Part 1 (2)
Yuu-chan 2024.06.26. 20:38
Seraing leaned against the cold metal wall. His eyes somewhat stung from being dried out by not blinking, holding back his breath to remain soundless, hiding in the shadowy corner, as he waited for the familiar figure to appear in the hangar. The Colonel sent him a message way before they’d landed with the PL1109, and Seraing knew there was not going to be much time to talk.
He came back to the United Front Center’s building. Since the magnetic pole had been restored, it was possible to move back to the original offices from the Garden of Eden, and the planes landed here as well, just a few hours ago.
The base tried to separate them from the Arbiter. Miraculously, the Colonel figured it out, without even knowing what happened at the base, and when their signal came back – when they were close enough to the Main City – the man messaged Seraing. Or… well… maybe the Colonel’s reason to see him in private was to check on An Zhe… but Seraing didn’t want to dwell on that idea too much for now.
His body tensed every time someone crossed the hangar, but the Colonel was late. The generals probably lectured him well, before they sent him away – in the end, Seraing couldn’t fulfil Dr Ji’s wish to make a search team; the United Front Center was the one who ordered their soldiers to take a flight, following the bees and An Zhe as soon as possible. Obviously, they didn’t allow Seraing to be a part of any of that, and obviously, the Colonel was assigned to the mission.
Seraing almost became one with the wall himself when finally he saw the tall figure in the distance. After many hours, the Judge moved: only took a half step aside, enough for a certain person to see him if he was looking in this direction, but not enough for anyone else to see him if they didn’t search for him specifically.
The Colonel was surrounded by people, and two pilots were leading him towards a fighter plane. The military at least let him change his dark combat clothes – but for what, if he’s going to hunt down the traitors?
The little group stopped at the plane. There were two higher-ranked officers with the Colonel as if they were there to make sure that the Arbiter took off right away. Seraing frowned. Did they suspect him of being a traitor as well? This possibility wasn’t totally out of the window just yet. If the Arbiter wasn’t able to clear his name and cut himself off from the Queen Bee incident and An Zhe, there was a chance that he was going to be executed soon… for any reason, basically. The military openly hated him anyway.
Seraing didn’t like this at all. The Trial Court has always had a bad reputation but now, it seemed that they will lose the last bit of hope they’ve left of controlling the situation. But if the Arbiter dies, all hell breaks loose.
There was no sign yet that the Colonel had noticed him, but Seraing was patient. The man himself asked him to come here so he wouldn’t forget their secret meeting.
Before anything could happen, a white patch appeared in Seraing’s peripheral vision. As he glanced in that direction, he froze for a second, then instantly realised, how bad the situation was, and his body moved before his mind reached the conclusion: like a flash, he ran over to that white patch, pressed one of his hand on his mouth, the other one embraced his waist, and used his superior physical abilities to carry the patch away from the soldiers’ sight, before they would’ve noticed them.
“Don’t make a sound… It’s me, Seraing.” He breathed into the white patch’s ear as well.
Until that point, Dr Ji was struggling with all of his might, but then he suddenly limped and let Seraing drag him back to the shadowy corner, where he stood before for hours. When they were safe, Seraing let him go. Dr Ji turned on his heels, and for a second, the Judge was certain, the doctor was going to slap him in the face.
But then, the hurriedly lifted arm just fell onto Seraing’s shoulder, and Dr Ji grabbed the collar of his coat, pulling him so close to his snarling face that for… well, for another second, Seraing assumed that something else was going to happen. Thinking how they’ve parted and what they were talking about before they’ve parted.
“Do you actually want to kill me?” Dr Ji shouted quietly, his hot breath landed on Seraing’s lips, his azure blue eyes were throwing sparks at the Judge through the wide glasses, and he twisted his fist along with Seraing’s collar. “I almost had a heart attack! Why the fuck are you hiding here, and sneaking on me? Do you have a beef with me, this is what’s all about today?”
The doctor was clearly still offended by their interaction from earlier. Seraing sighed, and put his hand on Dr Ji’s solid fist.
“I don’t have a beef with you.” He assured him, but didn’t expect the doctor to believe it. “But you can’t just run to the Colonel right now.”
“What do you mean I can’t? Don’t you see, they’re about to take off?” Dr Ji huffed in displeasure. “I have to talk with Lu Feng before he leaves; he probably got all the wrong ideas from the United Front Center. No one would believe An Zhe anymore, just the two of us, and he has no idea!”
