Beautiful Dreamer

39. Heartache

"Tell me, why do you keep pestering me about Ari's upbringing? It still surprises me he took you to his hometown, you of all people. Moreover, you saw everything; I can't say there is much to add or are you perhaps developing feelings towards my friend?"

"Not at all. I wish to understand Manager Ari better. He is quite indecisive and way too forgiving."

"Annoyingly tolerant to mistreatment as well, vacillating, irresolute, tentative, hard to move forward... Quirky..."

"Why is he like that?"

"Well, his maladaptive trait is birthed from constant worrying and anxiety. He equally has a history of recurring depression. Hard to tell since he is the opposite when working."

Rey nodded in agreement.

"Well, now you are aware his childhood wasn't exactly rosy. There is no definite record of his birth parents. All Ari remembers is the people you met a few weeks ago. I would know he had it rough since I used to live in that neighbourhood, but Ari had no idea who I was. He still doesn't, and I intend to keep it that way. Understood?"

"Yes, Manager."

"That town is relatively small; therefore, word travels fast. Ari was pretty famous back then too, since his adoptive parents made sure everyone knew he wasn't theirs by blood once he came out. They'd always argue about his welfare, especially since his psychiatric treatment was expensive. However, everything changed when he ran away with a neighbour's boy who was his junior by two years; an act that became a blessing and a curse simultaneously."

"What do you mean?"

"The thing with Ari is apart from being dithering, if he gets his attention on something, he foolishly broods over it, and as much as I've tried to change that side of him, Ari remains. The upside of that trait is unwavering loyalty, which is why he and I are friends to date.

Years later, I was lucky to have met him on campus. I didn't trust him at first since my memory of him was of things I heard and the tragedy that befell one of the neighbours because of him. Still, later on, I discovered he had been under a community welfare organization, and his match was sceptical about him since he had a pending attempted murder case to his name."

"What?"

"Hold your horses. I, too, was shocked to see a suspect on the campus. Nevertheless, there had to be a reason he was admitted as a regular student, correct?"

"I-I guess."

"I paid a considerable sum to his match to allow me to become the replacement, and as expected, Ari was devastated to be abandoned yet again. My objective was to play around with him, but then I figured there must be a reason that the boy ran away with him in the first place. Remember, our judgement of others can be compromised by assumptions we've heard from others, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He didn't trust me, then it occurred to me. Ari never knew who I was.

Breaking the ice with him wasn't easy either, considering he is four years my junior. Additionally, no one ever treated him with respect or without selfish gain. I made it a mission to prove to him there are trustworthy people in this world as there are untrustworthy ones.

One day, he got attacked by his first-year classmates when his secret got out. He called me and opened up about his past. A part of me felt victorious when he said I was the first person that came to mind if he ever needed help. Finally, I had become valuable to him, and despite our small age gap, I somewhat treated him as a parent would their child. I grew up with absentee travel enthusiastic parents; therefore, I can't say I know how it feels to have a family. Well, things changed with Ari around, of course. That was the beginning of our codependency.