Awkward. There is no better word to describe the way my brown eyes meet her black ones. She frowns and puts on her glasses. With four eyes, she confirms that I am who she thinks I am and finally breaks the silence.

"Good evening, General Trepe! Long time no see. You've certainly changed your gender and put on some weight…" She places one hand on her hip.

For real? Instead of saying sorry or making up an excuse for not replying to my text, she mocks me?

Of course! I fall for it again. Moon gazing bullshit. She just wanted to spare herself from the memory-erasing procedure. Hyne! Acma, and then her. It's a pattern. I'm admittedly stupid.

"Well, you can stay quiet. That would help a lot with my diagnosis."

She smirks then steps toward me and Pumpkin while opening her file.

"Hi. How are you? Doctor Jia?"

"Urgh… The new receptionist should learn that some Asians prefer to go with their first name. Never assume anything in Deling. What do we have here? Vomit—yellow, then green bile…"

My body feels heated as she casually proceeds with her vital checks on Pumpkin, paying no attention to me. I try my best to keep my breathing steady, even though my heart and veins pound uncontrollably.

Women. This is the last time, I tell myself.

There are so many good girls out there. I'm sure of it. Why am I always involved with troublesome weirdos?

Pumpkin seems to enjoy her touch and the generous treats she gives him after drawing some blood. She sniffs his fur and drops a kiss on his head. "Good boy!"

I swear Pumpkin looks at me with the expression of a victor. Don't bring a cute wingman to a date—that's a golden rule, though not quite applicable in this case since I've already failed even before this meetup.

"Food poisoning. Nothing too critical. I'll run some tests just to be safe but I bet he'll be fine with some laxative medicine..." She glances at me with a smile that I know is fake and immediately looks at her file. "General Trepe did not include some important information for Pumpkin when we opened his file. Do you know his age by any chance? I need that info for the dose…"

She wants casual? I'll give her casual.

"Sure. I got him 7 or 8 years ago, and I was told by the Shumi that he was 5 years old back then—you know, since his evolution from a Shumi."

Her eyes roll. "Pumpkin was yours?"

"He's still mine," I shrug. "He still has long-term issues from the previous war, as you can tell from his chart. He follows me on P2 missions nowadays and stays with his bestie Luluna the rest of the time."

"Huh. I hear him say 'Luluna' all the time."

"Luluna was named after his sound, that's a fact."

"Oh, I see," she nods and continues to ask me a few more questions about Pumpkin's battle history, which I gladly retell, making sure to mention my SeeD Rank A title for—Hyne-knows-why reasons.

I can tell she tries to suppress genuine smiles a couple of times while jotting down the information. Is it real, or is this just the con artist's way of giving me false hope?

"Thank you for the extra details. Well, there's no need to have him stay here overnight. Do you plan to keep him at your hotel or…?"

"Yeah, I'll keep him at Deling hotel."

"I'm pretty sure they don't accept Moombas there."

"Oh," I say, "That's new. I'll find another hotel then."

"There's none that accepts Moombas, as far as I know," she replies. "Deling is progressive, but not there yet."

Okay, but I really don't want to leave him here and have to see her again.

"Good to know. I'll see if I can crash at a friend's house."

"Alright," she puts on a fake smile again. "You can pick up his medicine at the front desk. Anything else I can help you with?"

"No, that'll be all. Thanks, doc," I say in the most casual tone possible as I come over to Pumpkin's side and gently pet his head.

"Perfect!" Her voice rises, and her fake smile grows wider.

Hyne, I hate that smile. Kill me! Just kill me already! I don't want to see you smile anymore.

"Enjoy the rest of the evening then..." She closes the file and steps toward the door.

"Goodnight, Dr. Yue."

Our story would have been totally different if we had parted ways just like that. I would have been too hurt to see or text her again. She would have been too stubborn to ask for help from a guy who told her straight to her face that he didn't like her and failed to keep his promise.

But our story keeps going because she is not a normal girl.

"You know, Colonel Smailes," she scoffs as she turns the doorknob, then glances back at me. "It's okay if you don't like me. It's even okay if you hate me, because you're surely not the first nor the last. But I expect you to at least tell me if you can't keep a promise. That way, I can ask someone else to give me a hike, you know?"

I am dumbfounded. What the hell?

I shake my head instinctively and narrow my eyes. "What are you talking about?"

She responds with a typical line from women, as I've been warned by my many love advisors. "Nothing! Just food for thought. See you around!"

Translation: "I never want to see you again!"

Before she can disappear from my life, I use my maximum Spd stat to stop the door.

"Have you checked your phone, Dr. Yue?"