Secrets in the Drawer
With Rain joining us, the meal got underway. She kept fussing with her hair the entire time we ate. The slight swelling on her head looked incredibly painful.
"Rain, are you okay?" I gently stroked her hair. A throbbing heat radiated through her strands, warming my palm. "Mmh..." Rain nodded, a massive piece of bread stuffed in her mouth.
I looked up at Grandpa Ferman, who was still pushing dishes toward me. He was busy cutting my meat into bite-sized pieces so it would be easier for me to eat. Meeting his eyes, I decided to ask him about something I'd been curious about.
"Grandpa Ferman."
"Yes, Jeff? What is it?"
Cough! The moment Grandpa Ferman answered, Victor burst into a hacking cough. He didn't even have the presence of mind to hide his flushed face, simply clamping a hand over his mouth as he wheezed. It looked like he had choked on his food from eating too fast.
"There's something I'm curious about."
"Ask me anything, child," Grandpa Ferman replied with a soft chuckle. Slide. A small plate that had been sitting in front of him glided over to my side. I poked a small piece of cut meat with my fork and popped it into my mouth. Chewing thoughtfully as I organized my words, I swallowed the meat and spoke.
"It's about Chuchu. How is he able to use an ability?" I just couldn't contain my curiosity. I had never heard of a non-human creature possessing supernatural powers.
"Chuchu, you say?"
"Yes."
Grandpa Ferman and I both turned to look at Chuchu, who was eating in the corner of the room. He was happily devouring the delicious meat laid out on his own little dining table. Chomp, slurp, chomp.
"Chuchu was a dog rescued from a laboratory a long time ago."
"A laboratory..."
"Indeed. It was a place conducting illegal human experiments—specifically, attempting to transplant human abilities into other living creatures."
"Human experiments..." I muttered under my breath. A laboratory. Human experiments. Fuzzy, fragmented scenes flashed through a corner of my mind. Rubbing my forehead, I asked, "Was the experiment successful?"
"Looking at Chuchu, one could call it a success. However, all the research data from that facility was destroyed."
Destroyed research data. Hearing those words, a profound sense of regret washed over me. Clinging to a faint shred of hope, I pressed further.
"Then... what about the people who were doing the research there?"
Grandpa Ferman didn't answer right away. He simply picked up a long piece of bread, a gentle smile playing on his lips. "They have all disappeared." The soft bread tore cleanly in half. Watching that, I swallowed hard.
"In a way, you could say Chuchu is quite similar to you girls."
"I see..." I nodded blankly. Right. Me. Shine and I were in a laboratory. So... we were experimented on, weren't we? What kind of experiment was it again? I can't remember.
"Mmm." I twirled some spaghetti around my fork, trying to grasp at the hazy memories.
"Jeff."
"Huh?"
"What are you thinking about?"
"Just... the past."
Technically, it hadn't been that long ago, but the memories were so faint they felt like ancient history. Shine watched me quietly before extending her fork toward me. A generous heap of green salad was skewered on the prongs.
"Ugh." My face contorted in disgust at the pile of leaves thrust in front of me.
"Jeff, you've only eaten meat today."
"I didn't only eat meat. I had spaghetti too."
"You need to eat your vegetables."
"I don't want to."
"If you don't eat them, you won't grow tall, you know?"
I clamped my mouth shut at Shine's warning. Still, what I hated, I hated.
"Come on, eat up."
"Ugggh."
Under Shine's relentless prodding, I finally relented, opening my mouth to accept the salad. Fortunately, it was drenched in dressing, making it somewhat tolerable. The crisp texture crunched between my teeth, and a strong, grassy aroma filled my mouth. I quickly moved my hands, stuffing more meat in to wash down the taste.
"Shine, you take such good care of your sister."
"Yes. Jeff is my precious little sister, after all," Shine replied to Grandpa Ferman.
She turned her gaze back to me—a look reserved only for her most cherished treasure—and spoke.
"I love Jeff the most."
Grandpa Ferman smiled warmly at her words. I, on the other hand, buried my face in my chest. I was highly sensitive to her emotions. Inside the "love" she spoke of, there was a slightly different feeling mixed in. It was something sticky, hot, and heavy—heavy enough to chain my ankles and never let me go.
"You love me too, right, Jeff?"
I chewed my food in silence, unable to answer. Just as I was sensitive to her feelings, she was equally sensitive to mine. So she must have known. She must have sensed the incredibly faint, fragile emotion tucked away in the corner of my heart.
"Yeah. Yeah, I love you too."
So, I have to hide it a little. Press it down, bury it deep inside so she won't notice. I replied with a small, forced smile. Shine furrowed her brow in dissatisfaction at my response. However, she didn't press me for a better answer. Instead, she thrust another forkful of salad toward my mouth. With a tearful grimace, I chewed on the crisp leaves. I felt like a rabbit.
As the meal continued, Amy checked her phone and suddenly stood up.
"Amy?"
"Excuse me, something has come up," Amy said, her tone suggesting it was urgent. Her expression had hardened into a stiff mask.
"What is it?"
