Chapter 68 Twenty Questions
"Olivia\'s just seems like a nice person." Lee Seng defended. "She\'s also interesting because she\'s an Observer who\'s scary good at martial arts."
"She\'s good at martial arts?" Scarlet asked.
"Mmm," Lee Seng nodded. "She does a lot of palm hits. Apparently it works better with her power from what she told me. We would\'ve lost the second match if it wasn\'t for her power. She stopped Jason from exploding into pure fire. He was burning orange-white fire and Jae was really worried about it. Jason must\'ve burnt a lot of himself. Burning flesh permeated the area. I still can\'t get the smell outta my system." Lee Seng plugged his nose and shivered.
"You fought your bullies? What are the chances of that? Did everything solve itself? Did someone intervene?"
"Olivia stopped his Dark Matter flow with her power and stunned him. Jae forfeited for the both of them because of his brothers injuries. Olivia passed out from DM (Dark Matter) exhaustion and was sent to the hospital for further inspection." Lee Seng explained. "I honestly don\'t know what the chances are getting people I know."
"Sounds chaotic." Scarlet finally said after a pause. The two stepped into the hospital wing. Scarlet waved to students as they passed and moved towards the front desk. Scarlet turned to look at Lee Seng who pulled his phone out and was glancing at a text.
"Excuse me," Lee Seng spoke. A man looked up. His eyes immediately caught the large white tail popping out behind Lee Seng.
"Ah, yes?" The man asked.
"Where\'s Room 301?" Lee Seng asked. "I came to give my friend some food." Scarlet held the bag up and the man nodded. He pointed behind him.
"There\'s an elevator down this hallway. Go up to the third floor and 301 should be on the left."
"Ah, thank you." Lee Seng nodded. Lee Seng led the way towards the elevator. The smell of the hospital reminded him of his mom. She always smelled like the hospital. He found the elevator on his left and tapped the up button and waited.
Lee Seng\'s mind began to flash memories of his mom. His heart twisted with each memory. The days at the pool, the elementary trip she came with him on, the trips to the library. He smiled. The memories that flooded his mind were all good yet his heart twisted. His mind began to flash with all the times he disobeyed her and was selfish.
"Hey, Lee." Scarlet\'s voice chimed through the noise of memories.
"Huh?" Lee Seng asked.
"The elevator\'s here. Get in." Scarlet patted his shoulder. Lee Seng quickly went in and turned around to hit the third floor. The elevator slowly closed. Lee Seng rubbed his eyes and shook his face.
\'Now\'s not the time.\' Lee Seng reminded himself. \'Go see her after all of this is done.\' The elevator beeped.
Third Floor
The elevator opened and Scarlet and Lee Seng stepped out. He turned left and walked down the hall. He found room 301 to the left. He knocked and opened the door. The room was well-lit with sunlight. Olivia sat up in bed scrolling her phone. She looked up and saw Lee Seng and Scarlet walk in.
"Oh, I told you to not come." Olivia said.
"I know, but I figured you were hungry so I got some ramen for the both of us." Lee Seng answered with a warm smile.
"Oh, who\'s this?" Olivia pointed at Scarlet.
"This is my..."
"I\'m his Aunt. My name\'s Scarlet. Scarlet Evans." Scarlet walked over and held her hand out. Olivia shook it and smiled. "And I hope you enjoy the ramen. It\'s really good." She sifted through the bag and pulled out the shio ramen. Olivia took the light broth ramen and nodded in thanks. Scarlet handed her chopsticks and pulled her miso ramen out. She moved to hand over the bag to Lee Seng and sat next to him.
"So you two are related?" Olivia asked. Each of them popped their ramen caps open and were stirring everything together.
"I basically watched Lee Seng grow up in front of my eyes." Scarlet answered. "His dad is my boss, I guess you could say."
"Oh, so you work for the Creator then?"
"She\'s a Number. I grew up in the lab the Creator worked in for many years so I call them family." Lee Seng answered.
"Ahhh," Olivia said. She took a slurp of noodles and moaned in delight. "This is good. What is this one called?"
