It’s the weekend. Of course, for me, it means work. But I don't mind. It keeps my mind more occupied. We are in the potion department’s office with Myrin, doing the budget reports.

  Myrin's words still sting. I have tried my best to be quieter around him after that. Actually, I have avoided him pretty bluntly. I really should give up on him and try my best to fall out of love. But for some reason, I just can’t.

  “Elena?”

  I turn to look at Myrin. It’s rare for him to speak to me first.

  “Yes?”

  “Have you visited your atelier yet?”

  I look down at the papers in front of me. I haven't. I haven't been able to build up the courage to do that. So I shake my head to answer him.

  “Can you give me your key then?”

  I look at him again.

  “Why?”

  “I think I dropped something in there when I cleaned it. So I would like to go look for it.”

  “Oh, okay. Sure.”

  I take my key out of my pocket and pce it on the table in front of him, then go back to sit.

  “Are you still too afraid to go in there?”

  I freeze. I’m not really comfortable speaking about it. Especially after knowing how much he hates me. His question actually annoys me pretty damn much.

  “Why do you ask? I thought my voice grinds your nerves.”

  “Stop being a brat, Elena. Talking is not a crime.”

  “Oh, really? Then why did you make it sound like it is?”

  He just exhales heavily and gets up to leave.

  “Just come to your atelier today, 6 PM.”

  I open my mouth to argue back, but he stops me.

  “I’ll say it again. Don't be a brat. If you don't come, I will tell Enred what happened.”

  I fall silent. He really is one giant idiot. Bckmailing me like that. I don't understand why he cares if I visit there or not. His actions could be interpreted as worry. But I’m not stretching the truth this time. I’m sure he has some other motive.

  After work, I head back to my room and flop onto my couch. My mind is all messed up. I really don’t know what I should do with Myrin. Should I try to tone myself down? So he might stop hating me? Should I really try to change myself for him?

  Or should I just stay loyal to who I am? And try to forget him once again. I have never succeeded in that. I hate my stupid heart for loving him. Even after every hurtful thing he said to me, I can’t stop wanting him.

  I wallow in my self-pity until it’s time to leave and take the carriage to the city. When I arrive at my atelier, I see the lights are on, so Myrin is probably already there. I really don’t want to know why he wanted me here. Is he going to scold me more or something?

  I knock on the door and soon see the handle twisting open, and Myrin stands there.

  “Okay, I’m here, Myrin. Happy?”

  I have started to call him by his full name. Somehow saying it just feels wrong.

  He doesn’t say anything, just steps aside. I exhale heavily and step in and freeze when I see everybody else in the room. Ayas, Angie, David, and even Annie are here.

  “Wh-what are you doing here?”

  Angie steps closer, smiling.

  “We are sorry for bailing that one night. I honestly had no idea that everyone bailed. If I had known, we would have skipped the theater. We are sorry.”

  Annie speaks next. “I kind of got a booty call then, and thought that it would be okay for me to skip the painting, since I knew everyone else was going. Which apparently wasn’t the case.”

  “You should have said something the next day, accused us, or something. Without Myrin, we would have never even known that we all bailed.” David says.

  Ayas pours wine into a gss and gives it to me. “Yeah. I really hate Myrin’s scoldings. So please spare us from those in the future and just scold us yourself. Myrin really is ruthless sometimes.”

  I take the gss, still a little shocked. Myrin scolded them? But why? If we were friends, then I would understand that he would want to help me. But he is supposed to hate me. Why would he do something like this if he doesn’t care for me?

  I really don’t understand him at all. Just when I’m sure that all hope is gone, he does something like this? Is he helping me solely because of his loyalty toward my brother? I know I’m stupid, but I just can’t resist my chest tightening and the warm feeling spreading inside me.

  “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to push you guys to do something you don’t want to. I know you don’t care for my hobby.”

  “But we care about you, Elena. And if wine is included, I’m sure painting can’t be that bad.” Annie says while wrapping her arm around my shoulder. “So is that the canvas you wanted us to paint?”

  She points out one huge canvas leaning against the wall.

  “Yes. I have owned it for a long time. But it’s so huge that I have never figured out what I wanted to do with it. So I thought it would be perfect for a friendship painting.”

  We all look at the white canvas.

  “So, boss, what should we paint on it? Oh, Angie, David. Here are your wines.”

  Ayas walks towards us with two gsses in hand. He hits his leg on one of my chairs and stumbles. We all watch him fall with a loud scream. He manages to hold on to the gsses, but almost all the wine spills out, straight onto the bnk canvas, staining it red.

  “Ayas! I can’t believe you ruined it before we even got to do anything with it!” Annie yells.

  “Sorry! I didn’t mean to. It was an accident. I’m so sorry. I will go buy a new one.”

  I burst into ughter.

  “Elena? Are you okay?”

  I speak through my giggles. “Yes. This is just so you, Ayas. You still amaze me with how clumsy you can be. And it’s totally fine. The painting is not ruined, it’s just a good start.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Painting is not something serious. You should have fun with it. Just do what feels right. I want the painting to remind me of us. And your spilled wine surely does remind me of you. There are no rules in painting. Just take whatever color you want, use a brush, your hands, or anything. You are free to do anything you want, just paint something that is you.”

