I can barely remember how it happened, but I really upset RJ. He hasn't kicked me out, but he barely speaks to me, and whenever I enter the room, he leaves… It hurts. It's impossible to apologize because I don't know what I did, and he won't talk to me.
When Zai left, it got even worse. He and his brother seemed close, so whenever things were tense, Zai would break the ice. But he left after a week. RJ said he never stays around long because he travels a lot. That was the last conversation we had—and it's been over a month.
I tried going back home, but things were worse there. All my friends have moved on without me, and my family is a broken mess… Plus, Qon is being released from prison soon, and I don't want to be there when that happens.
I was eating breakfast alone, after finishing my morning cleaning, when RJ surprised me by sitting next to me.
"We're having guests again," he announced.
I was so shocked he spoke to me that I didn't reply right away. He only waited a few seconds before groaning and going back to his room.
Guests… plural? I wish he'd given me more information.
The doorbell rang. Seconds passed. It rang again, so I decided to answer. It was probably RJ's guests.
At the door were two new guys. One had teal hair and cerulean eyes. His skin was much fairer than RJ's. It was hard to believe this was his brother too. At least Zai had an otherworldly air that resembled RJ's.
The other man was shorter. His brownish-red hair was buzz-cut, and he had golden eyes, tawny-brown skin, and a young, delicate-looking face.
"Who are you?" the teal-haired one asked, wrinkling his nose. The other looked me up and down, then said,
"Hello there… What's your name?"
Before I could answer, RJ appeared behind me and said,"This is Snowe. Don't get too close to her—she's an Infaniyan."
The teal-haired guy looked even more turned off by that.
"An Infaniyan?" the red-haired boy said, stepping closer to study my face. "It's been years since I've seen one up close."
"It's nice to meet you." Once I spoke, he took a step back and blushed.
"What are your names?" I asked politely.
The teal-haired one brushed past me and said, "Where's Zai?" Then he walked off, already in conversation with RJ.
"I'm Valin," the red-haired boy revealed as he walked inside. Then he asked, "Why are you staying in our house? You do know what we are, right?"
He flopped onto the living room couch.
"Of course… I'm looking for work, but it's going to take a while to save up and move out. I've only had my Earth Identity ID for a week now," I explained.
"I see… Are you sleeping with Raijian?"
His bluntness shocked me."No…?"
He turned on the TV and added,"What about Zai?"
"They both just… tolerate me. They're just being kind by letting me stay here."
He scoffed."My brothers aren't kind. You just don't know what they want yet. Come sit… let's watch something!"
I closed the front door and sat on the couch next to him. He turned on a baking competition.
I feel like I've been alone for so long… just getting hit with bad news over and over, so this is nice.
"That idiot! The gelatin is never going to set in time! What's wrong with you?! Everyone's making chocolate cake—bake something else!" Valin yelled at the TV, then muttered,"You didn't oil your pan?! Are you an amateur?!"
He's really into this… I giggled. That's when he turned to me and said,
"What's so funny?"
There was clear animosity in his voice, but I couldn't stop laughing.
"I just think it's cute how enthusiastic you are… Do you like baking?"
His anger deflated, and he smiled."Not really… but I like math."
I didn't understand the connection at first, but then he launched into a rant about how cooking and baking involve math—how organizing tasks under tight time constraints is math, how the universe is made of numbers. He started speaking so fast I had trouble keeping up.
"What do you think?" he asked after finishing his speech.
"Uh… I think that's really interesting." His eyes lit up, and his smile reached all the way up.
My heart fluttered… why did it flutter? Maybe it's because he looks sweet—like a puppy. A math-loving puppy.
"Do you like math too?" he asked directly.
I decided to come clean."I… have never been very good with numbers."
I expected him to be disappointed. Maybe even stop talking to me. I never thought I'd meet a math fanboy from Afaria…
"Oh? That's fine. I can teach you." He paused the TV and pulled out his phone, showing me a Sudoku app.
"This is just a puzzle. You don't need to be good at math to solve it. It gets really relaxing once you get the hang of it."
He moved closer so our shoulders touched.
"Each row must contain the numbers 1–9 only once. Same with each column and each 3x3 square."
He patiently helped me complete a few puzzles. I expected to be bored, but I actually felt accomplished every time we finished one. When I finally did one by myself, I cheered gleefully,
"I did it!"He laughed. "It's not that hard… You can download it on your phone if you want to play alone. I can show you other stuff too. Maybe some word problems…"
I frowned."I… don't have a phone."
He tapped his chin."Oh? I'll get you one—but there's a condition."
"What condition?" I asked, staying alert.
"We have to be friends."
Once again, my heart acted weird. I must be more lonely than I realized."Deal."
Valin took me to the garage, where there were four cars. He had the key to the red sports car. He drove us to the mall so I could purchase a cell phone.
"What kind should I get?" I asked while browsing the selection.
"Get whatever you want," he replied apathetically.
One of the workers walked over and asked, "Do you need any assistance?"
"I don't need anything," Valin snapped in a dismissive, condescending tone.
"How about this one?" I asked, pointing to the least expensive phone. It looked nice enough, but Valin frowned and practically yelled:
"That phone barely has enough memory to run a weather app, and it looks like it'd break if I dropped it once. The camera quality is low, the screen is small, and the picture clarity is terrible. Based on the specs here, it can't even be relied on to make calls. It's a failure of a phone. And more importantly, you don't even like it."
