05

A week had passed and the day keeps going the same. Nothing has changed for the past few days.

My routine has been the same but for him, it’s not. Day by day, I felt hopeless for him.

He doesn’t seem to mind but for me, I feel something I couldn’t explain. It’s like I want to help him, but I can’t. I have a limitation of what I can do.

I noticed that he’s been silent for the past few days. He barely eats, which means he barely takes care of himself.

He would only ask me if someone’s going to visit him and I had to find a lot of excuses on how to tell him that no one’s visiting him. That’s been our conversation for the past few days. If I say, “I’ll check,” then he stays silent afterward. I didn’t want to bother him anymore unlike before.

The truth is, no one, not even one, is visiting him.

No one is handling his case.

And no one seems to remember that he’s here.

Uncle Ino would always show me the book of scheduled visitors and every time I see none, I had no choice but to tell him.

According to Uncle Ino, his case has been passed to a lot of firms but no one wanted to handle it. Seems like someone is controlling these firms to not manage his case.

He’s been here for a week and no one stays here for a week, except him. The other prisoners left yesterday for their final judgment, and he’s the only one who stayed. I saw him looking at them. Leaving the cell, while he stays there, still waiting for someone to save him.

And that elite, he’s been calling me, texting me, every single day. A day won’t go on without him asking me for help. He’s that desperate. I haven’t answered one of them, afraid that if I did, I might open up the past that I sealed for so long.

I’m now on my way to him to deliver his food. It’s lunchtime when I decided to deliver the food, and even though he’s the only one left in the cell, I still had to do my job.

I kinda get used to it, unlike before. Going to his place did not make me contemplate nor nervous anymore. It’s just that I let his coldness pass, then I’ll go after.

When I’m at the front door, I grabbed the key in my pocket to unlock it.

There I saw him, blankly looking at the wall. I have no idea what to do every time I see him that way but as much as possible, I try to talk to him. It’s hard though. It’s hard to let someone open up to you most especially if the topic is a bit ferocious.

I know it’s strange. To talk to a prisoner and ask him what really happened. But in his case, I feel like I gotta know something. I want to have a certain context that would answer my questions. Just a single hint.

I’m dying to know.

If I find him guilty, then that’s it. That’s the call.

But if not, then he doesn’t deserve to be here being locked up in a cell.

No one even bothers to hold his case so I assume he’s innocent.

If no one ever talks to you about your case, who would?

It’s not as if the cell is going to be a permanent shelter for you.

If you’re guilty but you’re wealthy, then your custody would do everything to get you out of this hell. Because an elite never, not for a moment, let himself be drag in a cell for so long.

Maybe he’s not an elite. I said in mind.

I mean, I don’t even see him on the media, or even in newspapers about his case. It’s as if the world forgot about him.

“Your food,” I uttered when I placed the food on top of the table. I turned around, on my way out of his room when he spoke.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled and it utterly surprised me.

Did he just say sorry?

Well, it’s the first time he spoke other than asking about his visitor.

What has happened?

“Hm?” I couldn’t form a word to respond to him.

It’s the first time I heard him saying sorry without any circumstances.

“Sorry for scaring you that day.” He said, looking straight into my eyes.

Me being stunned, I didn’t know what to tell him. I averted my gaze as I find it weird.

He faked a cough. I then looked at him with wide eyes. I saw him lowered his head when he sensed that I was looking at him.

“Hey, uhm, it’s okay. It’s my fault anyway,” I uttered and pretended to smile naturally. That didn’t bother me for the time being. It’s like that day had passed my mind already. It’s not a big deal.

“It’s Creed.” Says the guy. He stood up and walked towards me.

My brows furrowed. “What’s Creed?” I asked since I didn’t get what he meant.

“My name is Creed.”

I -

I’m completely astounded.

I hurriedly went to cover his lips with my palm because of his sudden declaration.

He struggled to remove my hand so when I noticed what I did, I immediately remove my hand from his.

“Why would you say your name without informing me?! That’s not allowed here!” I scolded him and he seems to care less.

Uncle Ino might question me for knowing his name when the higher-ups didn’t allow us.

“As if they care,” he halted. “No one even cared to visit me.” He muttered which surprised me.

“Uhm,”

“It’s okay. I know. Spare me from your sympathy,” Says Creed.

Oh, wow. It’s the first name I said his name in my mind.

“I’m not. It’s just that you said it all of a sudden,” I explained and looked at him.

His eyes were showing an expression I couldn’t read.

“I’m Ae - I mean, I’m Nix,” I said and extended my hand.

“You got that code names, huh?” He stated that shook me. His voice was still cold but it had a tone. Unlike the usual tone of him, that always seems to be mad and emotionless. Now, I sensed that it changed. It feels calm and collected. Something I didn’t know he had.

“For safety,” I mumbled and gave him a small smile.

I couldn’t find any excuses other than that.

“Nix, then.” He said and extended his hand to shake mine.

“Creed.”