  They all look at each other for a while, but eventually they all start to do something. I put the music box on, and we start really enjoying the wine. They get more courage from the wine, becoming bolder in what they do.

  It doesn’t take long for everyone to rex, and our chatter and ughter fill the air. The only one who isn’t participating is Myrin. He just sits on the couch. I thought seeing that couch would make me panic, but when I see him there, I don’t. He once again looks like my mountain, my safe pce. I really don’t think much about what happened here with Baron Louffer.

  I think my bad memories of this pce are slowly changing into new ones. Even though we all have known each other for many years, we have never spent any time here together. This makes me extremely happy. And I notice I’m starting to bbber again, like usual. The heavy feeling in my chest slightly lifts, and I’m able to breathe properly.

  “Annie! What is that?!” Angie yells suddenly.

  “What? Elena said that we can do whatever we like. And I really do like a dick.”

  I turn my gaze to where Annie is painting a very obvious dick; she even makes cum pour out of the tip. I just ugh, she’s really impossible sometimes.

  I guess sex really must feel amazing since she is so obsessed with it. Not that I would know. I gnce at Myrin, who is still just sitting on the couch. He has joined in some of our conversations, but he has clearly no interest in joining to paint.

  I know it’s stupid to save myself for him. I have tried to find another man with whom I would like to lose my virginity. I have kissed and even let some men caress me. I have always withdrawn before things got too far. Masturbation is all I have. I have been satisfied with it. Probably because I don’t know anything better than that. But I can’t help but be hopeful that someday I will really go all the way with Myrin.

  Because he really can’t hate me that much if he was willing to do all this, right? Or am I really just delusional?

  “Oh! That reminded me. I have very big news.”

  We all look at David, waiting for the gossip. He smiles so smugly that it has to be good.

  “What is it? Spill it out already!” I push.

  “The new employee suddenly arrived today, and she is starting to work tomorrow.”

  “What?!”

  “I know!”

  “Oh my god! She? We get a new girl in here?! This is the best day ever! So who is she? What department is she going to work for?” I ask.

  “Her name is Florentia, and she is the one Master made that medium. And she is going to be Master’s secretary.”

  “Master's secretary?” Angie asks. “Poor girl. I can just imagine how horrible it would be to work with Master all the time.”

  “I agree. But Master really needs one. We all know how he avoids paperwork.” David continues.

  “I can't wait to see her! We definitely need more girl power in the Tower. But wait. David, how did Annie’s dick remind you of a new employee?”

  “Because Master is sometimes just a huge dick. He still hasn't apologized for burning my clothes!”

  “Maybe you're the one who needs to apologize for pissing him off,” Annie smirks.

  “I didn't do anything! I swear!”

  Angie just taps David on the shoulders, comforting him.

  When everyone is satisfied with the painting, we step back to look at it.

  “Well done, everyone. I love it. But st, I want everyone to write their name on it.”

  They all do exactly that. Annie turns to face Myrin.

  “Hey! You haven’t done anything! Don’t try to escape this.”

  “Yeah, Myrin! You set all this up, so you better contribute to this painting too!” Ayas joins.

  “I don’t want to.”

  They all start yelling and pestering him to do it, and I join in too, offering him a brush.

  “Fine. If that makes you all quiet down.”

  He snatches the brush from my hand and looks at the paints, clearly considering which color to use. All the colors are pretty bright, so I understand his hesitation. He doesn’t like colors. I go to my cabinet to pick up bck paint and offer it.

  “How about this?”

  He raises his brow at me and dips the brush, then crouches down, aiming for the lower part. But he stops moving. Is he struggling to decide what to paint?

  “Just paint the first thing that comes to mind.”

  We all just stare at him when he presses the brush onto the canvas. Silence falls as we watch him, and I just smile when I realize what he is painting. It doesn’t surprise me one bit.

  Ayas shouts first. “Come on, Myrin! Did you really paint a potion? I should have guessed that all you think about is work.”

  He straightens himself. “Well, it was the first thing that came to my mind when I think of us. We all have worked in the potions department at one point, right?”

  It’s true. Annie and Angie also worked there. Annie has actually worked in almost every department in the Tower at some point. Angie was nervous when first starting to work in the Tower, so she wanted to work where David was. Later, she changed to work in the cooking department when David took the job to be Master's assistant.

  “He is right, I think it fits the painting rather well. But don’t forget your name.” I remind him.

  He crouches back down but hesitates. That I don’t understand. It’s not like there is anything weird about writing your own name on it. When he finally does it, all he writes is the letter K.

  Ayas speaks first again. “K? Why K?”

  “For my st name, Kartsen.”

  I guess it makes sense. We rarely use our st names here, so I didn’t connect it right away.

  I turn to face them all, overjoyed.

  “Well, Ayas, Angie, David, Annie, and K,” I say, smirking, but I notice some weird shift in Myrin’s face as I say it. I can’t quite read it, though. “I want to thank you all, you gave me a very important happy memory today. I really can’t thank you guys enough. You really are the best.”

  I hug them all, well, all except Myrin. I know better than that. I really am so lucky to have friends like them in my life.