Chapter 161: Ha, Men
Ethan crossed the hallway and knocked on Penny's door.
The apartment was quiet.
No answer.
After a moment's hesitation, he gently pushed the door open and peeked inside.
Penny had already changed out of her waitress uniform.
She was wearing a tank top and printed shorts—casual, comfortable, and completely effortless. The kind of outfit that somehow looked good precisely because no effort seemed to have gone into it.
Curled up on the couch, she held a glass of wine in one hand.
At the sound of the door opening, she turned toward him.
The expression on her face hadn't quite faded yet—a mixture of I'm really annoyed and I don't even have the energy to explain why anymore.
Ethan spoke first.
"I just wanted to check whether your knee was okay."
Penny raised her wine glass and shrugged.
The earlier burn it all down aura had diminished somewhat, evolving into a more resigned whatever happens, happens attitude.
Ethan quietly closed the door behind him and crouched down in front of her. He placed the small medical kit he carried beside the coffee table.
Lowering his gaze, he examined her knee.
A few scrapes.
Nothing deep.
Nothing serious.
"Looks fine," he said casually. "The location's just a little unfortunate. Easy for people to get the wrong idea."
"What?"
Penny blinked.
Ethan gestured vaguely and gave her a knowing look.
Understanding dawned almost immediately.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
She looked like she wanted to make a sarcastic remark, then apparently decided it wasn't worth the effort.
Setting down her wine glass, she stretched her leg out toward him.
Ethan unscrewed a small bottle of saline solution.
Without another word, he slowly rinsed the scrape.
The water carried away dust and dried blood.
The sudden cool sting made Penny suck in a breath.
"Hiss—just a reminder. I'm still alive."
"Mm-hmm. I know."
Ethan didn't even look up.
"But considering how bad your luck's been today, let's not gamble on whether or not it gets infected."
His tone remained calm as he casually said something horrifying.
"Otherwise we might eventually have to discuss amputation."
The moment Penny heard the word amputation, she immediately chose silence.
Ethan gently dabbed the wound dry with sterile gauze.
He didn't wipe.
Just pressed.
Then he applied a thin layer of antibiotic ointment.
"Do all doctors like turning tiny problems into huge ones?" Penny finally asked.
Ethan glanced up briefly before returning his attention to the scrape.
"Actually, it's the opposite."
His voice was calm.
"You're looking at a minor abrasion."
"I'm looking at the scenario where it gets infected, spirals out of control, and eventually becomes a leg that needs to be amputated."
He paused.
"What we're doing now seems annoying."
"But it's specifically designed to prevent things from reaching that point."
He lifted one hand and made a clean chopping gesture.
"If it ever gets that bad, treatment becomes very simple."
"You just cut it off."
Penny listened quietly.
This time she didn't argue.
Ethan placed a non-stick dressing over the wound and wrapped it with an elastic bandage.
Not too tight.
Not too loose.
Enough support to protect it without restricting movement.
When he finished, he discreetly cast a healing spell.
A warm sensation slipped silently into the injury.
Then he stood and began packing away his supplies.
Penny blinked.
Then glanced down at her knee.
"...That's weird."
"What is?"
"It was kind of aching a minute ago."
She frowned.
"Now it's... not nearly as annoying."
Ethan zipped up the medical kit, looking completely innocent.
"Psychological effect."
"When people feel cared for, they usually feel better."
Penny stared at him for two seconds.
Then leaned back into the couch and picked up her wine again.
"Fine, Doctor."
She swirled the glass.
For the first time that evening, her voice sounded genuinely relaxed.
"Thanks for... taking care of me."
After a pause, she added:
"And sorry, Ethan. I know none of this was your fault."
"Honestly, it wasn't really their fault either."
"I shouldn't have mocked their hobbies."
"It's okay."
Ethan waved it off.
"Their hobbies are kind of childish."
"Four grown men spent eight hundred dollars on a movie prop because they wanted to fantasize about traveling through time."
He shrugged.
"Your criticism was completely valid."
"Besides, Sheldon mocks your thousand pairs of shoes all the time."
"Fair enough."
Penny finally laughed.
Silence settled over the room again.
Ethan wondered whether it was time to leave.
Instead, Penny spoke first.
"I have an audition this Saturday."
Her voice was quieter now.
"A really important one."
Ethan looked at her.
Right.
She had mentioned it before.
The hospital role.
The one she'd dragged him into rehearsing for.