“Did you forget that it’s prohibited for us to contact the Colonel?” Seraing calmly reminded him, and finally was able to take off Dr Ji’s fist from his collar. He put his hand down to his side and held it there, meanwhile looking into his fierce yet somehow icy gaze.
“And you will just follow the order like a sheep?” Dr Ji murmured; it seemed like he rested well because his fighting spirit was at the top.
“Yes, and you will too if you don’t want them to be suspicious towards the Colonel more than they are now.”
Dr Ji’s body language showed very well, how affective this sentence was: his shoulders dropped, his harsh breath slowed down, and his face wore the sign of confusion. Seraing used his shock to quickly explain his statement further.
“Madam Lu was the Colonel’s mother. An Zhe was, well, assumably the Colonel’s lover. You’re the Colonel’s best friend and I’m the Colonel’s right hand. What do you think they will suspect if you’re rushing to him like that?”
Finally, the doctor understood. It took him a little while, but Seraing didn’t blame him. The poor doctor had a rough night, and he was not as stable mentally or physically as a soldier. The stress he endured was already so much; it was a surprise that he even got this strength he was showcasing now.
“But…” He seemed to be lost all of a sudden, the corner of his lips were curling down. He reminded Seraing of a sad puppy. “But then… what should we do? Can you reach him?”
“Don’t worry.” Seraing faintly smiled after he took a glance over Dr Ji’s shoulder. “We cannot speak with the Colonel officially, but we will.”
He pointed in the direction where he was looking, and Dr Ji turned back as well.
The Colonel somehow managed to lose his new fans, and calmly walked towards them.
When the tall man arrived at their little corner, Dr Ji stood beside Seraing, while he not only knocked his heels together, but saluted as well. The Colonel nodded as an answer.
“Excuse me. We don’t have much time.”
“Lu Feng, you have to know some things.” Dr Ji began to talk without any more formality, and both Seraing and the Arbiter let him explain his thoughts since he was so eager to do so.
In all honesty, Seraing didn’t mind this… he still had a tight throat because of one thing, and despite how much time he waited for his boss, he was still too ashamed to talk about it himself.
But there was no escape. Dr Ji was very precise, even briefly more than he should’ve been. He talked about the day of the moving, when An Zhe was missing from his side and then how An Zhe behaved when he was discovered. He also complained about how the senior colonel was threatening An Zhe, which made the Colonel frown. The disgust that had shown on his face would’ve been worth a mass.
When the doctor first mentioned, how exactly they lost An Zhe – Dr Ji specially used the term “we”, as if he was also responsible, not just Seraing – the Colonel’s ice-cold gaze fell onto Seraing. Obviously, the Arbiter also knew those “we”s were not really “we”s. Seraing stood in front of those eyes, but after a few seconds, the weight that had been put on him by that look was too much, and he had to turn his stare down to the Colonel’s chest.
“I’m deeply sorry,” Seraing said quietly when Dr Ji took a deeper breath. The doctor shut up when he realised Seraing wanted to speak, while the Arbiter didn’t react at all. So in the sudden silence, Seraing cleared his throat. He was still talking to the Arbiter’s badge. “I failed your order. I got overwhelmed, and I took my eyes off of him… and I wasn’t able to tell if he was a xenogenic or not. I shot him and lost him.”
“It doesn’t matter. I knew something was going to happen. I knew he was a xenogenic.”
For the first sentence, Seraing’s heart sank and became much heavier, but then he forgot about that temporarily as he raised his head. Instinctively glancing towards each other with Dr Ji, they locked their eyes in agreement. It was of course Dr Ji again, who took the initiative to ask.
“Since when? Why didn’t you tell us? How did you know?”
“Not long before the aurora disappeared. He slipped. And I didn’t have time. The Admiral said he was part of the bee invasion. Was that true?”
So, the doctor had another chance to shine, while Seraing’s fingers started to tremble. The Arbiter was calm as ever, cold as ever, and this really made him feel secure. But also, his flat answer didn’t really erase his own shame for himself. This was the only personal matter that the Colonel asked from him, after all. To take care of An Zhe. And what happened? An Zhe stole an important sample, got into a terrible situation and then Seraing shot him before he escaped. This was the exact opposite of what he promised to the Colonel… in fact, Seraing had a hard time forgiving himself.
