We finished our meal and headed back. We then parted ways, technically, since whenever I couldn’t see Emily, I knew she was around me somewhere. We never truly parted ways, in a sense, although both of us were adjusting to it.

It was still too early for me to prepare, but Emily’s family had started preparations. Emily assisted them, so I stayed in my room, careful to not block her path. I ended up moving around quite a bit, following in her movements, dodging her line of sight. I stood as far as I could. Had Emily’s family known about the entire ordeal, I would probably be there, making it easier for all of them to move around. As long as I kept Emily in my line of sight, she could move freely without needing to mind my position. We would be in the same room and this entire issue wouldn’t exist.

Unfortunately, it was unlikely that Emily’s family would trust us that far. I wasn’t keen on stirring up trouble on a big day like this, either, so I remained silent.

“Huh, yeah?”

Emily suddenly asked.

“I’m fine, though.”

I guess her family must have caught on to how little she talked, or maybe in the weirdness of her actions. When you spend a good portion of your life with someone, you would notice these kinds of changes easily, especially since she changed after spending some time away from her family. It was only a matter of time before they asked her about it.

She glanced at me, but I could only shrug. I wasn’t in the room with her, so I couldn’t provide any explanation whatsoever. She then turned her head back toward whoever asked her the question in the first place. She looked startled all of a sudden.

“Really, it’s nothing.”

She said while waving her hand. I noticed that I was missing a lot of contexts, so it may just be me hearing things, but I wondered if I should help her. I couldn’t really do anything, though. I could probably go up to her room and knock and borrow her, but I thought that it would be unhelpful. It wouldn’t end the situation we were in, nor would it explain anything.

“Just talk normally.”

I said while pretending to plug my earphones into my head. I didn’t actually hold any earphones, and even if I did, turning them on wouldn’t make any difference. We would still be able to hear each other as if we stood side by side. I hoped that Emily had forgotten about that, though, and talked normally to help clear things out.

She glanced my way, limiting her eye movements, letting them move only slightly. She wouldn’t want to do anything that would risk her position, and I didn’t need a reply either, so I just shook my head.

“Don’t worry about me.”

Emily let out a firm nod and looked back toward whoever she was talking with. She blinked, her eyes seeming more clear than before.

“Mom, Dad, Sis.”

She called out to her family member. I turned around and made my way to the bed, pretending to distance myself as far as I possibly could.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

I wonder what it is…

I thought of closing my eyes and getting some rest. I should trust Emily’s ability in dealing with this situation. I knew how capable she is, and it wasn’t like I could be of any help. I couldn’t think of any way to get out of this situation without getting myself involved, which was something undesirable.

Thoughts on how to explain our situation occupied my mind, not that I’m planning to say them out loud, but my thoughts couldn’t prepare me for the things I heard next.

“I’m stuck with Simon.”

I turned around, my eyes landing on Emily who gazed at her family with a sharp glare. I threw myself off the bed and crawled my way toward her, putting myself in front of her. I looked at her eyes, which emits a sharp unwavering glare filled with determination, but at the same time, had a hint of self-doubt.

What are you doing!?

I screamed inside, but I couldn’t do anything, I didn’t even know what she was planning. Her words could mean different things. Would her family believe her, was she revealing this entire thing in the first place, or was she talking about a different kind of stuck? She moved to the side, away from me. She didn’t glance at me, though, gluing her eyes to her targets.

I didn’t need to wait long before I heard her continue talking. She explained her words to what I assumed to be bewildered people. As if wanting to prove it, she turned my way.

“Would you kindly come to our room, Simon?”

“... Fine…”

I exited my room and made my way through the hotel’s hallways. The sound of my feet was muffled by the carpet as I moved with heavy steps, my mind filled with thoughts about our future. What would happen next? How would her family react? Would they be creeped out by me? But most importantly,

Why now? Why now of all times?

Her sister waited for this moment, her entire family as well, I felt sure about it. It would be one of their most memorable nights, so why now? Couldn’t she wait until tomorrow, maybe? What would happen next? My mind couldn’t stop thinking. I reached for the door handle.

“Stop.”

I stop, my hand still on the handle.

“Knock three times.”

She’s trying to prove this?

I thought as I brought my left hand up, and as she said, knocked three times on the door.

With her fingers, she showed me the number two, then four, and finally six.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I did as requested, and knocked the exact amount of times she asked for, with a slight pause for every number.

“Dad, can you go out and prove that he couldn’t hear and see anything?”

I could hear Emily’s voice loud and clear, but I didn’t know if the hotel actually muffled our voices or not. What if, as it turned out, Emily’s father could still hear her voice even outside? It wouldn’t explain how I was still able to hear her, but it would lessen the credibility to her voice. I heard the door squeak and moved away, finding her father coming out from inside. He looked surprised but moved away and watched me as the door was closed.

“Knock once, then three times.”

I did as told.

“And now-”

Her voice suddenly stopped.

“Simon, come in.”

I opened the door and stepped inside, the eyes of all three in the room turning toward me, with Emily’s father following behind me.

“It’s just like what happened with us.”

Emily’s father said with a smile.

“Yeah… Brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

Emily’s mother answered. Now it was our turn to be shocked. We stood in silence, Emily’s sister looking back and forth, a confused look on her face.

I’m sorry.

