Kaivan looked at him. "I don't know. But we have to survive, right?"
Livia entered last, her steps hesitant. Kaivan softened his gaze. "Are you okay being away from your parents, Livia?"
Livia smiled, though tension lingered in her eyes. "It's okay, Big Brother," she said gently. "As long as you're here—and everyone else too—I'm happy. And Felicia is here as well, right? Then we'll be safe."
Kaivan looked at her with quiet affection. Though they were all different, fate had bound them together. In his heart, he knew—they could only endure by protecting one another.
Dim neon lights flickered along the ceiling, casting pale reflections on the cold metal walls. The air was so silent that even the smallest breath felt like an echo in an empty void. The only sound was Kaivan's footsteps—slow, heavy, reverberating like the pulse of a weary heart.
He rose from the cold metal chair and rubbed his temples. His gaze was empty, yet a storm raged within. Old wounds time could never erase. He knew Isabel would come—and nothing could prepare him for that.
The automatic door hissed softly. Isabel stepped inside. Her dark dress swayed, her pale red hair disheveled, falling over her shoulders like tangled threads of life. Her eyes were no longer the Isabel he once knew—they were the aftermath of a sea of fire: angered, wounded, shattered.
Kaivan stepped forward. So did Isabel. The distance between them closed quickly—like two asteroids pulled by the same gravity. In an instant—slap!—her hand struck his cheek. The sound echoed sharply. Kaivan's head turned, but he did not resist. He simply stood there. As if he knew… this was inevitable.
In the observation room, Levan sat casually, a bowl of popcorn in his hands. "Oof… that looked like it hurt," he muttered while chewing, his eyes fixed on the CCTV screen.
Isabel stood before Kaivan, her chest rising and falling, her breath breaking under the weight of emotion. "You still did it to me… and then you left me! What was I to you?!" Her voice cracked, like glass splintering under pressure.
Kaivan inhaled slowly. "Because you forced it too, didn't you? Back then… when you were naked."
Those words struck harder than her slap. Isabel's jaw tightened, her hands trembling. "Because I can read the Tome of Omnicent too, Kaivan! I knew what you were going to do if I didn't stop you!"
Her voice grew hoarse, soaked in pain. "I forced myself on you… hoping you would choose my body and forget everything else. But you still left! And then… in your diary, you wrote that you felt no pleasure at all… What do you take me for?! You weren't even attracted to me, were you?!"
In the observation room, Levan nearly choked on his popcorn. "Whoa… she can use the Tome of Omnicent too?" he muttered, hurriedly typing something into the terminal.
Kaivan lifted his head. His eyes were wet, yet unblinking, locked onto Isabel's. His voice was soft, cutting deep.
"That's right. I'm not interested anymore… and I don't have the desire to fall in love again. Because I'm afraid."
Levan narrowed his eyes. "Note that down. Kaivan is incapable of feeling love. Possibly an effect of the Tome of Omnicent."
Kaivan moved his hand slowly, as if searching for words in the air. "Everything I went through… left me hollow. When you stripped yourself and offered your body to me… I thought about trying. Maybe… I could forget everything."
His legs gave out. He dropped to his knees before Isabel. His hands clenched at empty air, his body shaking violently. Tears slid down his cheeks.
"After my sister fell into a coma… after my mother died… I had no one left. I wanted to start something new, but…"
His sentence broke, swallowed by sobs. His face sank into its own shadow, looking like a lost child in a world far too cruel.
Isabel stood frozen. Her clenched fists slowly loosened. Her fingers trembled, then reached out, gently touching Kaivan's shoulder. In that single touch, all her anger melted away, blending into the sorrow she had carried for so long.
She no longer saw Kaivan as the man who had hurt her, but as a soul shattered and split in two—a human being who had lost everything, yet still endured within the void.
"Then what did you mean?" Isabel whispered. "When we made love, you said you would come back for me four years later." Her voice was soft, yet to Kaivan it rang like a scream inside his head. She crouched in front of him, gazing at his face soaked with tears, and gently wiped them away with her fingertips.
Kaivan looked up, his eyes filled with guilt. "I'm sorry, Isabel. I still don't feel anything that could be called love. My heart doesn't beat for it anymore." He swallowed the bitterness in his throat. "But I know what I did was wrong. So… if you had been pregnant back then, I would have taken responsibility. No matter what it took."
Isabel stared at him in silence. The anger that had filled her eyes softened, tears trembling at the corners. "No, I'm not pregnant. I checked a few days ago," she said with a faint smile. "But… I'm glad you were willing to take responsibility."
Without warning, Isabel leaned forward and kissed Kaivan. The kiss was calm and sincere—not driven by desire, but by the warmth of what still remained between them. The world seemed to fade away.
When the kiss ended, Kaivan turned his face aside, afraid of love itself. He forced the words out, trying to lie to both of them. "I'm sorry, Isabel. I… I still don't feel it. Anything." His voice was hoarse, like that of someone exhausted by life.
Isabel nodded slowly and stood up. She extended her hand toward Kaivan, who was still sitting on the floor. "It's all right, Kaivan. I know you're still traumatized," she said gently, taking a deep breath. "And one more thing… maybe this will be our secret. I won't forget it. Because that moment back then… was my first."
Kaivan stared at Isabel's outstretched hand. Slowly, he took it and stood up. They looked at each other in silence, a quiet heavy with meaning.
In the observation room, Levan tilted his head in confusion. "What did we just witness?" he murmured, half in disbelief. Still, he knew that whatever had just happened marked a new chapter in the complicated relationship between Kaivan and Isabel.