"I understand."
He nodded.
"When people are chasing something important, they tend to overlook certain things."
"And they lose patience for things they'd normally ignore."
Penny smiled weakly.
"I'm worried..."
She stared into her wine.
"...that I'm running out of chances."
The room grew quiet once more.
Then Ethan suddenly asked:
"Are you hungry?"
"...What?"
"You lost a day's wages today."
His tone was casual.
"Let me buy you dinner."
Penny pressed her lips together.
"Is this pity?"
"Of course not."
Ethan shook his head.
"It's an investment."
He adopted a perfectly serious expression.
"A future Hollywood star can still be impressed by a simple dinner."
"But once she becomes famous, taking her out might cost several million dollars."
He nodded solemnly.
"From a financial standpoint, this is an exceptional opportunity."
Penny burst out laughing.
Dinner ended up being Indian food.
Between bites, she ran audition lines with Ethan while trying different emotional deliveries.
After one practice run, she asked:
"Am I terrible?"
Ethan shoveled a spoonful of rice into his mouth.
"At least from a nerd's perspective, you're pretty convincing."
"As for professional directors..."
He shrugged.
"No idea."
"So that's a yes."
"No."
He thought for a moment.
"I think you're inexperienced."
"For example, when you're playing 'girl trying to seduce her boyfriend,' you're extremely believable."
Penny threw a napkin at him.
"Maybe you're just playing the wrong role."
They practiced several more times.
And each attempt was noticeably better than the last.
By the time Ethan finally stood to leave, it was already late.
Penny followed him to the door.
"Thank you."
"For which part?" Ethan asked.
"The medical treatment?"
"The dinner?"
"Or the free acting coach?"
"...All of it."
Ethan smiled.
"Then when you become a famous actress, remember to take a few hundred photos with me."
"I'll hang them all over my clinic."
"Great for attracting patients."
"No problem."
For the first time that day, genuine confidence returned to her voice.
They said goodnight.
Then Ethan crossed the hallway and returned to his apartment.
The time machine still stood proudly in the middle of the living room.
Exactly where it was most inconvenient.
He glanced at it.
What kind of lunatic would design something like that?
The imagination of nerds truly knew no limits.
Shaking his head, he walked straight through the living room and into his bedroom without giving the machine another look.
A few minutes later, he came back out.
He confirmed that the apartment was empty.
Sheldon's room was quiet.
Leonard's room was quiet.
Nobody was around.
Then, very carefully, Ethan climbed into the time machine.
After all, for a reincarnator, anything was possible.
Maybe this thing worked differently depending on who sat in it.
Maybe it only recognized him.
A Time-Travel Chosen One receiving exclusive access permissions from a time machine sounded perfectly reasonable.
At least to him.
He spent several minutes examining the controls.
Then he selected a date.
A location.
And took one final look around the apartment.
With a dramatic flourish, he pressed the switch.
Colored lights immediately began flashing.
The giant metal disk behind him started spinning faster and faster.
Ethan raised his alertness to maximum.
Every sense sharpened.
He carefully monitored his surroundings, refusing to miss even the slightest change.
Then—
He heard the unmistakable sound of a key sliding into the apartment's front door.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
Someone was coming.
Who?
His future self?
A descendant?
An alien?
The door slowly opened.
Penny stepped quietly into the apartment.
She was wearing a cute set of pajamas and looked freshly showered.
She closed the door gently behind her.
Then turned around.
And locked eyes with Ethan.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them spoke.
For one long, agonizing moment, time itself seemed to stop.
Then Penny looked at the machine.
Looked at Ethan.
Looked back at the machine.
And finally asked:
"…Ethan."
"Yeah?"
"Are you seriously sitting in their stupid time machine?"
"…"
Ethan considered several possible answers.
Every single one sounded ridiculous.
"I can explain."
Penny stared at him.
"Please do."
"I was conducting scientific verification."
"Uh-huh."
"As an actual time traveler, I felt obligated to test whether it worked."
Penny blinked.
There was a long pause.
Then she slowly nodded.
"Okay."
Ethan blinked.
"…Okay?"
"Yeah."
Penny crossed her arms.
"That's somehow less embarrassing than the explanation I was imagining."
"Which was?"
"I thought you were pretending to travel through time while making spaceship noises."
"…"
The flashing lights continued.
The giant disk kept spinning.
Neither of them said another word.
The machine suddenly looked even stupider than before.