After walking a bit, we arrived home.

Ahmet and Kerem were whispering quietly while applying bandages to our injuries.

At least neither of us had any serious wounds, just a few minor scratches.

Seconds later, a voice rose in the room.

"What did I tell you, Taşkın!" said Ahmet.

I could tell from his raised voice that he could no longer hold back. The only response I could give was a simple apology or something similar, but hoping to calm the situation, I decided to respond differently.

"What did you say, Ahmet? I don’t remember."

"Pfft hahaha"

Cengiz started laughing.

Ahmet was tending to my wounds while Kerem was taking care of Cengiz’s.

When I looked at Ahmet’s face, I could see he was torn between laughing and staying serious. Yet, he was still trying to maintain a stern expression.

Kerem, although not laughing as heartily as Cengiz, had a smile on his face.

Within seconds, Ahmet regained his seriousness.

"You’re so funny, Taşkın."

As he said this, he was pressing on the scraped and bleeding wound on my right arm with his finger.

I turned to Ahmet with a pained smile.

"Alright, Ahmet, I’m sorry. Please stop pressing on my wound. It already hurts."

Hearing this, he stopped pressing on my wound.

"Are you going to make more jokes?"

"Well, I don’t know. I might."

Kerem and Cengiz started giggling.

As Ahmet was about to press on my wound again, I hastily interrupted.

"It’s a joke, Ahmet. Really, it’s just a joke."

Upon hearing this, Ahmet sighed.

"You never learn, Taşkın."

"I’m glad neither of you has any serious injuries."

"We only have one day off, and we’re dealing with this. It’s hard not to get frustrated."

"True, but you’re not going to spend the whole day taking care of us. It’s still early. We can still go to the amusement park together. And this time, Cengiz will join us too."

After saying this, I turned my head towards Cengiz. He was nodding in agreement.

Seeing this, Ahmet said, "At least your fighting hasn’t made things worse. I’m glad you two are getting along."

"Do you two feel well enough to go to the amusement park?" asked Kerem.

Excitedly, I said, "I’m feeling great."

Cengiz and I made eye contact. It turned out we had spoken at the same time, but in that moment of excitement, I hadn’t realized it.

Seeing us, Kerem and Ahmet had softened considerably.

Besides, as I mentioned earlier, it was still early. We had plenty of time until the evening.

"Alright then, since neither of you has a serious injury and you seem to be feeling quite well," said Ahmet.

Cengiz and I nodded in synchronization after each of Ahmet’s words, indicating our agreement.

"You two have really become irritating. It was better when you were at odds."

Hearing this, Cengiz and I started laughing. I noticed Kerem was laughing along with us.

Ahmet was giving Kerem a stern look. When Kerem noticed this, he stopped laughing and said, "What’s the matter? It’s funny."

I chimed in, both to support Kerem and to steer the conversation back to the amusement park.

"I don’t think there’s any point in staying angry, Ahmet. Yes, a bad event happened, but the outcomes weren’t bad. We’ve reconciled with Cengiz. There’s no need to drag it out. Let’s go to the amusement park and have fun together."

Cengiz, who had been listening to me from where he was seated, said, "Yes, Ahmet, Taşkın is right. Why are you dragging this out? It’s over now."

Ahmet’s expression fell. He looked at Cengiz, but the anger on his face had disappeared, replaced by a bitter expression.

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"I’m sorry, Cengiz. I mean... for behaving that way towards you today."

Cengiz smiled and said, "I was actually waiting for you to apologize. I was starting to think you weren’t going to."

It seemed that Cengiz forgave the unpleasant incident very quickly. Or perhaps his relationship with Ahmet was at a higher level than mine, which is why he forgave him so easily. I’m not sure.

"Haha. I love this side of you, Cengiz. It makes me happy to see you make a joke out of these unfortunate events. Some people would drag such events on and on," said Ahmet.

He turned to me and said, "Let’s go to the amusement park then." I was really happy. I was very excited as it would be my first time going to an amusement park.

At that moment, something struck me.

I was working out at the gym, but I had only started a few days ago, so I hadn’t received any payment yet. If I didn’t have money, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the rides at the amusement park.

I wondered if they would pay for me if I asked them. But... no, I couldn’t ask.

It’s fine if I don’t ride any attractions. Just watching them would be enough. After all, we can always go again... after I get paid... yes... there’s no reason to be upset.

Ahh. Not again. These pitiable and helpless attitudes.

I was wondering when you would show up.

h̵̜̰̎̍̎a͇͒̄̃͂̕h̨͚͓̩̋ͯ̂͂a̸̰̩͕ͤ̍͋. Did you miss me that much?

You know I’m joking, right?

Yes. I do. I’m not as stupid as you.

What’s this now? Are you here to insult me again?

I’m always with you. You know that. I just prefer to stay silent. For some reason, you get angry when I speak up about these worthless friends of yours.

What do you have against them? Why do you hate them?

Because they are weak. Also, you’re becoming more attached to them. Do you really think you’ll be with them forever?

Maybe I will. How do you know?

h̵̜̰̎̍̎a͇͒̄̃͂̕h̨͚͓̩̋ͯ̂͂a̸̰̩͕ͤ̍͋. Don’t make me laugh.