"That one\'s shio ramen." Lee Seng answered. "I got shoyu ramen and Aunt Scarlet got miso ramen." Lee Seng swirled the noodles around in the soup container and pulled some noodles out and began to slurp.
"I heard from Lee Seng about the fight. How are you doing?" Scarlet asked.
"I\'m fine. I went into DME (Dark Matter Exhaustion) and my negative gave me a huge migraine. I just need some rest and I\'ll be fine." Olivia answered.
"Glad you weren\'t hurt too much by your negative. Eat up and rest."
The three slurped in silence. Lee Seng chowed down on the noodles and drank all of the broth. He grabbed a napkin from the bag and wiped his face. He grabbed another napkin and handed it to Scarlet and Olivia.
"So you two have known each other for a long time?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah, I basically grew up in the lab the Creator worked in, so I know the Numbers." Lee Seng nodded.
"So you know like all the Numbers then?"
Lee Seng nodded his head again.
"Is it true like they say in the articles?" Olivia turned towards Scarlet. "Does he like to cause trouble?"
"Does he like to cause trouble?" Scarlet repeated the question. She glanced over at Lee Seng who was nervously wagging his tail. "I think the media perceives him as a rebel and a nuisance."
\'Ouch.\' Lee Seng thought.
"He isn\'t too troublesome. Why do you ask?" Scarlet went into interrogation mode. Olivia blushed and shook her head.
"No reason. It\'s just that, um... He isn\'t at all like the articles says he is. It\'s what surprised me the most." Olivia shyly answered.
"Being at the forefront because of your Father does things." Lee Seng chimed in. "A person shouldn\'t be judged based on their standing and connections, but that\'s how the world is sadly is. I really do wish those articles could be deleted, but... I try to ignore most things that float online."
\'Well, I think I said too much.\' Lee Seng turned away for a moment. \'Don\'t go spilling your guts on the first person that actually treats you like a human being. You might just trust the wrong person and they\'ll use you horribly.\'
"Well, if that\'s it, I\'ll leave you to rest. I\'ll meet you in the lobby in an hour?" Lee Seng asked.
"Sure, let\'s do that." Olivia nodded. Lee Seng nodded and turned to leave when Olivia raised her hand. "Oh, Lee Seng."
"Huh?"
"Could I get your number? That way I can contact you if I can\'t find you?"
"Oh, uh," Lee Seng slowly nodded. "Yeah, I guess." Olivia grabbed her phone off the nightstand and unlocked her phone. She handed it over to Lee Seng, who pulled his phone out and copied the number into Olivia\'s phone. He handed the phone over.
"Here you go. Let me know if you need anything." Lee Seng added.
"Thanks." Olivia nodded.
"Well, I\'ll get out of your hair so you can rest."
Lee Seng waved goodbye and turned to exit out of the room. Scarlet stood up and waved. Olivia waved goodbye and watched the two step out. The door closed quietly behind Scarlet and Olivia let out a sigh of relief.
"He\'s the Creator\'s son... Of course he would know the Numbers. Why am I so surprised by that?" Olivia whispered. She shook her face and clicked the hospital bed down and hospital blinds to come down. She adjusted herself in the bed and rolled over and shut her eyes. "Everything will be fine. Remember the reason why you\'re really here."
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Lee Seng hit the down button for the elevator and tapped his foot. Scarlet stood besides him, scrolling her phone. She tapped through emails and looked up when the elevator dinged. They both let students and faculty go out first before stepping in. Lee Seng spun around, making sure his tail didn\'t slam into anything first, and hit the first floor button.
"She seems like a nice girl." Scarlet finally broke the silence. "She seems very interested in you."
"Intre--wha?" Lee Seng\'s face turned slightly red. He quickly tried to hide the face he was blushing from Scarlet. Scarlet simply kept her eyes on the phone and smiled. She knew what she was doing and enjoyed teasing Lee Seng.
"I hope you two do well in the next match. You two should definitely get admitted into the Academy."
"Mmm," Lee Seng cleared his throat. "I hope so too."
The elevator dinged to the first floor and Lee Seng rushed out.
"I\'m gonna go back to the gym area!" Lee Seng shouted and waved goodbye. "I gotta do some digging on the last team."