'Aannd... here we go again.'

  Of course, Father would bring up the past. It was iable. That familiar pattern always circled back to the past, as if everything we'd done sihen was just a fleeting distray fiapped lightly on the edge of the chessboard. The weight of the words wasn't too heavy; it was just tiring. Aitive.

  I'd heard it all before—too many times.

  That was why I hated it.

  But it wasn't worth showing that irritation. I had a better shield. A quick ugh, a harmless defle. Something to keep the versation fring into deeper waters. And so I chose to humor him to follow his flow. It was easier to keep the peace.

  "You have got quite the nostalgia streak today, Dad. Is this the part where you tell me how much better things used to be?"

  Father gave a small smile but said nothing. Instead, he positioned his queen o my bishop. And that was how he liked to py it out, slowly and carefully, waiting for me to make a mistake.

  "Well, the past is nice..." I muttered, adjusting a rook to block his queen. "Sadly, I am more focused on the present."

  He didn't ahat, either. Not directly. His gaze lingered oer my response, his brows furrowing as if weighing my words. to read me? Haha. So funny. My smile grew wider until my eyes closed.

  "You were always focused, especially at school, so determined. It makes me wonder... when was the st time we spent together as a family? Let's go on a piic again? You used to love fishing; your expression when you caught your first fish riceless."

  I left his words to linger in the air. My mouth twitched, but I stayed quiet, looking at the board. The day's image came to my mind as it appeared without being invited. But it was better not to linger with it. My hands moved a pawn forward.

  Father's voice softened as if he were speaking more to himself now. "Speaking of those moments, do you remember how fasated you were by the steltions? Stargazing was your favorite—always asking questions, eager to know the stories behind the stars."

  "And you spent all night trying to ahem. You must have been exhausted back then, huh?"

  "Um, yeah. A bit. You want to know a lot. And stubborn. That bination makes you often take steps alone, wanting the perfect view. Even your mother had trouble finding you on the roof. Lin once almost fell while following you, too."

  I leaned ba the chair. "She was clumsy back then. Still is..."

  "How about your friend? He used te into your room just like that. Is he—"

  "Dad." I scratched my head, feigning fusion before letting a faint smile form. "Is there something you want to tell me? Because if this is about me taking time off or making life pns, I have already expined where I stand. To be ho? I am not sure what you are trying to get at."

  For the first time in this chess game, as though searg for words that refused to e, Father's hand paused midair, and his expression became awkward. I told you what, it was bound to end awkwardly.

  I couldn't help but soften my expression.

  "Should we be paying attention to this chessboard?"

  Father's look passed over me for a moment longer—perhaps out of disappoi? Gradually, his smile slipped away as he repced it with an expression I couldn't tra wasn't a disappoi. Perhaps ? Refle? Whatever. Most importantly, he returo the chessboard as I had told him to.

  The rhythm of ame returhe atmosphere to normal.

  Father positioned his queen in the ter of the board, which means that although he rotective, he reparing a strategy. I advanced my rook to oppose it. Even though this move e a bishop, I let it be. I could leap my knight into the heart of his defense, leaving his remaining knight and a rook uhreat. But Father was skilled; he could always secure the situation. He eve his queen be exposed, which I knew was bait.

  Sure, I would take the bait... but ter.

  I advanced my pawn towards Father's pawn, which was guarding his king. This move opened a diagonal for his queen to deliver a potential checkmate. From there, I saw Father nodding. He moved his rook to my king's position, seemingly f me to address the immediate threat and momentarily diverting the attack away from his own king.

  'But this is what I have been waiting for.'

  At that moment, I opened my voice. "Before... you said I was so focused on what is ahead that I fot what made me."

  Father's eyes lifted to meet mine. "Yes, I did. And I meant it."

  I rested my on my hand as my gaze wandered over the board. "It is an iing thought. But I don't think fetting is the right word. Isn't it more like... prioritizing? After all, we 't hold onto everything."

  Father smiled faintly, but it wasn't the warm kind. It was the kind that carried too many unspoken words. "Prioritizing, you say? Is that what you are doing?"

  "Depends on how you see it. But that is only if you really see it." Shrugging with a smile, I moved my queen. "Checkmate."

  None of us opened our voices afterward.

  Quiet.

  Father was there staring at the chessboard with an unreadable expression, or I... merely didn't want to uand what it meant. I really didn't want to because everything would end up the same.

  I stood, carefully pushing the chair back with a quiet scrape against the floor. "Well, looks like that is my win, Dad. Maybe ime, you will take me doeg. Keep me grounded in all that nostalgia you are so fond of."

  I started to walk out of the room, with my hand on the doorknob—

  " Luo."

