Chapter 53

Was this a dream?

“…….”

Even after 14 years, Alres’s face hadn’t changed. He seemed to have grown a bit taller, and he had lost a lot of weight, but Alres was still Alres.

‘Is it really…… Alres?’

Alres didn’t enter the workshop. He simply gave a faint smile, then covered his face with his hat. Afterward, he gestured with his finger, signaling her to come outside.

Alres’s figure vanished in an instant, like a mirage. Vivi had to confirm whether what she saw was real or just an illusion.

“Vivi? Is something wrong?”

The women in the workshop looked at Vivi, who had dropped her needle, and asked.

“I… I need to use the public phone for a moment.”

Rising to her feet, Vivi looked around as if she were a lost child.

The area in front of the public phone outside was empty. Beyond the tree behind it, she sensed someone’s presence in the small field.

She ran there in a hurry. When she arrived, she saw the back of a man standing next to a bench. It was unmistakably Alres. He wasn’t a mirage or an illusion.

“……Alres.”

He noticed her presence and turned his head. Taking off his hat, Alres fixed his flattened hair. With an awkward smile, he nodded in response to her gaze.

“……Is it really you, Alres?”

The words slipped from her lips.

“Yes, Little Miss.”

“……I, I…….”

“You’ve grown a lot. You were so small back then.”

She thought she wouldn’t cry, even if she wanted to. But that concern proved futile as tears blurred her vision.

It was a different pain from the one she had felt when she parted ways with Costance. Alres, too, looked at her with reddened eyes.

“You were about this tall, right?”

Alres gestured to his waist as he spoke.

Fourteen years ago, Vivi had to tilt her head far back to look up at Alres. His hands, which had taught her to study, were so large that she would stare at them in awe. Even the Alres she had seen in her dreams had been the same—big and dependable.

She never imagined seeing Alres like this, smaller and more vulnerable.

“……Alres.”

Yes, she had thought Alres was dead. On the day the NOK One Laboratory exploded, Alres had entered the lab with the other researchers.

‘I never imagined he would still be alive…….’

She truly hadn’t known.

“How… how did you survive…….”

“I was lucky.”

Alres gave a bitter smile. The day the lab exploded was a memory painful to recall for both of them.

“When the explosion happened, I was near the lab’s entrance.”

He explained.

“Tiago sent me out because he was worried about you, standing outside.”

Tiago.

It had been a long time since she had heard that name from someone else’s lips. Just hearing it struck her chest with pain. Lowering her head, she covered her flowing tears with her hands. Stifled sobs escaped through her blocked throat.

“Benny.”

That name, too, had been so long ago.

“I’ve been looking for you all this time.”

“Why only now…… Do you know how much I…….”

“You were scared, weren’t you? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…….”

Alres stepped forward and embraced her tightly. The embrace she hadn’t felt in so long was just as it had been 14 years ago. The only difference was that Alres wasn’t as big as before, and his once-steady hands were trembling.

How had Alres, who had survived alone after losing his colleagues, endured for 14 years……

She could empathize with his pain to some extent, but she couldn’t fully grasp the scars he carried or the different forms of suffering they must have caused him. She could only cry.

Still, there was someone who knew her past. Someone who shared the same fears as her was standing right in front of her. This fact alone eased some of the pain she carried.

“You need to calm down. There’s so much I need to tell you, Little Miss.”

Alres gently pushed her shoulders back as he spoke. She nodded, though she still couldn’t control her emotions.

“I understand how you feel…… but you have to hold it in. Stop crying, go back inside, and finish what you were doing, Benny. You have to.”

“It’s impossible…….”

“You have to. You must. Otherwise, you’ll draw suspicion.”

Alres spoke firmly. His tone was different from the gentle and relaxed Alres she remembered.

“I told you there’s a lot I need to talk to you about. But for that to happen, you have to act like you’ve never met me.”

“…….”

“I know it’s hard. I know, because I’ve been watching you all this time. But we’re out of time now. So please.”

