INM 3 Part 3

It was just past two in the afternoon. Today, I was supposed to talk to Alan’s college friends, but there was still plenty of time before our meeting. Among the group of four, there was Chloe, the only girl, Victor, the slender one with orange hair, and Ethan, the tall one. Ethan’s schedule didn’t align with the other two, so I was supposed to speak with him separately.

Kasim explained as we crossed the spacious entrance. 

“Chloe and Victor are both physics majors, but in different fields. Chloe is in astrophysics and Victor is in particle physics… macro and micro worlds.”

“Ah, yes. I think I’ve heard of them in Nobel Prize announcements or something.” 

I nodded and gave a vague answer. I couldn’t even imagine what their research involved, but I understood why Chloe had talked to Alan about the universe.

“By the way, what faculty was Alan in?”

“Robotics. He majored in Robotics, if I remember correctly.”

“Robotics?”

Surprised by the unexpected research topic of the young man with an unmistakably pessimistic atmosphere, I couldn’t help but raise my voice. It seemed both incredibly unexpected and perfectly logical. 

In front of us was a spiral staircase that curved in a gentle arc. I imagined Alan climbing these stairs with a white balloon-like robot and grinned, but quickly let the smile fade. Walking deeper into the lobby, I pushed the elevator button with just enough force to be considered polite. 

As we entered the sterile box that would pick us up, Kasim glanced at his simple Christian Paul watch. 

I learned in qualitative research that there’s an optimal seating arrangement to help the interviewee concentrate.

“You’re not planning on just chatting with them, are you?”

The elevator doors closed quietly, cutting off my words. Taking advantage of this, Kasim smoothly ignored my question. 

“So, we should have the interviewees sit facing the wall.

“Well, all right. If it helps you get the information you need.”

“Do you think Alan was happy?” The question he had asked had crossed my mind. At the time, I thought it was foolish to investigate it, but now, with my personal motive to look into the letter, that intention seems kind and brilliant. 

We got off at the floor and I followed Kasim into a classroom. The first thing I noticed was the bright orange-red hair. Noticing the gaze directed at him, the redhead turned and raised her eyebrows slightly, as if to say,”Oh?”.

“Good timing. You’re early for the appointment.”

The redhead young man… Victor said, turning his gaze forward. 

“You were right, Chloe. I thought they would definitely be late.” 

“You shouldn’t judge others by your own standards. I always tell you that”

The girl dressed in impeccable black fashion said, smiling at us. 

“Hi, Kasim, Luke. Good to see you again.” 

Her appearance, with her long legs crossed, seemed quite different from when she visited my office. Victor’s posture, with all his weight resting on his left elbow, also looked picturesque in this classroom, unmistakably conveying that this was their territory. They had prepared an ordinary, sterile meeting room in a corner of the research building. White walls, easily movable folding tables, and electrical outlets installed everywhere. Despite being in a country bathed in bright sunlight, the room felt somewhat dim. However, the complex equations left on the edge of the whiteboard and the strange machines seen in movies and dramas added some color to this otherwise impersonal space. 

I had never tried using a motif of equations before, but it seemed like it could make for interesting interior design if it blended well with the space. As I stood there thinking about it, Kasim tapped my upper arm. 

“What is it, Luke? You seem distracted.” 

He said with a smile. Startled by his friendly smile and piercing blue eyes, I hurried to the seat across from Chloe and Victor. The seats were in the middle of the classroom and I couldn’t tell which side faced the wall. When we pulled out the chairs, we both sat down awkwardly. 

The red-haired physics student sitting sloppily in front of me shrugged. 

“I didn’t think you’d come.”

His words could be interpreted as not being pleased with my visit, but I assumed they were meant literally. There was a somewhat mechanical tone to his words that suggested this.

I shrugged in exactly the same way and opened my mouth. 

“Well, I’m here as an afterthought, or more like a chaperone for this boy.”

Kasim, who had been smiling cheerfully next to me, suddenly made his chair creak.

“Luke.”

“Well, just kidding.”

At Kasim’s voice, which seemed to be crawling on the floor, I smiled with a sense of satisfaction. 

“Listening to your stories made me want to know more about Alan.”

Victor, with eyebrows the same color as his hair, raised them at my words, which even I wasn’t sure were true or not. As he shrugged, the rich brown t-shirt he was wearing moved up and down. Though it wasn’t particularly fancy, it didn’t look like something he’d bought at the local supermarket. The shirt was a bit oversized, but the deep brown with a faint reddish tint complemented the young man’s red hair and green eyes perfectly, much to my admiration. 

The physics student might have an unexpectedly good sense of color. That is, if it wasn’t his family that picked out the shirt for him. 

Victor continued as I began to imagine the young man’s family dynamics. 

“Being a chaperone is your real intention, isn’t it? That person was quite forceful when he approached us in front of the church.”

“Vic!” 

Chloe exclaimed, flustered by Victor’s direct words. 

“Come on, you were so surprised you were speechless.”

“That’s because… I was just a little surprised to be spoken to by a stranger.”

“Your hair stood on end. If Ethan hadn’t been there, Chloe and I might have run away together.”