"It doesn't concern you, Father."
"Amy."
"I'll be right back."
With that, Amy pushed herself up from the table. She turned her gaze to Shine and me.
"I'm sorry, girls. Something urgent came up, so I have to step out for a moment."
I nodded blankly. If it was something serious, of course she had to go. Back then, even in the middle of eating, I had to run immediately whenever Hebrum called... Wait, who was Hebrum? I tried harder to drag up the hazy memories. A white lab coat. Sugar. Pigs. Donuts. Snacks. Snacks? Donuts? Suddenly, I really wanted a donut. Picturing a delicious, glazed donut in my mind, I licked my lips.
"Jeff, is there something you want to eat?" Shine asked, always highly attuned to my habits. I nodded. "Yeah. I really want a donut." "A donut?" "Yeah. It's a round bread, like this, with a hole right in the middle." I began explaining to Shine what a donut looked like. It would have been great to have a sketchbook right now, but unfortunately, I didn't have one on hand. "Is it tasty?" "Yeah, it's really sweet." Shine licked her lips, seemingly trying to imagine the taste.
Now that Amy had left the dining room, I immediately turned to Grandpa Ferman. He seemed rather disappointed that Amy had left in the middle of the meal, staring at her empty seat with a wistful look.
"Grandpa Ferman."
"Ah, yes, Jeff?"
When I called his name, he turned back to me with a gentle smile. I glanced around, making sure Amy wasn't hiding somewhere nearby to eavesdrop on us. Fortunately, she was nowhere to be seen.
"Um... I really want to eat a donut."
"A donut?" Grandpa Ferman raised a hand, completely unfazed by my sudden request. With a simple gesture, one of the staff members waiting nearby quickly slipped out of the dining room. I stared, my mouth hanging open. Man, if I could command people with just a flick of my wrist like that, I'd gladly spend the rest of my life lying down doing absolutely nothing.
"The donuts you want will be here shortly, so let us head out," Grandpa Ferman said, rising from his seat as he looked around at everyone who had finished eating. Shine, Rain, and I nodded, quickly getting up from our seats. Chuchu, who had finished his food at some point, trotted over to Grandpa Ferman's side.
"Victor."
"Yes, sir."
"Was the meal to your liking?"
"It was highly satisfactory, sir."
"I am glad to hear that."
As Victor bowed his head in response, Grandpa Ferman gave a small nod and asked another question.
"Victor. I assume you know why Amy had to leave so suddenly today?"
"I cannot answer that, sir."
"Amy's request, I take it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Indeed. If I were to put a tail on her, she would absolutely detest it, wouldn't she?"
"She would detest it immensely, sir."
"Quite so. One must not repeat the same mistakes."
Grandpa Ferman muttered softly to himself and began walking forward.
"Let us enjoy the donuts in my office."
"Okay!" I chirped, quickly falling into step beside him.
"Donuts!" Rain cheered, trailing right behind us.
Victor, after glancing around warily, caught up and walked alongside us. When Grandpa Ferman cast a sidelong glance at him, Victor quietly averted his eyes.
"Your appetite is as robust as ever, I see."
Victor remained silent.
Leaving the dining room behind, we walked down the long corridor and arrived at Grandpa Ferman's office. Chuchu dashed ahead toward the slightly ajar door, rubbing his massive body against it. The sheer force of his nudge swung the door wide open.
"Make yourselves comfortable."
The office, which had been a total wreck earlier from Amy's rampage, was now pristine. The sofa had definitely been torn to shreds, yet a brand-new one with the exact same design was sitting in its place.
I scanned the room, looking for my dinosaur backpack.
"Jeff, what are you looking for?"
"My bag... Ah!"
As I searched frantically, I spotted my dinosaur backpack sitting on Grandpa Ferman's desk. And it wasn't just mine. Shine's bag and Rain's chick backpack were lined up right next to it. The three of us rushed over and grabbed our bags. Fortunately, the contents inside remained untouched.
I quickly looked around. If Amy came back, she would undoubtedly confiscate these bags. That meant I had to hide the chocolates stuffed inside them somewhere. A hiding spot... Ah, the desk drawers. I reached out and pulled open the very bottom drawer of Grandpa Ferman's desk. To my absolute relief, the bottom drawer was completely empty. Peeking out from behind the desk, I called out to him.
"Grandpa!"
"Yes, Jeff. I am right here."
Grandpa Ferman seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with Victor. The two of them were sitting opposite each other with a table between them.
"Can we put our bags in the very bottom drawer?"
"Your bags?"
"Yes! We need to hide them!"
"Hide your bags... Well, if you do that, I suppose you will be visiting me every day."
"Yes!"
"Hide them as much as you like."
The owner of the desk had given his permission. Nodding happily, I shoved my dinosaur backpack deep into the drawer. Shine and Rain crammed their bags in right after me. The drawer was now stuffed to the brim. There was no way Amy would ever find them here. As long as I could sneak in here whenever I wanted to grab a chocolate, I could easily survive her snack ban.
"Perfect." A satisfied smile spread across my face.