When Liam arrived at his apartment, the clock showed 8:12 pm.

He took out his apartment key, but before he could open the door, it was opened from the inside.

Miria stood at the door, wearing her purple pajamas with an apron on her chest. Her hair was tied back, with a few strands falling onto her cheeks.

She appeared to be holding a cooking utensil.

’8:12 pm, 12 minutes later than the time he was expected to arrive home.’

Miria calculated it in her mind, the school library closed at 7:30, and Liam should have arrived at his apartment no later than 8:00. However, he was 12 minutes late. What had he been doing after studying with his study group?

Miria’s expression was blank. She just stared at Liam with a calm face, then moved aside, gesturing for him to enter.

"Come in."

Liam opened his mouth, about to ask, "Why are you here?" But he just remembered that Miria had planned to come to his place today. That’s what she said in the student council room this afternoon.

Liam slowly entered his apartment. Inside, something surprising was visible. His apartment was clean and sparkling, even all the trash and remnants of his instant noodles scattered on the floor were gone.

"Did you..." Liam was about to ask Miria about this, but a warm aroma of food wafted through Liam’s nose.

He immediately fell silent, his face softening.

"I made Pelmeni for you," Miria said, turning her face towards the kitchen. "It’s warming in the pot, I’ll get it. You wait here."

Miria saw Liam’s open-mouthed expression, and a small smile appeared for a moment.

Before Liam’s arrival, Miria had instructed her maids to come and clean Liam’s messy apartment, and then Miria also asked them to help cook Liam’s favorite Pelmeni.

Miria held Liam’s shoulder, forcing him to sit at a small table just big enough for two to eat together.

Liam looked around once more. The room had been cleaned as meticulously as possible. Then he looked at his drawing equipment, his drawing tablet also felt strangely shinier.

Miria took out her warm pelmeni. She had specifically made pelmeni filled with Liam’s favorite premium lamb.

Liam watched as Miria placed the pelmeni in front of him, then she brought two utensils for eating. The TV in the room was on at a low volume, playing a documentary channel.

Everything felt normal, yet Liam felt something was not quite right.

Miria took off her apron, then walked towards Liam, humming a tune that Liam recognized. It was a song that used to play on the TV at Miria’s house when they made pelmeni together.

"How was studying today?" she asked casually, lifting a pelmeni to her mouth.

"Yeah, it was alright," Liam replied, starting to hold the prepared utensils. "We mostly studied thermodynamics today, and a bit of discrete mathematics. There’s a lot I don’t understand, but it seems I can still overcome it with effort. Also, they were quite patient in teaching me."

"They?" Miria asked, her head tilted slightly.

"The four of us in the study group," Liam ate the pelmeni, the savory and juicy taste filling his mouth. "Darren and Megy were there too."

"Right..." Miria replied, saying nothing more.

Then silence filled the room, with the only sounds being the clinking of cutlery and the low murmur of the TV playing the documentary.

Liam glanced at Miria. She was quietly eating her pelmeni, occasionally taking sips of the water beside her. Usually, questions like these would always come up: Are you having any problems? Who did you talk to today? You didn’t go anywhere, right?

But today, he was strangely very stable.

"Also..." Liam took a deep breath, then said. "Silvia lent me her notebook and told me to study from it."

Clang.

The sound of something falling to the ground was loud.

’Silvia’s notebook? Why would she give it to Liam? It’s a very personal and important item, and she’s lending it to Liam for free?’

"Is that so...?" Miria nodded in understanding. "That’s good, Liam. A notebook from the smartest student in school should be good for you, good luck with your studies."

Miria’s voice was flat, with no hidden emotion audible.

The feeling that something was not right began to grow in Liam’s heart. He still remembered how Silvia found his pen, their fingers touching for a moment, her red ears when she said, "Studying is important, but health is the first foundation for it."

Then he looked at Miria in silence, she was resting her head on her hand, watching Liam eat in silence, the twinkling lights above made Miria’s face look more different than usual, and from Liam’s perspective, he could clearly see her clean collarbone.

The gentle Miria now was very different from Miria the student council president at school earlier, and also different from how she imitated Silvia’s personality before.

’What is he thinking? Is he thinking about Silvia...? Ahh... I want to hypnotize him and know everything in his head... No, forget it... Hmph...’

"What have you been daydreaming about for so long, Liam. Eat quickly, or it’ll get cold."