It was already half-past twelve in the afternoon, Ein and Arnaut were conversing with each other as they ate their packed meals inside one of the health centre's recovery rooms.

"I'm not really in the mood yet to talk about what happened in the lift, Arnaut..." Ein's face was gloomy, his eyes were downcast and his voice sounded uneasy. He then puts down his lunch box on the overbed table and drinks water from his insulated flask.

"Hmm, let me guess, it's those memories from college?" Arnaut glanced at Ein with a curious expression, he then shoves a heaping spoon of rice and beef bulgogi to his mouth and chews vigorously.

"Yes… and I'm getting these weird dreams lately. I don't even know what to feel about them…" Ein then tosses half of the kimchi into his lunch box and mixes it together with his omurice. As he stirred the rice mixture, he saw Arnaut's face contort in disgust.

The spicy smell of curry and the pungent fermented smell of kimchi filled the room, it made Arnaut feel a little stuffy, he then stood up and hastily opened the windows.

"We can't afford to have other patients smell fermented goods in here, else Monique will roast us later. Haha!" A nervous laugh escapes Arnaut's mouth.

Ein leers at Arnaut and a mocking grin formed on his mouth. "Maybe that's the reason why your future in-laws are sending you kimchi every day." He then chuckles softly. "They know you hate it so much and wanted for you to stay away from their precious daughter."

Arnaut's face flushes red in embarrassment. "H-hey don't talk rubbish!" Arnaut then flicks a grain of rice to Ein, hitting him on the cheek. "I'm used to the smell of fermented things since my mother would make fermented tofu back in Taichung." Arnaut sneers at Ein. "It's just that… Seori's parents enjoy making ultra spicy kimchi and my tongue can't take it" Arnaut sighs.

"Ugh, how uncivilised." Ein's voice sounded annoyed as he plucked off the rice grain that got stuck on his face. He then took out his handkerchief and wiped his cheek.

Arnaut hums softly as he saw Ein's mood lighten up.

"Anyways... You mentioned you were having weird dreams? Then let's talk about that instead." Arnaut smirks as he gets back to his seat. "I won't let you avoid your therapy regardless, so you better talk, Ein." Arnaut then points his spoon at Ein. "Fess up or I'll recommend you to the hospital and I'll make sure you'll celebrate your birthday there." A sardonic grin beamed from Arnaut's face.

"Fine! Let me just finish my meal." Ein groaned as he realised that it was no use trying to avoid therapy.

***

A man in a navy suit and an elderly man who wore a black chef uniform was busy eating lunch at a table by the corner of the dining hall. Emery grabbed two servings of Shepherd's pie for the both of them while Henry brought out and opened a bottle of Sangiovese wine to pair up with their food.

Their conversation had a light mood as Henry disclosed to Emery how he met Ein in the past.

Ein was homeless ever since he got disinherited. He had been wandering to and fro youth council houses and shelters for two years and was struggling to make ends meet.

"So, both of you met each other at one of the shared houses… and then Ein was the head honcho?" Emery gazed at Henry inquisitively.

Henry nods and takes a sip of his wine. "He's not the honcho though… more like, he was the eldest out of all of us… He was around nineteen? or maybe twenty during that time." Henry scratches his scalp as he tries to remember.

"He would often keep to himself and leave the house early in the morning and arrive by 11 o'clock in the evening. I recall the other kids in the house said that Ein did a lot of shady jobs to raise money for himself." Henry then takes a sip from his wine glass. "Sometimes I even saw him return home, bloodied and battered."

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"How long did you last in there? I hear council houses were very chaotic and messy." Emery raised an eyebrow as he spooned up a piece of pie from his bowl.

"It took around three months for my mother to finalize her custody of me... A week after the verdict came, my mother picked me up and a month after that, we moved to Canada." Henry then scooped up a piece of the shepherd's pie and ate it. His eyes sparkled with delight as he tasted the succulent, herbed lamb stuffing and the rich, creamy potato crust.

"No wonder this is a hit, this is ridiculously good Emery!" Henry then took another bite and chewed his food with gusto. "Give me the recipe before you leave, I want to make this at home!"

A bright smile beams from Emery's face. "I'll teach it to you later in the kitchen!" Emery chuckled as he swirled his wine glass. "I can't risk writing it down or else someone will butcher or sell it to the competition." He then puts down his glass and glances at Henry with a forlorn expression.

"I want to clarify something, Henry... when you left the council house, who departed first... You or Ein?"

