Mia Grant sat in the living room, eating potato chips and quietly watching the goings-on in the kitchen.
Through a glass door, she could see the busy figure inside.
’Seafood noodles... That doesn’t sound very simple. At least, it’s not a beginner-level dish.’
The door was shut tight, so she couldn’t smell anything.
’I want to go have a look, but I’m afraid I’ll make him nervous.’
After waiting for almost an hour, the kitchen door finally opened.
Mia Grant quickly turned her head to face forward, popping a couple of potato chips into her mouth to look busy.
"Is it ready?" Hearing footsteps, she looked over, feigning surprise.
Felix Sinclair gave a slight nod. "Are you... still hungry?"
At his words, Mia Grant realized she had eaten both bags of potato chips.
After a moment’s pause, she wiped her hands and stood up. "Of course I’m hungry. Snacks don’t count as a real meal."
In the kitchen, Felix Sinclair brought out the noodles and placed them in front of Mia Grant.
The presentation was excellent, giving it the look of a dish from a high-end restaurant.
’Knowing his personality, he probably replicated the promotional photo one-to-one.’
Even the scallion garnish was artfully arranged, not just carelessly sprinkled on top.
It tasted no different from what you’d get at a restaurant.
Mia Grant even suspected he might have secretly ordered takeout and just swapped it into the bowl.
Glancing into the kitchen, she didn’t see any takeout containers, but she did spot a digital food scale.
’No wonder...’
’He must have measured even the seasonings down to the gram.’
’Anyone who didn’t know better would think he’d just finished a science experiment.’
Mia Grant didn’t like to talk much while eating.
Felix Sinclair was silent as well.
After they ate, Mia Grant suggested they play some video games.
They sat down on the living room rug, controllers in hand, their shoulders touching.
Felix Sinclair wasn’t an expert at these kinds of games.
Ian Sinclair liked them, so when their mother had bought a set for Ian, she had put one at Felix’s place too, just in case.
He’d never played with it. He hadn’t even opened the packaging.
Mia Grant, on the other hand, loved them.
She usually passed the time playing match-three games.
Felix Sinclair had no gaming experience, but thankfully, he was a quick study and didn’t hold Mia Grant back.
After playing a while of the so-called "Breakup Kitchen," Mia Grant was getting a little tired. She was competitive and determined, and playing the game made her completely forget she had something to discuss with Felix Sinclair.
She switched to a more casual game to pass the time, which freed up enough mental energy to chat with him.
"I was having recurring dreams a while back. You know about that, right?"
"I know."
"I saw a psychiatrist and a therapist. They said I had PTSD, but that wasn’t quite right."
Mia Grant finished her story, her tone deceptively light and casual.
As she spoke, she covertly observed the reaction of the man beside her.
But he was completely unfazed.
He kept playing in perfect sync with her, even carrying her through the level.
He was a little too calm.
Mia Grant had spent a long time mentally preparing herself to say all this, but he didn’t seem surprised at all.
It was like he’d just heard a bad joke with no punchline.
People say you might even crack a smile when you’re left speechless. But he was completely expressionless, his gaze fixed on the characters on the TV, seemingly engrossed in the game.
"Are you... even listening?"
"Mm."
"..."
"Don’t you find it strange?"
"Not really." For him, none of this was surprising anymore. "It deviates a little from what I expected, but it’s acceptable."
Now it was Mia Grant’s turn to be surprised.
She thought for a moment, then frowned. "So you don’t have any questions?"
"I have many, but I don’t think you want to answer them."
He told her it was okay if she didn’t want to talk about it. He would figure things out slowly on his own; he was bound to find the answers eventually.
He wasn’t in a hurry.
Her character in the game had been idle for too long. They had failed the level and would have to restart.
Mia Grant leaned back against the sofa, idly fiddling with her controller.
"Are you really not curious about your ending in the other world?"
"It’s not important anymore."
His voice was soft, as if he truly didn’t care.
Mia Grant tilted her head. "You’ve already guessed, haven’t you?"
"Mm."
For a moment, the vast living room was filled with nothing but the cheerful sound effects from the game.
But to Mia Grant’s ears, they didn’t sound relaxing at all. Instead, they just made her feel agitated.
In the other world, Felix Sinclair had been just like he was now, trying to find a trace of her amid tedious data.
He was trying to prove that she existed.
But he never made any progress.
He couldn’t accept that outcome.
The System said she was living well in her original world.
But he felt the System was lying.
The world called him a genius, and so he threw everything he had into proving that the woman he loved truly existed in another world, living a happy life.
In the end, the lie was exposed: the young woman had died all alone in a rented apartment.
’He thought, if only he could have looked at her properly during that meeting.’
’If he could have, he would have walked past the bookshelves, gone right up to her, and told her his name.’
Felix Sinclair’s death wasn’t really a surprise to the other characters in that world.
Those around him had noticed long ago that something was wrong with him; he had just been forcing himself to get by, year after year.
And now that his pillar of emotional support was gone, his death was a foregone conclusion.
He went quietly. His suicide note contained only a single, hastily written sentence.
I will follow my love to a wider river; in the near future, we are sure to merge as one.
Following his last wish, on a bright, clear day, the Sinclair Family scattered his ashes to the wind.
He had always firmly believed that no matter the form it took, they would surely meet again in the long river of time.
The river his life flowed into would one day meet the river where Mia Grant’s rested, and they would slowly merge into a single stream, flowing toward a more distant shore.
This wasn’t just the other world’s Felix Sinclair’s belief; the Felix of today thought the same.
That was why he wasn’t at all surprised by what his other self had done.
To him, it wasn’t madness or impulse. It was the result of long and careful deliberation.
In any world, he would follow his heart and accompany her on a new journey.
And thankfully, he had succeeded.
They had truly met again.
So Felix Sinclair didn’t feel sad. On the contrary, he felt fortunate.
He, a staunch materialist, now found himself marveling at the wonders of fate.
"So this time... will you leave again?"
After a long silence, Felix Sinclair asked with concern.
Mia Grant thought for a moment. "I don’t think so."
"Do you want to leave?"
"I don’t."
This world, as it was now, was the best possible outcome for her.
Felix Sinclair nodded, indicating he understood.
Mia Grant couldn’t shake the feeling that, beneath his calm exterior, he had just made a momentous decision.
’She thought for a moment. Yates Donovan probably wasn’t the only psycho around here.’
’Everyone was crazy in their own way; it was just a matter of how obvious it was.’
’Clearly, Felix Sinclair was seriously messed up, too.’
"What are you thinking about now?"
They passed another level in the game. Felix Sinclair set down his controller, tilted his head, and gave her a faint smile. "As long as you don’t want to leave, I have ways to make you stay."