Facing his boss wasn’t easy at all, but Seraing now wished that the Colonel was a bit more emotional. Some scolding, shouting, or even a punch would do. But the Colonel said it doesn’t matter. It was true: even Seraing had no idea how the Arbiter kept his cool in any circumstances. He never would be able to, even if he was a better Judge himself. Unless there was nothing between those two… But Seraing knew that couldn’t be the case.
At least, Dr Ji talked instead of him. It made his job a bit easier. When the doctor finished his summary about the events of the previous night, the Colonel seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a second, before the green eyes found Seraing again. Seraing didn’t look away anymore.
“He wouldn’t destroy the sample. He has to have it on him. He was never a human, this is why you didn’t recognise the infection when you trialed him.” The Colonel aimed this towards Seraing, and the young Judge frowned, as he listened attentively, not missing a single word of his boss. “Neither I nor the genetic examination had any concrete proof of him being a xenogenic, however, he is extremely weak, with no attacking abilities, nor defensive abilities. I doubt he can infect anyone. He definitely lied about his part in the outbreak.”
After his statements, Seraing’s anxiousness was greatly lowered.
Colonel Lu really had that presence… Before he returned, everything was in chaos. All the time while he had to lead the Trial Court and hold everything in his hand, Seraing felt like he was dancing on the edge of a cliff: just one wrong move, and he would fall… Now that the Colonel was here and summarised his thoughts, everything seemed to be in order. The chaos ended, even though their circumstances were still messy, and hard to deal with. Seraing knew that everything was going to be alright since the Arbiter had come back.
He would never be able to achieve this affect if he was the Arbiter. And he didn’t know anyone who had the same ability to show the light in the darkness. It doesn’t matter that the Colonel still had no proof or concrete ways to solve all the problems, his presence was enough to calm the atmosphere down.
At least for Seraing. He just realised, how much he depended on his boss. A sad smile curled onto his lips. How did this person think, Seraing could be his successor?
“I have to go now.” The Arbiter’s words had woken him up, realising their time was already up. “I will retrieve the sample.” He didn’t say “An Zhe” which made Seraing frown again. “Until I come back, try not to get involved with the military. Don’t make the situation worse.”
Saying this, the Colonel only looked at Dr Ji, clearly indicating who would be the one causing trouble in his absence. The blond doctor pressed his lips together, but instead of being offended, he also frowned and seemed worried.
The Colonel nodded to Seraing, for he saluted once again, and stared at his boss turning on his heels, and speedwalking to the direction which he was coming from.
Dr Ji and Seraing silently watched the Arbiter getting boarded, and the fighter plane didn’t waste much time. It was not the only plane that had taken off: dozens of them were ready to fly, but the Colonel’s was the one leading the small fleet. Their roaring was so loud that the air resonated from it, Seraing felt like two pillows were pressing against his ears for a couple of seconds.
Then, these sounds started to fade as the planes were in the air, shrinking into a tiny speck on the pale blue sky. It wasn’t even noon yet.
Seraing didn’t move. Up until this moment, his body was on high alert. But now, he wasn’t a replacement for the Colonel anymore, and he didn’t have any urgent job to do. His shoulders sank, and he felt a slight pain all over his body as the tiredness that he was suppressing in the last few days or even weeks had finally reached its limits.
“You think, he’s going to kill An Zhe now?”
Dr Ji’s question seemed to be loud after this short amount of silence. Seraing was startled. He lifted his head and looked at the doctor, who was observing his face in the very dim light they had now, thanks for the opened doors of the hangar.
“Huh?” The Judge asked back, and blinked a few times. He felt like waking up from a dream suddenly. Dr Ji’s eyebrows were rising up.
“Have you actually fallen asleep standing?”
Seraing blinked again, and showed a slight smile as a response, before he tucked into his own hair, lifting up his hat with his other hand for a moment. This movement refreshed his attention.
“I apologise. I don’t know…” Seraing sighed, and his worry had come back too. “We kind of guessed right, that he had a hunch about An Zhe… but it looks like he wasn’t letting him be around the base willingly, knowing what he is, if he only found out about his origin before this catastrophe. So… I guess they didn’t have that good relationship that I thought they had.”