"I'm not sure when did Ein exactly leave but...." Henry wipes his lips with a napkin as he finishes his serving of pie. "A month before I left, I couldn't see Ein in the council house anymore. Some of the kids there who last saw Ein said that he had been taken in by a rich couple." He then refills his wine glass.

"That might be the time when the Moss family took in Ein." Emery takes a sip from his glass. "I recalled Mr & Mrs Moss confiding in me. They were clueless about how to raise a son in the past. Haha!"

"I see… Is that why Ms Salva dotes on Ein?" Henry raises his eyebrow and glances at Emery with a curious face.

"Possibly!" Emery then shrugs his shoulder. "I haven't heard much about Ein's childhood before the Moss family took him in. The only thing that Ein told me was that he got disowned and his biological family hated him." Emery then grabs the wine bottle and refills his glass.

"Anyway, let's get back to your story, kiddo!" Emery smirks at Henry. "How exactly did you end up having a life-debt with Ein?"

"This might be a little tough on your heart, Emery you really want me to tell you?" Henry crossed his arms and gazed at him with a worried expression.

"I can handle it! Come on kiddo, I'm not that faint of heart." Emery then raised his thumb as if to assure Henry that he's prepared for any news whether it was good or bad.

"Alright then…" Henry sighs, he then downed the wine on his glass and refilled it again before narrating his childhood to Emery.

"My father was a soldier in the British Army… When America called for action during the War on Terror, he got sent to Afghanistan."

Henry then rests both of his elbows on the table and clasps his hands together, resting his chin on his knuckles. "He stayed there for two years and then returned home to us, but my dad… I think he left a substantial part of himself there." A bitter smile appeared on Henry's face.

"At first, my mom and dad fought over petty things verbally. But a month after his homecoming, my dad turned into a pathetic drunkard and a dopehead." Henry's face darkens, he then swirls his wine glass and gazes at it with a bitter expression.

"Now that I think about it… I believe that was how my dad tried to cope after being pulled out from the warzone." He then groans as he recollects further. "Eventually, the alcohol and his substance abuse got worse… And it escalated to the point that my dad would beat up my mother or me if things didn't go his way." Henry stopped swirling his glass and took another sip.

"I was in primary school back then, and my classmates would talk shit about my parents… It got to a point that they started to torment me. They would beat me up and spread rumours about me being gay." A sarcastic grin was etched on Henry's face. "I got so fed up with one of the kids who led the bullying, I scared him off by pinning him down."

"Did you hit the kid?" Emery glances at Henry with a curious expression.

"No, I did something far worse than that." Henry chuckled. "He was raised as a bigot, so I held him down and kissed him on the face. It scared him so badly he started to avoid the other boys in school."

"Well shit, you've got some ballsy moves for a kid!" Emery refilled his wine glass and scooped up a spoonful of pie to his mouth.

"My dad heard about the incident though… and went ballistic." Henry groaned. "My mom argued that I was just trying to protect myself, but dad thought differently… Although, he wasn't far off the mark." Henry snorts.

"He beat me up so badly." Henry then finishes his glass of wine. "Mom tried to protect me from dad, and she got hit instead… that day became a bloody mess and at the end, I had to call for help from the neighbours."

Tears started to swell from Henry's eyes. "My dad had stabbed my mom with a broken glass bottle." He then covered his face with both of his hands. "I asked my dad why he had done such a terrible thing, and he said that it was my fault."

Emery found it difficult to finish his plate of shepherd's pie as he listened to Henry's troubled childhood. His eyes would squint every time he hears more about Henry's abusive father. He then sets down his utensils and drinks an entire glass of Sangiovese wine.

Tears drenched Henry's cheeks. "When the police came to arrest dad that night… the local council called in the social workers for me and the police filed a case for mom. I never thought that it would take a few months before I saw mom again."

While Henry's parents were in the midst of a violent divorce, he was taken away by social workers for his protection. Eventually, the local council of Henley-on-Thames decided to send Henry to one of the council houses where Ein lived briefly.

"I was in a dark place during that time… I even tried running away from the house, but then, I got caught by Ein one night trying to harm myself." Henry wiped his tears with his handkerchief and slowly collected himself.

"He was the only one in that house that genuinely cared. He would listen to me whenever I feel like talking… And whenever I feel like shit he would stay by my side, not saying a word until I calmed down." A feeble smile appears on Henry's face. "It was all thanks to Ein's actions that gave me the courage to live on… If I hadn't met him during that time, I wouldn't be standing here now."

~~~~~

To be Continued.

~~~~~