The gaze she had felt all this time—it had been Alres. Knowing this brought her a sense of relief.

“Got it? Go back inside with a calm face and finish your work. Don’t leave early. Stay until the end. Afterward, do you know the oak tree near your house? Meet me in front of it.”

Alres let go of her shoulders.

The emptiness of his touch startled her, but she soon noticed the anxious look on his face. He scanned his surroundings, never letting his guard down.

She knew what he was worried about. Pressing her lips together, she forced herself to swallow her tears.

“…….”

Alres seemed like he wanted to say something but held back.

From the tender look in his eyes, Vivi could tell what he was about to say.

You did well, Little Miss.

Alres was wise.

If he had spoken those words aloud, she wouldn’t have been able to stop crying.

As Alres had said, she needed to calm down.

She had to calm down.

* * *

The workshop ended at exactly 5 o’clock.

Knitting was the last thing on her mind.

〈You have to act like you’ve never met me.〉

It still didn’t feel real. Her conversation with Alres earlier felt like a distant memory.

How long had he been watching me? How had Alres survived, and how had he known about my existence? 

Her tongue felt dry from the questions swirling in her mind.

She thought about Alres obsessively, then tried to push him out of her thoughts again.

For an hour, she observed the women in the workshop chatting among themselves. Their topics varied, but most of them were trivial and meaningless.

Pretending to knit, she waved her needles aimlessly in the air. Then she noticed a Madame glancing at her and met her gaze.

“……Ah.”

The Madame quickly averted her eyes when their gazes met.

Was my behavior unnatural?

Realizing this too late, Vivi clenched her trembling fingers to steady herself.

The workshop’s closing time coincided with the time when the boys returned from school.

If someone left early, the workshop’s conversation topic would shift to that person. So unless someone had urgent business, no one left easily.

“By the way, how about we have dinner together for the first time in a while?”

One of the women looked around at everyone in the workshop and suggested.

“Dinner?”

“Yes. Let’s gather as the women of the village. I’ll host it at my house.”

The women giggled and agreed enthusiastically. The hostess decided that they would all go to her house as soon as the workshop ended and waited for Vivi’s answer last.

“I don’t think I can join…….”

Her response poured cold water over the cheerful mood. The women couldn’t hide their disappointment.

“Why not? Do you have something to do?”

“Yes, we wanted to celebrate your welcome party as well, Vivi.”

Their voices tried to persuade her.

“My cat has been sick with a cold for the past few days. I left her at home today, so I’m worried about her.”

“Oh my, that cat?”

The women recalled Irini, whom Vivi had brought to the workshop a few times, and expressed their concern.

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

* * *

She left the building like someone being chased.

She ran desperately, trying to catch up with the shadow stretching ahead of her. Without stopping, she exited the town, passed a wide field, and crossed a small stream. When the elm tree came into view in the distance, strength returned to her tired legs.

Almost there!

Crossing the hill, she finally saw the massive tree where Costance had once stood. A little further down, there was a slanted abandoned house and a single oak tree.

“Little Miss.”

Alres spotted her and smiled. Vivi didn’t respond to his greeting and ran straight to him.

“Alres!”

So it wasn’t a dream earlier! 

Even while knitting, she had worried that Alres might disappear midway, that he might suddenly leave.

“I’ve been thinking about you nonstop.”

“…….”

“But how did you know I was here? Are there any other researchers besides you? Does the government know about me? How have you avoided their eyes all this time? And why are you only finding me now……?”

She poured out all the questions she had prepared at once. Alres, flustered, patted her head.

“Calm down. Did you already forget the advice I gave earlier?”

“I was calm earlier. But now, it’s just the two of us here! How can I…… stay calm when you’re standing right in front of me?”

“Fair enough.”

Alres took her hand.

“There’s a lot I need to tell you, but before that, I have a question for you, Little Miss.”

Anything. Vivi was ready to answer any question.

“……That man who was with you. At first, I thought he was some perverted middle-aged stalker, but he wasn’t.”

“…….”

“Why was Costance Orsi by your side?”