I let out a silent apology for the chaos we created on her special day.

Was this the thing Emily wanted to talk about? I should have expected as much, the failure to stop her was entirely my fault.

But based on her parents’ words, it seemed like they experienced something like this before.

“So… to think you actually get to experience this phenomenon as well.”

Emily’s father spoke. He looked down at the floor, his glasses covering his eyes.

“I didn’t experience anything like that?”

Olivia asked. Was this related to bloodline? Had things like these been happening all around us? If I told my parents, would they be able to relate to it themselves? I really didn’t get it. Out of everyone in this room, Olivia wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand.

“I don’t think these kinds of things are normal.”

Emily’s mother commented.

“Can you tell us about what yours is like?”

“Oh my, so our daughter wants to hear how I and your father fell in love?”

“Erp!”

Emily let out a weird reaction when she heard that. She glanced at me for some reason. Our eyes met, and she went red before averting her gaze. I didn’t get what was going on with her, but I assumed she wanted me to answer. I looked toward her parents.

“Yes, please. Maybe it will help us as well.”

I said, but both of them looked to be holding their laughs. I assumed I missed something and remained silent. Emily’s mother then looked at me, and with a warm smile, spoke.

“You see, we can’t exactly help you.”

“Huh?”

I and Emily voiced our surprise.

“Are you sure you want to hear our story?”

Emily’s mother asked again with a sly grin on her face. I felt uncomfortable looking at her, fearing something that we didn’t want to know. But, I felt, it would be egoistic of me to say no, so I toughened myself up and nodded. Emily’s mother then glanced at her husband, and the husband nodded as well.

“Alright, let’s keep this quick and simple.”

She said, purposely pausing her words to make things more interesting.

“You see… we were stuck for… maybe a year. But I think you two can separate quicker.”

One year…

We hadn’t even passed one month yet. Even if she said it could be quicker, just how quick? Maybe half? Even then, that felt like stretching it. Eight to ten months sound like the appropriate ‘quicker’. I wonder just how different our lives would be once we reached that point.

“How do you do it? Get separated, I mean.”

“Well… I think it’s different for every couple, but…”

Emily’s mother paused once more. She put a finger on her lips and glanced at the both of us, who stood before her.

“The Torii gate, it reappeared, when he confessed to me.”

After the timed pause, which felt like her teasing us more than anything else, she let out a loud laugh. It took a while before she calmed down. Eventually, her laughter died out and she shook her head, before looking back at us.

“Any questions?”

I didn’t even understand what was going on, while Emily cowered away in the corner.

Well, not necessarily in the corner, more like beside me.

“Looks like my words struck close to heart.”

Emily’s mother said while looking at Emily. Emily lifted her head and caught my eyes once more. Without saying anything, she swiftly turned away.

“Can you elaborate on that?”

I asked, wanting a more detailed explanation. What kind of confession, where, why, those kinds of questions popped up inside my head. Emily’s mother, meanwhile, stood up and clapped her head.

“Well, it’s time to return to preparations. Would you like to stay here, Simon?”

She asked me. I would be a hindrance if I stayed in my room, but at the same time, with all that happened, I didn’t feel comfortable hanging around. I decided that it would be better to just continue dodging Emily, so I let out parting words and made my way back into my room. After I arrived, I headed to bed.

“Tap on me if you need me to move.”

I said. Emily only looked at me, not saying or doing anything. She continued working while I took out my phone. I pulled it out and opened my family group. Since Emily’s parents already knew about this, it would be unfair if my own parents were the only ones who didn’t know. I typed down the explanation on my phone, paying attention to anything that might bring up questions. I explained everything with great detail to the best of my abilities.

“I’ll tell my parents about it as well, okay?”

“Alright.”

I felt surprised that she replied. She looked me in the eyes, her watching gaze fell off for some reason.

“It’s Simon. He said he wanted to tell his parents as well.”

She explained. I let out a sigh of relief and continued typing. After I finished, I gave it one last look, from top to bottom. I made sure everything was correct and easy to understand, before clicking send. Watsup, the app I used, was different from Fine. Instead of the small read text above the sent time, Watsup used double yellow checklists to show that the message had been read. But, as long as it remained black, that meant the app hadn’t been read yet.

I waited with anticipation, but no reply came. I assumed my parents were busy at work, and I didn’t exactly want them to read immediately either. If they were still concentrating, and saw a message from their son spouting random things, how would they feel? They would probably think that something was wrong with me, and get worried. I let my phone down on the bed and looked up, my empty mind wandering around. I then heard a ping coming from my phone.

I picked it up again. It wasn't my parents, instead it was from Yohan. It wasn't something particularly important, just him asking about some tasks. I gave him a quick reply and threw the phone back onto my bed. I waited, and heard another ping. I took it again, reading through Yohan's reply. A Watsup notification appeared, from my family group.

It was from my mother.

My mother didn't say much, though, only an 'ok'. She probably assumed I was lying. A second message appeared, telling me to keep it until tonight when we met at the wedding. I replied and set my phone down.

"What's wrong?"

Emily asked me.

"You're done?"

"Yeah."

I wonder how her family reacted to this. From their eyes, she was just talking to an empty space, after all. Even if they knew about our circumstances, it would still look weird regardless.

"Okay."

I got up and headed out of the room.