He noticed. "Don't pick out garbage. Pick something you like."
Even though he said that, every time I chose a phone based solely on appearance, he would explain how the design was frail, the features lacking, or the price inflated due to aesthetics. The next one I picked, he rejected because it was last year's model and the newer version had resolved several bugs.
Eventually, we agreed on the latest model of that phone with a light pink shell. Valin even had my name engraved on the back in gold and bought a clear protective case for it.
The entire trip took five hours. I had only expected it to take one, at most.
"The mall is closing soon. Let's go," he said, handing me my new phone. It's so cute... He really did all this just so I could play Sudoku?
"Have a nice day!" the cashier called as we headed out the door.
"F**k you!" Valin yelled back, flipping him off.
I dragged him out of the store. "Why are you picking a fight?!" I asked, panting after the struggle.
"It's just that... talking to strangers is hard," he said bashfully.
He cusses at people when he's shy?
"I'm a stranger, and you never yelled at me," I pointed out. His blush deepened.
"I can't yell at someone as pretty as you."
His compliment caught me off guard. Should I be flattered?
"You can't curse at people who are just doing their job!" I scolded.
"Fine," he pouted, folding his arms. Spending time with Valin is exhausting.
"I hate crowded places. Let's hurry up and go," he muttered.
"You're the one who said we should come to the mall!" I argued.
"Yeah, because it's better if you pick out your phone yourself. Ordering it online would've taken too long."
Okay... that's kind of sweet.
"Give me your phone," he said. I handed it over, and he added his number before giving it back. "Friends talk to each other every day."
Then he walked ahead of me toward the car. I followed, not far behind.
Four days passed. It was often just me and Valin left at home, since RJ and Cera—the teal bro—had lives. Valin sent me a math-related joke each morning on the phone he gave me. He also taught me how to play Minesweeper and different card games. I was surprised by how little luck was involved when someone like Valin was the opponent. No matter what hand I got, he always found a way to win.
On the fifth day, when I woke up, he was sitting cross-legged on the couch, hunched over his laptop.
"What are you doing?" I asked. He had his headset on, so he must not have heard me. His fingers were typing so quickly that watching him felt unreal. A second later, he yelled,
"Finished!" Then he cracked his knuckles and looked up at me."I'll send over the data after confirming that the money has been wired to my account... Yes... Bye."
He took off his headset and closed his laptop."Hey!"
"Hi..." I replied, taking a seat next to him. "What are you doing?"
"...Helping a company find a breach in their cybersecurity. It turns out that... Actually, no. I'd rather not talk about it." He put his laptop aside and added, "I ordered food. It's in the kitchen."
He'd gotten meals for both of us. I guess we'd spent enough time together that he already knew what I liked. After he finished his meal, he turned to me and said,
"Snowe, we should start having sex."
I almost choked.
"Wh-what? Valin, are you feeling okay?"
He checked his forehead."My temperature is normal."
"Then what are you saying?" I asked, drinking some water.
"I want to have sex with you... I've been thinking about it a lot."
I nearly spit out my water and choked again. I had mistaken his baby face and love of math for innocence. That was my mistake.
"No!"
He puffed out his cheeks and gave me puppy eyes."Why not?"
"Because you don't even like me that way! Tell me, do you even want to kiss me?" That look is not going to work on me this time.
"...Kiss you? No."
He answered quickly. I already knew it, but hearing him say it out loud still hurt.
"How about holding hands? Or cuddling me?"
He laughed at my question."Why would I want to do that?"
I sighed and looked down at my hands folded in my lap."Before I came here... I was in the middle of getting raped. That was my first sexual experience. I want my next one to be with someone who at least likes me... and someone I want to touch me..."
"Oh."
I waited several seconds for him to say more, but when no words came, I stood up with tears in my eyes.
"Oh?! How can you be so heartless?! I just told you I got raped! I opened up to you about something traumatic and all you can say is oh?!"
His eyes widened and he stared up at me, stunned."I... I'm sorry."
I shook my head and began walking away in a huff. I should've known not to open up to an Afarian. Why did I expect anything from him? I'm so stupid.
"You don't even care about me! I don't want to hear it!"
I went to my room and slammed the door shut, collapsing on my bed and crying into my pillow.
It was five minutes later when someone entered my room and sat beside me.
"I... do care about you, Snowe... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brushed off what you said. I can be stupid when it comes to understanding people, but I want to understand you..."
Valin's voice was full of remorse—but it was too late for that. I sat up, ready to tell him to leave, but then I saw his eyes were filled with blood. His skin had turned grey, and his body was shaking.
"You're... You're sick! Oh my god!"
He wiped his eyes but only smeared the blood across his face."I'll do better, I promise."
Then he passed out on my bed, and I screamed.
The house was empty, as always, so I had no choice but to use Valin's phone to call RJ. After I explained the situation, he rushed home. There was a girl with him I didn't recognize, but he told her to wait on the porch.
After forcing Valin to drink water and giving him an herb I didn't recognize, RJ pulled me aside and explained a few things.
Apparently, when they were young, they each gave up a right in exchange for power. RJ gave up lying, and Valin gave up empathy. He was sick now because he had fought against that, trying to understand my pain.
I was wrong about his feelings… and now he's in pain because of me...