“I would be surprised if he would kill him.” Dr Ji murmured, and when Seraing looked at his face again, the doctor seemed to be lost in his memories, as if he knew something more about the matter. “But he respects the base and his orders way too much. If he was told to kill An Zhe, he will. And, well… I guess, this is just how it is. He’s the Arbiter. Even if they were friends, the military would not be happy with that. After he killed so many people for just the possibility of being xenogenic – don’t get me wrong, I believe in his abilities, but you know… others don’t. If he’s not killing An Zhe after knowing exactly what he is, Lu Feng may lose his already weakening position as the Arbiter. And then what?
This time around Dr Ji was on point, probably his mind also cleared up after talking to the Colonel. In the end, it was not only Seraing who felt relieved by the Arbiter’s presence.
“If he can find him.” Seraing then added. “Hours have passed since An Zhe left. We don’t know what else he can do. He might have gone back to the Abyss. If that’s the case, there’s not much chance for us to retrieve the sample.”
Dr Ji seemed to be annoyed by this.
“Well, if you would’ve left me on the floor, maybe he wouldn’t have escaped. I appreciate that you were looking after me, but that sample was… hey… what’s wrong?”
Seraing fell to the wall with his back, and he slid down to the ground slowly, pulling up his legs and leaning over his right knee with his arm as a pillow under his forehead. He didn’t want to show this to Dr Ji, and make him worried, but he couldn’t keep it together anymore. His limbs were slightly trembling; he couldn’t control himself. Tightly closing his eyes, he sighed shallowly.
A light weight and a tiny pain appeared on his left shoulder as Dr Ji grabbed him, and in the next moment, the Judge also felt some thin, cold fingers touching his neck, checking his pulse.
“Seraing… can you hear me? Are you not feeling well? Please, answer me.”
So in the end, he really did make the doctor worried.
“I’m fine…” He breathed out quietly, not lifting his head up or doing any movement. “Doctor, what do you think, what makes someone a good Arbiter?”
“Hah?” The Judge was able to hear the shock in the doctor’s voice. “… Well, I guess, be Lu Feng. I suppose, he’s doing something right if his brain is still intact after seven years of serving. You’re doing good mimicking him; at least you’re just as bad when it comes to showing emotions…”
Seraing’s lips slightly curved into a smile.
“Am I?” He asked back. “Have you ever seen him collapsing by fatigue?”
“I… haven’t. So you are just tired, huh.” Dr Ji’s cold fingers left his neck, but Seraing still felt their presence on his skin. “You should go back to your room and sleep. You’re starting to ask nonsensical questions.”
“I wanted to be like him.” Seraing admitted; his voice became a bit hoarse, and he still didn’t look up, only stared at the blackness of his own eyelids. “I knew the both of you from the Eden. I was a few years younger, of course… but you both were very famous among us. We knew how amazing your skills are, how smart you are. We secretly had bets about which professionalism you were going to choose. With you, doctor, I was certain, you were going to be a scientist. But with the Colonel… he was so perfect in everything, so I couldn’t choose. When I later learned that he applied to be part of the Trial Court, it felt natural. I always thought, only the best of the best are able to perform well in this job.”
It was rare, that Seraing wanted to talk this much about himself, or that he had someone who was willing to listen. There was no reason why he did this… he couldn’t really explain. He just wanted the doctor to understand him better, maybe. Since he was the best friend of the Arbiter. Seraing couldn’t talk about his admiration towards the Colonel with a lot of people. They didn’t really like that man.
Dr Ji’s hand was still resting on his shoulder, but his grip had already loosened. Somehow this touch made Seraing feel better.
“The best of the best in being crazy.” The doctor murmured. “Or the best of the best being cold-hearted.”
“Do you really think the Colonel is cold-hearted?” Seraing whispered to his knees.
“… He wasn’t. In the past… he was self-contained and too direct, and this made others not wanting to interact with him, but he cared for people. Now… I’m not sure anymore.”
“But do you believe in him? Are you still thinking of him as your best friend?”
“What’s this, an interrogation? Well… yeah… I guess. If not me, who would take this spot? But it’s not easy to be his friend nowadays. He only got worse in being that self-contained and that direct.”
“Do you blame him for the kills he made?” Seraing didn’t address the question about the interrogation; in a way it was, but it was only for himself. He also wanted to understand the doctor better… he just needed some time to pull himself up from his lowest point right now.
