After Cappie's embarrassing moment, the world, indifferent to the internal turmoil of those involved, continued on its course.
The sun didn't stop, time showed no mercy, and some stomachs eventually screamed louder than shame.
It was time for breakfast.
The morning progressed inside the apartment as if nothing had happened, although everyone there knew, whether with burning cheeks or full stomachs, that something had indeed happened. And that it would hardly be forgotten.
Especially by the girl in the cap, who was caught in her embarrassing moment.
In the kitchen, the smell of fresh coffee, eggs, and toast filled the air, disguising the tension still present in eyes that avoided meeting for too long.
Theo calmly handled the frying pan, while Cappie remained as still as possible at the table, her hands wrapped around a mug as if it were all that stood between her and spontaneous combustion. Her cheeks bore a blush that wouldn't fade, and her half-closed eyes seemed to be trying to fuse the white porcelain of the cup with her very soul.
Nayun, on the other hand, seemed completely at ease. Sitting with one leg folded under her on the chair, she bit into her toast with jam as if it were any other morning, which, for her, it perhaps was close to being. Her amused gaze hovered over Cappie, who shrank a little more with each tease from Nayun...
The jokes inevitably arose. Nayun, with her sharp tongue, didn't miss the chance to joke about "the noisy sound" of Cappie's system.
Theo, more than casually, let slip a few comments, sometimes disguising them with a casual tone, other times offering complicit smiles that only served to increase the embarrassment of the small former game character sitting opposite him.
Cappie, in turn, reacted as if she were being slowly killed by swords made of laughter.
With each double entendre, her body shrank another centimeter, as if she could disappear among the crumbs on the table. But, as much as she grumbled or pleaded for mercy, deep down, there was a hint of comfort in that interaction. As if, for the first time, she were experiencing what it meant to be "truly alive", even if it was as the target of embarrassing jokes.
The information about her origin as a game character, who had accepted becoming a system to be more than just a script, gave a different weight to this bittersweet sense of belonging.
Despite everything, there was laughter.
Even if timid, embarrassed, or forced, there was laughter.
The conversation eventually moved on to more neutral topics: the previous night's movie, rumors from the world of heroes, and even a brief discussion about which cereal was more nutritious, interrupted by Nayun claiming that grape jelly was a superfood ignored by science.
It was in this relaxed atmosphere, with empty plates and half-empty mugs, that the subtle sound of Theo's smartwatch vibrated against his wrist.
He glanced casually at the display, and upon seeing the name flashing on the screen, his eyebrow arched in curiosity, not expecting a call at this time of morning.
[Call from the Queen of Misunderstandings]
Yes, that was the name under which Theo had saved Yeonha's contact.
The vibration continued for a few more seconds until Theo set his coffee cup aside and answered.
As soon as the hologram extended upwards, the image of Yeonha combing her long strands of hair appeared on the other side. She was in front of a mirror, an elegant brush in her hand and her lips painted a light pink, likely getting ready.
Noticing Theo had answered, Yeonha offered a small smile, her eyes meeting his with a rehearsed, or carefully spontaneous, naturalness.
For her to call at this time of the morning, it could only be one of two things: something had happened, or she was calling about the request Theo had made to her on Sunday.
[Yeonha: Theo! I'm not bothering you by calling at this hour, right?]
[Theo: No, not at all. I just finished breakfast.]
[Yeonha: Phew! That's good.]
The first option was automatically discarded; Yeonha looked far too well to be bringing him a problem to solve.
If the first option wasn't it, the second one surely...
[Yeonha: Have you seen the news circulating in the press about you? Your name is trending in Cube matters.]
[Theo: News? About me? What kind of news?]
Apparently, there was a third option, one Theo hadn't even considered.
Yeonha hesitated on the other end. Her face didn't seem surprised by his reaction; she was more worried about what that news could mean for him.
[Yeonha: I... thought it would be better to tell you personally. I preferred this to you finding out on your own, with everyone commenting in the hallways.]
Theo's expression turned a bit serious. He tapped his smartwatch.
[Theo: Hold on a moment.]
With a few taps, he accessed the main news aggregators and opened the trending topics tab. Among the routine themes, guilds, rankings, political rumors, one name stood out, repeated in several headlines.
He clicked on the first article that appeared:
"Cadet Theo Sagan and the Mystery of His Parents: A Connection to Terror?"
Theo's gaze fixed on the text, absorbing every piece of information it contained.
The article was long, filled with information and fragments reconstructed by "investigative" journalists chasing scandals. Old images of passports and blurred confidential files adorned the screen.
[More than five years after the tragedy, newly leaked documents from the US Hero Association's database suggest that Theo Sagan's parents, previously considered victims of a plane crash, may have been undercover agents of the Djinn Association, directly involved in the accident that killed over 150 people in the Southern United States.
Both mysteriously disappeared after the attack, being declared dead... The child, son of the Sagans, known today as a Cube cadet, was reportedly handed over to a government-managed orphanage through a secret transfer, with all family records sealed...]
Theo read the entire content in silence, his expression unchanging.
The words didn't hurt him. There were no memories to shake. There were no feelings to stir.
Those weren't his parents.
Those people, the so-called "Sagan's," whether they had died or not, it didn't matter. After all, he, Theo Sagan, was no longer their "son."
Not in name. Not in soul.
But that didn't mean the situation was harmless.
On the other side of the screen, Yeonha watched in silence. Noticing that Theo wasn't reacting like someone shaken, and this, in a way, confused her.
[Yeonha: You don't seem very surprised.]
Theo let out a soft sigh, closing the page tab.
[Theo: I didn't have a very close relationship with them...]
Whether as this world's Theo or the Theo from the other world, neither of them had any, or almost any, feelings for these "Sagan's."
[Yeonha: The comments are growing on social media. They're speculating that you knew. And that you might also be a Djinn.]
[Theo: Of course they are.]
He massaged his temple with two fingers. Cappie, still holding her mug like a shield, looked at him with a mixture of confusion and a pang of concern.
Even if her host wasn't the son of this Djinn family, she was still worried about the problems this could bring him.
Nayun watched everything in silence, not too worried, because she knew this had nothing to do with her Theo.
Was it a surprise to learn that this world's Sagans had sold their souls to demons?
Quite a surprise, a big surprise, but that's it...
Yeonha, indifferent to Theo's thoughts, proposed...
[Yeonha: I can activate my team to try and smooth things over for you a bit. And I can also try to find the person who leaked this.]