INT. GCO LABORATORY – NEXT DAY
The hum of the air-conditioning mixed with the soft whirring of machines. Conversations overlapped faintly — a steady rhythm of keyboards, scanners, and beeping monitors.
Evah's desk was, for once, not in chaos. Books stacked in clean piles, printouts lined neatly on the side, her laptop transferring data to the main desktop. The soft scratching of her stylus filled the air as she wrote on her tablet, too focused to notice the footsteps approaching from behind.
"You seem busy, Miss Evah."
She looked up — and saw Dr. Riko standing by her side, wearing his usual lab coat over a gray turtleneck. His glasses were on this time, and he was idly playing with a keycap fidget toy in one hand. His calm, positive aura never failed to make the lab feel lighter.
"Doctor!" she greeted, brightening immediately. "I'm all good! Do you need my assistance?"
With the enthusiasm and last night's progress together with the doctor's positiveness, Evah can't help having the hyperhappiness in her system.
"Not really," he replied with a small smile, crossing his arms. "I just wanted to ask… how did the experiment go?"
Evah's face lit up even more.
"It went great!" she said, nodding eagerly. "I'd say it was a success — but not fully."
Riko leaned over slightly to peek at her tablet. "Was there any problem?"
"I recorded his baseline vitals first—heart rate, cortisol level, oxygen saturation. This," she pointed at the holographic readout on her monitor, "is his fully relaxed state. You can see the parasympathetic activation here—reduced heart rate variability, stabilized BP, and lower muscular tension."
"But when he got home, his body already showed signs of fatigue.Elevated fatigue markers—probably due to accumulated sleep debt and stress recovery. It's possible the massage only amplified his body's natural rebound phase."
Riko adjusted his glasses, watching as she scrolled through the data.
"I'm not sure if this method would work without that preexisting exhaustion factor," Evah continued. "Or if it would even work the same way every time."
She lifted her tablet, showing more charts. "See, these vitals might change again once he's rested normally."
Riko took the tablet, nodding slowly. "I see. Still… these are good numbers. I've never seen him with vitals this stable, especially his REM indicators."
Evah frowned slightly, crossing her arms. Eyes locked on the glowing screen, "I feel like there's still a variable I'm missing."
He gave her shoulder a gentle pat.
"Take it slow, Miss Evah. This is years of accumulated stress — both physical and emotional. It's never an easy road."
Evah's lips pressed together. I know that, she thought. Still, it felt better hearing it from him.
The doctor started walking back toward his station when something in her mind clicked.
Her expression shifted into a frown.
"Doctor," she called.
Riko paused and looked over his shoulder with a curious smile. "Yes?"
"How… did you know about the experiment?"
It wasn't official. Just a personal test — a house project. No one else should've known.
Before he could answer, the heavy glass doors of the laboratory slid open with a sharp hiss.
"Hello, Major! Wow, you look good today!" someone called out from across the lab.
Evah turned automatically.
It was Erion.
He always looked good — that wasn't up for debate. But today… something was different. His usual cold, reserved aura was replaced by something brighter. Radiant, even.
"You look like you're glowing!" she thought — but Mika, one of her colleagues, beat her to it with a giggle.
"Well," Erion said with a grin that could power the entire lab, "I got a really good sleep last night. Really, really good one."
He stood there like the sun incarnate — bright, smug, and utterly unbearable.
Oh no, Evah thought. He's glowing. The jester is glowing. That's not a good sign.
"Wow, you should do it more often, Major!" another voice teased.
"I agree," Erion replied smoothly, raising one finger like he was delivering a speech. Then, with exaggerated timing, he turned—
—and winked at Evah.
"Eh?"
Her mind blanked. For half a second, her entire system crashed.
"I think that was for you," Riko murmured from behind her, arms crossed, clearly enjoying himself.
"Doctor," she muttered through clenched teeth. "Please don't mock me like him. You're supposed to be on my side."
"I am," he said innocently, though his smirk said otherwise.
Evah sighed sharply, forcing herself to breathe. Watching Erion at work always stirred something uneasy — the way he masked everything behind a calm grin, pretending to be fine. The contrast between that and what she'd seen… made her chest tighten.
Focus, she told herself. Work. Just work.
She turned back to her monitor, her hand tightening around the stylus.
She took a slow breath, steadying herself. This was work — nothing more. Her personal feelings shouldn't mix with it. Right now, she had to focus on the results, on the success of the experiment.
And as the test subject stood in front of her, smiling like it was his own victory, she forced herself to see it that way too.