have the pool to yourself. Most students are either studying or drinking by this time of the day. But as soon as you walk out of the locker room you realize your expectation is shortly lived.

“I can do it myself,” Jisung whines. Even though he rejected you, you still can't shake your feelings. You still want him and you still want him to love you.

“Don’t be so stubborn,” Karina says. “I want to do it for you.”

“I’m not a baby, Karina,” Jisung insists.

“I didn’t say you are,” she snaps. “Now give me your arm.”

“Fine,” Jisung hesitantly agrees, putting his arm out for Karina to wrap with an ace bandage.

You walk towards them, listening to their little exchange, suffering in silence.

“See, it’s so much better when you let someone else do the wrapping. It gets tighter,” Karina explained, looking at Jisung with so much love in her eyes. 

“Thank you,” Jisung smiles. “You always take such good care of me.”

“That’s only because you take such good care of me,” Karina giggles, placing her hand on his leg.

You watch as the jealousy continues to grow. You can't stop thinking about that night.

“Because the only person I have feelings for is Karina,” Jisung stated.

You feel the tears welling up again and you have to look away. This is too painful. You sit on the pool's edge and slowly lower your body into the water wanting to wash away the memories. All the little moments you shared with Jisung running through your mind. It hurts so much, you want to forget it all.

Donghyuck spends the evening attempting to show his girlfriend how sorry he is for standing her up the other night. He feels guilty for a multitude of reasons but is only able to express the guilt for abandoning his beloved girlfriend.  They end their evening inside her dorm room. Yeji is busy doing her nighttime routine as Donghyuck sits alone on her bed, patiently waiting. His phone goes off, signaling he received a text from his friend, Jaemin.

JAEMIN: Don't forget tomorrow is Jisungs birthday. You can’t bail on us

Donghyuck exhales out of frustration before setting his phone down on the bed next to him. He looks at his girlfriend, almost afraid to tell her of his prior engagement. 

“I had so much fun with you tonight, muffin,” Donghyuck smiles, trying to ease into the bad news.

“Me too,” Yeji returns the smile. “Dinner was delicious.”

“It really was,” he nods. “So...tomorrow is Jisung’s birthday.”

The smile drops from Yeji's face as she turns around in her chair to look at him. “Ok and?”

“Well, I’m going to take Jisung out for his birthday with the boys. We gotta do something special for him this year but you can come with, if you want,” Donghyuck explains.

“No, that’s ok,” Yeji sighs. “I have a project that I need to work on with Yuna anyway so I’ll just go over to her place. You have fun.”

“Do you want help?” he offers, displaying a goofy smile.

Yeji laughs, “I want to do well on the assignment so it would probably be best if you didn’t help.”

“Hey,” Donghyuck grins. “I’m doing a lot better in school these days.”

“Yea I know, but it’s your friend’s birthday, you don’t want to be tied down with your girlfriend and miss it,” Yeji insists.

“Ok fine, how about this,” Donghyuck starts. “Tomorrow night, I won’t stay out long. Then, we can meet back here for a little cuddle time.”

Yeji smiles widely, nodding her head in response. She stands and walks over to her bed, sitting down next to her boyfriend. “I’m really tired, I think I’m ready to go to bed.”

Donghyuck smirks, pulling the covers down ready to climb inside the bed, “yea me too,” he says eagerly.

“Nooooo,” Yeji state. “You know you can’t sleep in my bed. We’ve talked about this.”

“But baby, we’ve been together for over a year now…”

“Are you saying that I’m not worth waiting for?” Yeji asks.

“Of course you're worth the wait but how much longer are you going to make me wait?” Donghyuck whines.

“I don’t have an answer for that,” Yeji sighs, lightly pushing him off her bed so she could sleep alone.

Donghyuck leans down and kisses her forehead before crawling on the sofa and attempting to get some sleep.

Emotions are a bitch, and currently you are dealing with an infinite amount of them. The heartbreak alone would be hard enough but now you added self-pity, loathing, and shame to the slew. 

You walk around the university grounds aimlessly, simply looking for a distraction of sorts. You end up standing on the bridge of hope, looking down at the water below. You stare down fixated on the currents and how peaceful the scene is. You move closer to the edge…

𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟 | 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 | 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