There was a short silence. Dr Ji still kept his hand on Seraing, so he felt every movement that the doctor had made. Those fingers now slightly moved, as if he wanted to stroke Seraing to soothe him, but he didn’t dare to make that too noticeable.
“… I disagree with some of it, and he should be more cautious when he does it, but… No. I know he wouldn’t pull the trigger if he isn’t certain that he’s killing an infected person. I just wish he could see through all the consequences sometimes.”
Seraing felt relieved. His smile appeared again, and finally, he was able to raise his head. Dr Ji’s eyebrows were still wrinkled as he was frowning deeply, and looked at him with piercing blue eyesm as if he wanted to catch something in Seraing’s gaze. Seraing sighed, and he dropped his head backwards, tilting it to the wall as well, while smiling at him.
“I see. So even if you think he’s cold-hearted and crazy, you know, he’s the best.”
Dr Ji seemed a bit annoyed hearing this, and this was the point when he drew his hand back from Seraing’s shoulder. As he did that, he decided to sit beside Seraing; he bent both of his knees to rest his elbows on them.
“I don’t think he’s crazy.” He whispered. Seraing slightly widened his eyes. “I agree with what you’ve said not long ago. He’s protecting himself. I know that. But sometimes it’s just annoying. There’s no need to protect yourself when you’re with your friend, right?”
“Sometimes it’s hard to switch,” Seraing explained slowly, observing Dr Ji’s profile who wasn’t looking at him anymore. “When you’re doing it for too long, it becomes your second nature. Even if you want to reach out, you can’t. Or you may think, you aren’t allowed to. Maybe you’re punishing yourself with it as well. Or maybe you believe what others say about you being crazy. And to prevent something terrible from happening with the people you care about, you keep the distance.”
At last, Dr Ji couldn’t resist looking at Seraing again. His gaze swiped through the Judge’s face, and the doctor narrowed his eyes behind his glasses.
“Are you still talking about Lu Feng?”
Seraing let out a soundless laughter, and then looked away.
“I’m nothing like the Colonel.” He said, not answering directly to the question, even though Dr Ji’s hunch was right to some degree. “My heart can’t take this burden that well. He’s way stronger mentally and emotionally too. I’m not even fit to be a simple Judge. I heard it many times. But do you know why I didn’t care about those opinions?”
“I don’t. But you will tell me, right?” There was a slight mockery in Dr Ji’s voice, but his tone was warm and quiet. Seraing smiled again.
“Because I thought he thinks of me as someone worthy.” These words, however, burnt his throat, and the wound seemed to make it swollen; it burnt his eyes as well with stinging pain. His smile disappeared, his lips trembled. He needed a few seconds to be able to talk casually. “I worked really hard to get his recognition. Even when everyone said, I would not do well as a Judge. I always aimed to be on his side. I got to be his personal helper. I thought he chose me because I was able to understand him a little. I thought, I understood, what was the reason behind the success of the Arbiter, and I also thought, he felt like I was not judging him as everyone else did. And I’m not. I still admire him. But… I was wrong. I just realised I’m not only not fitting to be a Judge, but to be his helper either.” Seraing closed his eyes again, his fingers curled into a fist, he dug his nails into his skin. “I failed the only order he gave me, and he didn’t get angry… he said, he knew this was going to happen. He didn’t expect me to carry out his request successfully. He knows I’m not worthy. So tell me, doctor… What do you think makes an Arbiter good? If I had to be his successor, what exactly can I bring to the table as the next Arbiter?”
Dr Ji didn’t answer, but Seraing didn’t mind it. His heart pounded faster than usual, and he realised that now he was the one who was having a meltdown. He should’ve immediately stopped these symptoms… but for some reason, he just let it happen. The tears he couldn’t shed before, the helplessness he had to suppress for the last few days and weeks… He only wanted a minute, when he could let out these things. He really reached a point, where his own beliefs had shattered, and there was nothing that could’ve kept them together.