  Father's voice halted me just as I turhe doorknob. It wasn't loud or anding. Just soft. But heavy enough to hold me down for a bit longer. I tilted slightly, just enough to g him over my shoulder.

  When I saw his face, what was shown there crified my point that "everything would end up the same." I didn't mean the awkward way. But what Father was thinking... and his expression, all, were the same at one point that I wasn't ied in reading or uanding his feelings.

  Regret.

  That was what always shone on his face when he looked at me. To me personally. More so with what he said.

  "Sorry."

  Father didn't stop there. His gaze didn't waver, nor did his voice, as if saying it louder, might reach the parts of me he thought were toone.

  "I am sorry, Luo."

  For a moment, I truly felt those times—euphoria, joy, innoce. How my little feet would run towards them. Or me, the one from before... so long ago, being so scared to see them before finally, slowly, and then, I became sht when seeing them. Walking, running to them, holding hands. Together. And in that moment, from all my iions with them, I khe meaning of family.

  But the more the memories rolled forward, the more it all felt like a fever dream.

  'The past sure is nice...'

  My head tilted slightly with the fai chuckle esg my lips. "You know, I was relieved."

  Hearing those words, it was evident that Father's expressihtened after having previously slumped with his brows drawn together, his lips pressed into a thin line, and his shoulders sagged as if he carried something far heavier than our usual sparring matches.

  "That you didn't go off on Lin earlier," I tinued as I closed my eyes. "She was distracted, yeah. But holy? That is on me. I was messing with her."

  His silenced me to keep going, though I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the lingeri in his eyes, or perhaps it was just how he said my name.

  "I don't know. I guess I just wao py around with her for a bit like siblings do. It is stupid, sure. But she is funny like that, though, all flustered and loud. And do you know what she said to me earlier?"

  I opened my eyes to g Father with a smile. "'ologize, when you didn't do anything wrong?' She is n."

  Father's brows furrowed, but his silence felt almost thoughtful. As if he were searg for the right words to respond. I ughed even more with that, waving my hand as well.

  "Well, now... Why stop at chess if we are going for nostalgia? Let's py soccer or something. After all, chess is a bit plicated for a kid, isn't it?"

  Father blinked, his eyebrows rising slightly. He seemed caught off guard by what I said. His lips parted as if to respond, but no words came out? I felt like pushing even more.

  "I mean, it is only fair, right?" I shrugged. "Total itment to memory ne and all that. Maybe it is time to break the habit of doing things halfway."

  Ah... I feel like I went a bit overboard in my sarcasm. I felt a little bad. Especially now that Father's expression softened as if my words carried a sting he hadn't expected. He straightened in his chair, his hands resting on the edge of the chessboard, and for a fleeting moment, I thought he might smile. But he didn't.

  Instead of thiing further, I quickly said my piece before him.

  "If you need me, I will be in the room."

  Leaving the room quietly, I shut the door behihe sound of the tch clig shut felt like a punctuation mark—ao yet another drawn-out game of chess and versation.

  Simir to me, who finally walked away from the study room.

  I went into my room, shut the door, and leaned against it, closing my eyes to let the tension leave me, even to the point of letting out a long sigh. All was silent except for the afternoon's muffled sounds settling outside the window.

  I crossed the room and sat at my desk, resting my elbows on the surface as my hands interlocked beh my . The lingeri of the versation with Father hung around me like the st echoes of a fading melody.

  My head repyed the whole se. The same regret. Anger or disappoi, I could have rationalized. But something soft? That was what made it so much worse. Regret was that thing that hung on no matter how fast you moved forward. And the apology. I did not know what to make of Father's apology. Did he really, or was it for...

  'Does he even know for what he is sorry?'

  The regret was tagious; it hit me, thinking about what could have been had I been softer, less distant. But what was the point? I knew myself well enough not to get stu that.

  So, now, let's focus on what matters? The news broadcast from earlier was ba my mind—the topic they had just touched on before I'd been interrupted. NeoGen's advas, the NeuroVerse system, Khasan...

  The reason why opped produg VR:Ser or expand its teology.

  I quickly tap the trol panel on my Helios and rewind the broadcast. The host's familiar voice filled the room, and I adjusted the volume to focus. In the end, the reason was expined. But do you know the bullshit Dr. Shaw gave? Internal restructuring and shifting priorities.

  I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the frustration wash over me as I leaned back. I'd expected this. I mean... I searched through the most minor cracks like a rat. I eve so far as to he underground for information about NeoGen without unc anything meaningful. And now this, in the public eye? They definitely wouldn't reveal their real "reason."

  I slumped down on my puter chair.

  "What was I expeg, exactly?"

  D.N.A.