At least your thoughts will change when you grow up and mature.

How can you be so sure?

Just wait and see, Taşkın.

"Hey!"

"Taşkın, we’re calling you! You were zoning out."

"What!?"

"Your behavior is scaring me, Taşkın," said Cengiz.

"Sorry, Cengiz."

You should be more careful when talking to me. At this rate, your friends will think you’re crazy.

"It’s your fault! Don’t contact me at inappropriate times then.

In the future, when you talk to me, you’ll also be able to talk to others. Think of it like doing two jobs at the same time. But of course, it won’t happen all at once. It requires time.

I understand.

You should talk to your friends now, Taşkın.

You’re still talking to me. The situation is getting increasingly strange.

When I heard what Milaz said, Kerem and Ahmet caught my attention.

Both were looking at me.

"I’m fine, just lost in thought."

"I must have bumped my head somewhere while fighting. Haha."

"Anyway, when are we going to the amusement park?"

I wanted to change the subject and soothe them a little.

They didn’t dwell on it much, and Ahmet said, "If you want, we can leave right now. There’s no point in waiting."

Cengiz and Kerem said, "Works for us," and turned their heads towards me.

"Okay, let’s go right away." I said and headed for the door.

As I was about to open the door, Kerem called out from behind me.

"Taşkın! Wait a minute. Can you come here for a moment?"

My hand was left in the air. I turned around; all three were looking at me. I walked over to them and started looking at their faces with curiosity.

Ahmet spoke up.

"Are you going to the amusement park in those clothes? You always wear the same clothes."

Kerem was holding something behind him, as if he was hiding it. When he noticed me looking, he said, "Looks like I can’t hide it anymore," and showed me what he had been holding behind him.

T-This was probably some sort of gift package!

I... was having trouble swallowing.

I had seen similar pictures in the textbooks Elif brought me.

Parents were buying gifts for their children.

Unintentionally, tears began to flow from my eyes. Some droplets were falling into my mouth, leaving a salty taste on my tongue.

Elif... my angel. I-I couldn’t protect you. Forgive me. Please forgive me. I’m sure you never gave up until the end. I’m sure you fought until the end. Who knows how scared you were, how much you resisted, how much pain you endured.

... (grumblings)

The droplets falling from my eyes were coming rapidly and one after another, like a heavy rain falling to the ground.

I-I wish I could have been a little faster. I-I wish I had arrived a few minutes earlier, maybe... maybe I could have saved you.

Taşkın was now crying with sobs. His friends thought he was moved and crying because of the gift they had bought him, but it was actually not quite related.

Of course, the gift had touched Taşkın, but the pain and longing for Elif weighed much more heavily.

"Taşkın, come on. We didn’t expect you to be so emotional. Stop crying. I’m really thinking to myself that I wish I hadn’t given you the gift," said Kerem.

"I-I’m sorry. I’ve made you regret buying the gift."

"You don’t need to apologize. Come on, open your gift now," said Ahmet.

Cengiz immediately followed up with Ahmet’s comment, saying, "Brother, don’t do that."

When Cengiz said this, Kerem and Ahmet glanced at him. They were naturally surprised, but neither of them said anything.

"Come on, Taşkın, open your gift," said Kerem.

I knelt on my knees and started opening the package. There was a nice shirt and jeans. There were also new underwear and a tank top.

I was always wearing the same clothes. They hadn’t worn out much yet, but they were very dirty. They had many stains on them, and for some reason, these stains wouldn’t come off. So, this gift was very nice. I looked at all of it gratefully.

"Please don’t start crying again," said Cengiz.

"Haha. Don’t worry, I won’t cry," I replied.

Ahmet looked me over and said, "Alright, go to the bathroom and put on your new clothes, then let’s leave the house."

As I was heading towards the bathroom, I paused for a moment and turned around.

"You guys should change into your clothes too," I said.

Kerem said, "Our clothes aren’t too dirty. We can go like this, but you look like you’ve been rolling on the ground."

"Because I really was rolling on the ground, or rather, we were. Did you forget that I just fought with Taşkın, Kerem?" said Cengiz.

"Haha. You’re right, Cengiz," said Ahmet. Kerem was also smiling.

"Well, Cen-"

Ahmet cut me off and spoke up.

"Taşkın, that’s enough of this chatter. Change your clothes already. Don’t you want to go to the amusement park?"

"Okay, okay, I’m changing my clothes right now."

I had questions to ask, but it seemed I wouldn’t be able to ask them today.

I quickly went into the bathroom and started changing my clothes.

A few minutes later, I was ready and came out of the bathroom.

"Wow, wow, Taşkın. Look at how handsome you are!" said Cengiz, and then Ahmet added, "Cengiz is right. I think girls will surround us before we even reach the amusement park."

Kerem was nodding in agreement with Ahmet and Cengiz, smiling at me.

I knew they were joking, but I appreciated it.

"Thank you. Shall we go to the amusement park now?" I said.

"Yes, we’re all ready. Let’s go," said Ahmet.

We all left the house together and set out for the amusement park.