“I took his words differently.” Said Dr Ji after a minute. Seraing opened his wet eyes, and looked at him. Dr Ji wasn’t frowning anymore, but for some reason, his lips curled downwards. “It was not that he didn’t believe you. But even he himself wasn’t able to catch An Zhe’s lies. We’ve agreed that Lu Feng is the best Judge, right? And he knows this as well… that bastard.” The doctor seemingly felt happier after he added this word. “So him not getting angry at you was because if he would’ve done that, he should’ve gotten angry at himself even more. Since he was the one, who let An Zhe live here to begin with. I think he wants to take the blame even if you were the one making that shot at the end before An Zhe escaped.”
Seraing’s body loosened, and once the doctor’s words sank in, he felt a click in his brain.
“Oh…” He sighed. “But you blamed me earlier too.”
Dr Ji stared at him, his jaw dropped, and then his skin suddenly took a brighter red hue. The doctor quickly adjusted his glasses, turning away from Seraing.
“I… I said, he maybe thinks like this… I haven’t said, I think like that too. You didn’t listen to me. And now An Zhe is out in the wilderness.”
His words were trembling slightly, and it made Seraing smile. Finally, he wiped down his face, where his tears left some wet, cold marks.
“Well, I’m not denying it.” He said, regaining his calmness. “I should’ve listened to you. But I doubt, I could’ve sent anyone out there who has a better chance to find him.”
“That is… maybe true…” Dr Ji waved his hand as if he wanted to dismiss Seraing’s rightness. “But you were wasting too much time on me.”
“Alright… next time, I will let you alone. I will not check you first, if you are alive or not, I will concentrate on my job, and catch the traitors, regardless of your well-being. I promise.” Seraing even nodded when Dr Ji’s head turned towards him once more.
“You…”
The doctor jumped on his feet and looked down at him in disbelief. His face once again turned red, but now his eyes were fierce, just like an hour ago, when Seraing caught him at the aisle.
“You really… you little…” Clearly, he wanted to use a derogatory word, but stopped himself. Seraing was curious about what word he wanted to use. “You know what… right. Just let me die! Nothing will be lost if I die, huh? I’m just a scientist, who did nothing admirable anyway.“ Seraing started to lose his curiosity, and concern awakened in his heart. Was the doctor just simply offended, or… “It’s your fault, everything is your fault! Deal with it yourself! You don’t have to worry, you’re just as annoying as Lu Feng. You will be a perfect successor to him!”
So he was offended.
Seraing sighed. He still had some learning to do about how to handle this person. But he felt amused by him. The fact that the Colonel was okay with having such an energetic yet sensitive person on his side showed, he was not really that cold-hearted. Probably Dr Ji didn’t understand this.
“Wait,” Seraing said when Dr Ji was about to storm out from this dark corner. The doctor stopped halfway in his turn, and looked back at him. “Would you mind helping me out…? I’m really tired. I need to go back to my residence.”
Dr Ji looked at him from head to toe, and fell into his thoughts. Seraing really wanted to know, what kind of thoughts they were, because his face got some blush again just a few seconds later.
“I… don’t think I can carry you.” He said uncertainly. Seraing raised his eyebrows.
“Carry?” He asked. “On your back?”
But right away he remembered: he was holding Dr Ji in his arms before, when the blond man was passed out. Oh… true.
“Not on my back, not in my… my arms… nowhere!” Dr Ji burst out with a louder voice. He seemed to be embarrassed. “You are too heavy! That is what I meant!”
“I didn’t expect you to carry me, just to come with me to my room.” Seraing calmly smiled. “I thought you wanted to wait for me until my job is done for today… to see if your flirtation is useful or not. I’m done for today, doctor.”
“Done? Yeah… I’m also done with you for today! Sorry, but I don’t have time, I wasted too much on… on sleeping. And I have a lot of work to do now, so I gotta go!”
He probably wanted to say “wasted too much time on you”, because the Judge still remembered how the doctor misunderstood him in that room at the Eden when Seraing said he was missing out on his job for him. But of course, the doctor couldn’t use that phrase, it would’ve been a lie… he was kind of cute when he tried to hurt him back. Seraing felt entertained by it, and didn’t take his words to heart. He watched the doctor become a white patch again, as he left him in such a high spirit… at least he was fine now.
He didn’t take Dr Ji completely seriously. Not when he was offering himself to him, not when he was saying these things, as if he wanted to insult Seraing. He knew the doctor had other reasons for both of these actions, but this was maybe the first time when Seraing actually wished to experience this person more. Even though they had known each other for quite a long time.
He had to stand up, and go back to his room alone.
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