Surprised by these words, I turned my eyes to Kasim. Could it be that the normally reserved Ethan had come to terms with the stubborn lion… Kasim, who was now smiling wryly beside me? 

“Oh, I didn’t think you were scary… But you seemed to have a very troubled expression on your face. So I thought maybe you were “Luke”.”

“Oh, right. I was going to ask about that.”

Ignoring Kasim’s deepening smile at Chloe, I quickly caught the end of her words.

“You both already knew my name, right? Did Alan tell you anything about me?”

If so, it would be quite surprising. Alan, who was so afraid to talk about his sexual orientation, had talked to his friends about his confidant?

And it seems I was right, both of Alan’s friends shook their heads in response to my question. 

“Your name came out of his mouth only briefly.”

“Even that was unusual.”

“Looking back, I think it was pretty rude of us to suddenly visit someone whose name we had only heard once.” 

Oh, well, I’m glad they noticed. Ideally, they would have noticed it a little earlier, preferably before they visited me. 

“But when Alan mentioned your name, he seemed strangely amused or relaxed.”

“Yes, exactly. It was rare to see him like that. Chloe told us not to tease him, thinking it might be the name of his lover.” 

“I think that advice was spot on. By the way, has anyone else heard my name besides you two?”

They both paused, slightly surprised by my question, and then began to think.

“Tony was there too, right?”

“He was.”

“He is an international student in the same department. Since he’s close to Vic, sometimes he would talk and hang out with us. I think he was there that time.”

“Was Tony close to Alan?” 

My question made Chloe and Victor stop and think. After a moment they shook their heads. 

“It was more of a matter-of-fact relationship.”

“I think they got along well without any friction. They are both reserved types, so maybe they bonded over that.” 

“I see… By the way, do you think Tony mistook me for Alan’s lover, too?”

“Well, Chloe yelled, “Luke must be Alan’s lover!” and he was there at that moment too.” 

The red-haired young man replied calmly, raising an eyebrow. 

“So, Luke. Why are you asking us these questions?”

“Oh, there’s no particular reason…”

I couldn’t really say that I thought the sender of the letter might be someone who mistook me for Alan’s lover and became insanely jealous, so I answered vaguely. At that moment Kasim kicked me in the leg. “What’s going on?” I turned around to question him with my eyes, only to find him looking at me meaningfully. 

Not understanding, I turned my face forward again and noticed Chloe’s unmistakable look of suspicion. Victor, next to her, was also watching me intently, seemingly amused. 

When I finally understood what Kasim was hinting at, I quickly changed my words. 

“Ah, well, you see, Alan told me a lot about his friends, now to hear from you directly made me happy…” 

Chloe tilted her head, looking unconvinced by my excuse. This expression affected Victor, who narrowed his eyes even more. I see, that wasn’t a very convincing excuse for asking about people who knew about my relationship with Alan. 

“Uh, Chloe. Does Tony have short, spiky hair by any chance?” Kasim, who had been watching silently, interjected smoothly. “I think I’ve seen the two, Alan and Tony, together.”

“Oh, really?”

“I remembered it clearly because it left an impression. The Alan I knew in high school was often alone… Seeing him surrounded by friends made me happy.” 

Kasim’s slightly shy smile softened Chloe’s expression. If that was his intention, well done. 

Grateful to my partner, I was considering how to steer the conversation into a more relaxed chat when Kasim continued. 

“By the way, have the two of you ever traveled with Alan?”

Chloe’s face suddenly darkened again with suspicion and I looked up at the ceiling. Two long fluorescent tubes lined the smooth white paint. I see, from the perspective of a third party, our seemingly random questions must be quite nerve-wracking. 

“We have never talked about such things in this group.”

“I see… Then have you ever seen him change clothes…” 

Before Kasim could finish, I kicked him in the leg and he turned his big blue eyes to me in surprise. 

Chloe’s deep voice cut through our exchange. 

“Wait a minute. What’s going on?”

Her tense tone made Kasim and me quickly turn to face her. Chloe was literally angry… and that anger clearly came from a deeply wounded heart, making Kasim and me jump out of our chairs with a clatter. 

“It’s not what you think, Chloe!”

“It’s a misunderstanding, we didn’t mean…”

“What do you mean, “not what you think”? You said you wanted to talk about Alan, but it’s clear you’re snooping around. What do you really want to know?”

Her words left us speechless. 

I looked at Victor for help and he raised his eyebrows sarcastically. 

“Well, it seems that what we did to Luke has come back to haunt us. Being the subject of an investigation is not very pleasant indeed.”

Victor continued with a cold, sarcastic smile. 

“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to understand how the target we study must feel.” 

“Yes, we did the same for you. We suspected that Alan’s lover might have driven him to suicide and visited you to investigate. Still, you were kind to us… It’s not fair to blame you.”

When I saw her long eyelashes droop in dejection, I became even more upset.

“Chloe, I’m sorry. It was my fault. I’ll explain everything properly.”

Kasim, who had regained his composure just before I did, placed his hand over Chloe’s and whispered an apology. Not used to such interactions with women, I was worried that Chloe might find the touch uncomfortable. But fortunately, my fears were unfounded as Chloe didn’t pull her hand away and simply returned Kasim’s gaze with a stubborn look. As Victor and I watched, the young man continued to explain.